BROOKE

“A ship’s landing,” Gail calls out, surprised. “Come and see.”

I rouse myself from my furs, but just a little. I’m supposed to be sick, after all. Summer would kill me if she knew that I’d bailed out on our fruit-gathering run just because I wanted to avoid a man.

One man in particular.

Taushen.

I don’t know what to make of that particular sa-khui male. The married—sorry, mated—ones are all very nice and super devoted to their wives. The single ones are a lot harder to make heads or tails of. I’ve tried flirting—and flirting heavily—to test the waters. Being a pretty girl can be powerful. Considering I’ve got no skills except hairdressing, I’m at a distinct disadvantage here in the wild. If the only things I’ve got going for me are a vagina and boobs, I’m going to have to use them to the best of my ability. It doesn’t work out so well, though. Of the single men, Harrec is clearly enamored of Kate, and Warrek might as well be a statue. Only Taushen replies to my flirting, and it’s usually with a scowl. It’s clear that he doesn’t find me attractive and doesn’t like me in the slightest.

So when I heard that Warrek, Summer, me, and Taushen were all supposed to go to the fruit caves overnight to gather supplies? I feigned cramps…and then a migraine, just to cover my bases. No way am I going on that trip. Maybe that makes me a jerk, but the thought of Taushen glaring at me all day when I try to be friendly just makes me shrivel up inside a little.

“I’m serious,” Gail says, standing in the doorway of the Elders’ Ship and gazing out into the snowy sky. “It’s a ship. I know you feel lousy right now, but come look and tell me I’m not crazy.”

She’s not going to let this go until I come and check it out. With a groan, I drag myself out of bed and stagger over to where she’s standing. “What? Are you sure it’s not just a big bird?” I peer past her shoulder and then pause in surprise. Huh. It is a ship. “Doesn’t that look like…”

“The ship we got here on? Yup. Unless all alien ships look the same.” Gail looks worried.

“Doesn’t look like this one,” I point out. It’s all sleek-looking, whereas the one we’re on is more blobby and rounded. Of course, that might be the heaps of snow covering it or the fact that it’s falling down around our ears.

“No, you’re right.” She presses her fingers to her mouth and then glances over at me. “You don’t think they’re coming back to get us, do you?”

I clutch at her arm, sick at the thought. The people that brought us here bought us as slaves and then dumped us as a “favor” to the tribe here. While I’m grateful I’m not a slave anymore, I’d also rather be back on Earth. But there’s no reason for them to come back…unless it’s what Gail’s saying. They’re coming back to grab us. “Should we hide?”

“Is that one of the flying caves?” a voice booms out. It’s Vaza, Gail’s blue boyfriend. He’s older than the others, though you wouldn’t know it based off of how he looks. Other than a few gray streaks in his black hair, he’s just as built as all these other guys. “Shail, did you see?”

“I saw,” she tells him. “Vaza, what if they’re here to take us back?” She puts an arm around my shoulders, and I’m not sure if it’s because she thinks I need the support, or if she needs someone to hang on to.

“Never,” he says staunchly. “You are here now. You have a khui. It cannot be stolen from you.”

Vaza may be sure about that, but I seem to recall a lot of medical technology on the ship, and I’m not sure he’s right. Either way, it doesn’t ease my fears.

Nor Gail’s, it seems. She still casts worried looks at the doorway. “Should we go out and say hello?”

We watch as the ship settles onto the snow close by. The ramp lowers, but no one gets out. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle.

“Did you hear something?” Harrec pushes his way into the main living area of the ship, a fur blanket wrapped around his hips. He’s naked otherwise, and behind him, a disheveled Kate follows, almost as nude. Clearly the ship landing interrupted some hanky-panky.

Rukh and Harlow appear out of another passageway, Rukhar holding his mother’s hand. Behind them are Farli and Mardok, and in the space of a breath, Bek and Elly appear as well. Well, crap. Everyone’s here now except Taushen, Warrek, and Summer, who are off at the fruit cave. At least Taushen’s not here to bug me.

“What was that?” someone asks.

“They have returned,” says a voice behind me. Oh no. I look at the ramp into the Elders’ Ship to see Taushen coming inside. He looks slightly sweaty, as if he ran all the way here.

Vaza exclaims at the sight of him. “Taushen? Why have you returned?”

“It is not important.” He flicks a quick look at me and then focuses on the others. “Suh-mer and Warrek continued on to the fruit caves. I did not, and came back just in time to see the new cave land.”

“It’s a ship,” I correct him crabbily. “It’s not a flying cave. It’s a spaceship.”

“It’s fine,” Gail says in a soothing voice, patting my shoulder. She casts another worried look at Vaza. “But shouldn’t we go out and say hello?”

“Of course,” Vaza booms, ever-cheerful. He gives Gail another adoring look. “Anything for you.”

“Not just for her,” I mutter, crossing my arms, but Gail nudges me.

“I will go with you,” Harrec says, knotting the fur at his waist and moving to Vaza’s side. Rukh surges forward, too.

Bek touches Elly’s cheek. “Stay here, safe with the other females. I will find out what is happening.”

She nods, and I can see she’s trembling, her shoulders hunched. Poor Elly. I have a sick knot in my gut at the thought of the Tranquil Lady returning, because I don’t want to be taken back. I can’t imagine the hell that she’s going through right now, given that she was a slave for a lot longer than the rest of us.

Gail must sense how Elly’s feeling, because she immediately crosses over to her side and grabs one of the furs from my bed, wrapping it around Elly. “Come sit down, honey. You’re pale.” She pulls Elly toward the fire, clucking over her.

“No, no,” I mutter to myself. “I’m fine now, Gail. Really. I didn’t need that blanket.”

Taushen snorts, the only person close enough to hear my grumblings.

I shoot him a quick look, hoping he doesn’t expose my crankiness to the others, but he says nothing. He’s watching the other hunters head down the ramp, led by Vaza with Mardok not far behind him. “Shouldn’t you go join them?” I ask him, hoping he’ll leave.

But he only shakes his head and grips his spear tightly in one hand, gaze on the snowy plain that the others are crossing. “Someone must guard the females.”

I’m about to point out that we shouldn’t need guarding from the crew of the Tranquil Lady when Vaza stumbles and falls down. It’s so unlike one of the graceful sa-khui that I gasp in surprise. But when Taushen flings himself in front of me, a growl in his throat, I realize Vaza didn’t fall down by accident after all.

He’s been shot.

“What’s happening?” I whisper, trying to peer over Taushen’s shoulder. He’s well over a foot taller than me, and I can’t see, so I grab his brawny blue bicep and try to peek around him.

Taushen growls low in his throat, and for a moment I think he’s mad at me for trying to get around him—but then I see a bright flash. There’s a man standing on the ramp of the other ship, a long, thin weapon propped at his shoulder just like a rifle. At least, I think it’s a man. It’s two-legged, but he’s got an orange bubblehead and round, fishlike eyes. He stands over Vaza’s fallen body and nudges it with the end of his gun. I realize with horror that Vaza’s not the only one on the ground, and there are others scattered in the snow. As I watch, another orange alien comes down the ramp, too. He’s got a gun as well and waves it at the wreck of the ship we’re currently standing in.

Someone moans behind me. It’s Gail. “Are they dead?” she whispers.

“They are twitching,” Taushen says, voice cold. His grip is tight on the door jamb. “But they do not move otherwise.”

“Maybe…maybe they shocked them?” I ask. I can’t look away. The sa-khui are scattered in the snow before the newcomers, and it’s clear they tried to race away the moment they started shooting. “I didn’t hear gunshots, but maybe they’re not regular guns…”

“Harrec,” Kate sobs, clutching at the doorframe. “We have to do something.” Behind her, Harlow is pale, clutching her son close.

I look to Taushen, but he’s clearly torn. He shifts in place, as if he wants to lunge after the others, but he keeps glancing back at the human women clustered in the doorway, and I can practically read his mind. He wants to spring to the defense of the others…but he also doesn’t want to abandon us since he’s established himself as our protector.

One of the aliens looks up at our ship and nods. He sees us standing there and calls something out in a strange tongue. I can’t make out what he’s saying, but I can guess it. Come out if you want to live. The muzzle of his gun is lowered ever so slightly, as if to reassure us.

“Should we go out?” I whisper. Elly shrinks down, curling into a ball on the floor. Her eyes are huge and staring out at the snow, as if silently willing Bek to get up. I’m sick at the heartbreak in her eyes. Sick at all of this. Is there no safe place in the universe?

“What did they say?” Farli asks.

“Nothing good,” Taushen says grimly. “Stay here, all of you.”

He strides forward a footstep, then pauses and shoves his spear into my hand. “Guard them.”

Wide-eyed, I nod. The thought of going up against men with guns with a bone spear is terrifying, but what choice do I have? My heart is hammering in my chest, and I’m so freaking scared I feel like I can’t breathe.

Taushen turns back around to the strange aliens and takes a few slow steps forward. He’s not more than halfway down the short ramp when the alien lifts his gun, pointing it at Taushen, and barks a new order. Taushen pauses.

“I think they want us to go with him,” I whisper to the others.

Gail nods and puts an arm around a trembling, sheet-white Elly. Kate’s sobbing, but she moves next to me, and Farli moves to my other side. I look for Harlow, but she’s receded into the shadows. I can’t blame her—she’s got a kid on her arm and one in her belly to think about.

“Stay behind me,” Taushen warns us. “Do not make any sudden moves. Let me protect you.”

Brave words, but as the cluster of us moves slowly forward, I don’t think there’s anything he can do. There’s nothing any of us can do except surrender.