Chapter One – Vanessa
White wasn't a wedding color out among the stars, but Vanessa still felt like a bride. The tight bodice of the dress she was laced into emphasized her curvy hourglass figure, minimizing the roundness of her belly while at the same time balancing out her oversized hips and large breasts. The white fabric looked good on her golden tones, and she grinned in satisfaction as she gazed at her image projected by the little probes that buzzed around her, capturing pictures of her from every angle.
"I wish I could be half as beautiful as you," her alien attendant, a three-eyed Trioeil named Miki said, sighing in adoration as a silver crown was settled on top of Vanessa's head. "But then, all you humans are beautiful."
"You'd be beautiful, too if you were worshiped," Vanessa joked. "Honestly, back on Earth, I was certainly not considered a great beauty. Maybe parts of me, but not the whole."
"I don't believe that."
Vanessa shrugged. It had been almost a decade now that she had been woken up from cryostasis to find that she had been abducted from Earth. Not only that, but she had been drifting through the cosmos at light speed for who knew how long before she was woken. The temporal distortion caused by lightspeed travel combined with the stasis meant there was no knowing exactly how long it had been since she was taken from Earth.
One thing was for certain, though. Earth had died a long time ago. Vanessa had been taken to see it once. From orbit, it was a ball of brown. She hadn't gone to the surface, but it was clear that it had become an uninhabitable world.
Humans themselves had become mystical beings of sorts, revered by most, if not all, of the new religions practiced by the various species throughout the galaxy.
All the species were descended from humans, and though they couldn't interbreed with one another, human genetics accepted all other species. Thus, a human woman could give birth to every other species in the galaxy. Yet another reason why they were practically worshiped by churches, such as the one Vanessa found herself being pampered by at the moment.
"We are blessed to have you," Miki said, beaming at her with three large yellow eyes. "We have petitioned for a human to lead us through our dawning rites ever since the Zon Sanctuary was founded, you know."
"Yes, I know." Vanessa turned from her image. "Zon told me all about your parish before I journeyed here."
Zon, the fierce warlord that protected humans, had asked for volunteers, having carefully gone over security. Parishes such as the one Vanessa found herself in might worship humans, but there were plenty of aliens out there that did the opposite. Dozens of churches had declared the humans rescued from their stasis pods as 'fake' and encouraged violence against them. Not to mention the various corporations that were still after humans to dissect their DNA and conduct all sorts of horrific experiments.
At least the United Species, the ruling government body over the core worlds of the galaxy, had recently declared humans to be legal persons. It was thanks in no small part to Zon and his own human wife, Lisa. The announcement meant that humans were safer traveling outside of worlds controlled by Zon, although the safest places were still under his protection.
As for her part, Vanessa hadn't left the Sanctuary for a decade. At least, that was what she figured it to be. The planet the Sanctuary had been built on was Earth-like, with a similar daily and yearly cycle, but 'Earth time' remained substantially different from the standard time that the United Species used. Ten years was a long time, but the loss of Earth still hurt. Even though she had adapted to her new life, nothing felt like home.
Before she was taken, Vanessa's plan was to be a famous country singer by the time she turned thirty, a birthday that had to have come and gone by the time she awoke. When she learned that the dawning rites for this particular parish were led by a singer, well, she knew she couldn't pass up the chance to get her singing career back on track. Her mother always said that God gave her a voice to be used, so Vanessa was going to use it.
Although Vanessa wasn't sure what she believed anymore. Being abducted from her home and waking up thousands of years after Earth was rendered a dead world could do that to a girl.
"Ready to cut loose and do some dirty dancing?"
Miki looked horrified. "The dawn rites symbolize the purity of the new day and the new year. That's why you are dressed in white – to indicate the cleansing snows that will soon fall to wash away the sins of our previous year. There is no mud for you to dance in."
Vanessa sighed. "I was making a joke."
Miki made a little noise in her throat but didn't say anything else.
Within a few minutes, Vanessa was declared perfect, and she was led out of the small preparation room. Dozens of children, also dressed in white, lined the corridor as Vanessa walked towards the golden light of the performance hall where she would be singing the song she'd been practicing for months.
A bubble of nerves built in Vanessa's stomach. This was always her favorite part of the performance: excitement mixed with dread. What if she fell flat on her face? What if she lost her voice?
But every fear was counterbalanced with something more exciting. Imagining hitting the high notes just right. People being moved to tears by the clarity of her voice. The possibility of greatness.
It had been so long since she had sung to an audience. A real audience – not friends and not in the futuristic karaoke bars that had been built in Zon's Sanctuary.
Behind her, the children fell in line, humming. Vanessa had to remind herself to walk slow and stately. She represented all the possibilities of things to come, the fresh new start in these rites. Bouncing wasn't going to help anything. The parish had a lot riding on this ceremony, which meant a lot was riding on her.
She was almost to the end of the corridor when two aliens stepped out of a side corridor, blocking her way. Both were T'shav – Zon's species. Their devil-red skin looked out of place amidst the cool gray tones of the corridor, as did the great broadswords strapped to their backs. Both were bare-chested, wearing the skirt-like var'ki that was traditional among T'shav males.
"Is something wrong?" she asked, bewildered. "Did Zon send you?"
The T'shav on the left, shorter of the two, snickered. "Certainly not."
A frown creased Vanessa's brow and she turned to the other one for more information. As she got a good look at him, her heart skipped a beat. It had taken her a while to come to grips with aliens in general, but this guy would have been piping hot back on Earth as is. Strong jaw, deep black eyes, straight nose. Lips that were so full that Vanessa had to stop herself from staring. His black hair was slicked back into a wolf's tail at the crown of his head.
"Kulog, you are an idiot," this T'shav said to his companion as he drew the broadsword from his back. "This could have gone much smoother if you kept your mouth shut."
"You'd better keep your mouth," Kulog growled. "I didn't save your life to have you talk that way to me."
Vanessa drew back from the two T'shav. She had only positive interactions with the species, given that they were her protectors, but now she remembered the stories she had heard. T'shav had a reputation as mercenaries and cutthroats throughout the galaxy. And if these two had not been sent by Zon, that must be what they were.
"What are you after?" she demanded, even as Miki grabbed her arm and attempted to pull her back down the corridor.
"You, of course," the taller T'shav said. His brow furrowed as he stared at her.
Her heart was in her throat, but Vanessa shook off Miki and stepped forward. "If you promise not to hurt anybody, I'll go with you."
The taller T'shav's eyes narrowed. He opened his mouth, but before he could respond, a shout rang down the corridor. Vanessa turned to see one of the priests coming for them, a blaster in his hand. Two muted blasts echoed from behind her. Twin balls of bright red energy shot past her. They impacted the priest's chest, lifting him bodily from the ground.
Vanessa's mouth opened to scream, but nothing came out. The children were all running away, their cries echoing in the narrow space. Miki wrapped her spindly arms around Vanessa's waist and tried to pull her back, but the human gripped her wrists and pulled them off. She spun to face the T'shav, only to find herself face-to-face with the taller of the two.
Whatever she had been about to say or do faded away. Her lungs locked, and her heart seemed to stop beating altogether. She stared into the black eyes and a thrill of fear ran down her spine. What were they going to do with her?
The T'shav reached around her and grabbed Miki's arm. He spun the small alien around, slamming her into the wall. The little alien shrieked and collapsed, hands pressing over her face. Blood poured down her face. The T'shav seized Vanessa around the waist and threw her over his shoulder. She yelped and began beating against his back, but he didn't seem to notice at all.
"Leave the Trioeil," he ordered.
Vanessa's head jerked up to see the shorter T'shav bending over Miki. He looked annoyed. "I need somebody for my musth."
Musth. The hormonal cycle that T'shav males went through. Vanessa could breathe for a moment as horror froze her.
During their musth, T'shav males became both unpredictably violent and had an insatiable sexual drive. Pheromones they produced at the time made women go crazy with lust for them as well. Vanessa's stomach cramped and she renewed her efforts, fighting against the T'shav that held her. He grunted in annoyance and dropped her.
"Leave the Trioeil. You can hire a woman once we're paid for the human. And you." He shoved a finger into Vanessa's face. "Stop fighting me or I'll kill your friend. Understood?"
Vanessa's mouth was dry, but she nodded. The T'shav grunted and picked her up again. This time, she didn't struggle as he and his companion raced down the corridor. She couldn’t hear anything but the blood pumping in her ears. What was she supposed to do now? And how could she have ever found this animal attractive?