Page 68 of Tempting Cargo
Now I had a taste of what having a mate could be like, even without a soulbond, the thought of marrying into another wealthy Orithian family was even more repulsive than ever. And yet, unless I got this right, it was the exact future my parents had planned for me.
I kicked back against the console, spinning my chair, and stomped to the window.
The timings were all skykked. Why couldn’t my awful mother and her equally awful neighbour let their feud simmer a few more years until I was ready?
Why couldn’t I have met Garrison a few years in the future when I was more likely to be free?
I stared out at the pale, glowing band of stars spread beyond the pane. The Ancestors, we called it, though my crew preferred the Orkri term Bone Bridge. And humans called it a Milk Way? My smile was faint, tinged with a familiar heaviness in my chest. What would the ancestors say to me if they could speak across the stars?
Probably that it was better to enjoy a few days and fly away with my heart and soul intact.
Wise elders. “How long until our destination?”
“A couple of hours at the current rate. Very leisurely, you said.”
“You may as well speed up. Let’s get this done.” I needed a miracle, but Vadias wasn’t the place for those. Nowhere was.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Vadias
Garrison
I LAGGED behindthe others as we took our final steps off theDorimisaonto the port dock, reaching up to touch the coolness of her hull for the last time.
Vadias gave a sense of what Old Earth might have been like. So much green everywhere. Short green plants covering the ground beyond the docking platform, masses of leaves on tall trees both nearby and off in the distance, and all manner of different plants in all shades and sizes in between. And the smells. The similarity between this and the giant tropical terrarium we’d visited on another colony—its cloying environment full of so many plants it made my head spin—was uncanny.
When you’d lived your whole life on some kind of space colony with an artificial atmosphere, it was no surprise the difference was unpleasant. I already missed the tang of recirculated ship air.
Imani and Fenn seemed entranced though, their heads turning this way and that, grabbing each other and pointing. Thehuge smiles on their faces softened the knot in my stomach. I wanted them to be happy.I could be happy for them, if not for myself.
The planet this moon orbited hung low in the sky, all ambers and burnt oranges streaked with deep reds and pale yellows. Large, flat rings spread around it like so many ripples. If I didn’t know any different, I could almost have believed we were back in the Sol system—but for all it reminded me of Saturn, my heart only ached for a moment. Sol wasn’t where I wanted to be either.
Shohari strode ahead, leading us to the port office where a bored-looking shaa took our details and commed someone to meet us.She didn’t even glance at me, and while it hurt, I understood. We’d barely spoken in the hours since we’d left her bed that morning; all the things I wanted to say to her writhed under my skin like so many itches I couldn’t scratch. I tore my gaze away.
Our guide was another shaa, though her orange skin was shot through with red in places, and she had no horns. She told us about the town we were going to, that it was only a short speeder ride, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want any of it.
Heat pricked at my eyes.You were supposed to ask me to stay.
Shohari shifted on her feet, and I swear Muzati kicked her in the calf.
“Hey Cap, we can pick up supplies if we go into town. I’ve always fancied looking around.”
When she replied, she was once again the gruff captain I’d met back on Draim and nothing like the Shohari I’d come to know. “We’re expected on Hydouis. I don’t want further delays.”
“We’re due some shore leave, Captain, surely?” Paiata’s tone was as even as always, but it held an undertone of steel.
Shohari looked pained, glancing at me, then back at her crew. “Aye, then.” She huffed. “I suppose I should see the lastof my cargo safe to their destination. They’re my responsibility until then.”
My brows rose, and I didn’t care if she saw. Had she really been planning to drop us off and just leave?
I tamped down the flash of anger threatening to rise. This goodbye would hurt no matter how we did it. If I was in her shoes, I suppose I might have done the same. But, fuck, why couldn’t there be another way?
My companions’ chatter was a background hum as we flew through the forest. The shaa kept the speeder low to the ground, maneuvering round the bends and twists in the rough path with practiced ease. Tree trunks flanked us, the forest so deep, only darkness lay beyond, though occasional movement broke the eerie stillness.
Forest creatures? I could have asked the guide if I’d cared.
As the trees thinned out, glints of sunlight peeked through until there was more light and space than trees. The speeder raced across open land, which wasn’t covered by just bushes for long; spires and canopies and windows came into view in a riot of colour, and we came to a gentle stop amongst other parked speeders on the edge of an urban sprawl.
