Chapter Nine
It has been three days since Era left me and I find myself agitated in all my interactions. Her loss has struck me even deeper than I imagined it would. I have lain with many females in my time. I have taken plenty. I have left them all behind for one reason or another, and though I have missed them, it has never been a source of pain before. But now I hurt. From the moment I wake to when I fall asleep, there is a pain in the very pit of me.
Unfortunately, my mood has been obvious to those who know me. I have taken to drinking in the bar, vast amounts that leave me numb to the hollowness inside. In an effort to distract me from my misery, the rest of the Rathkari high command has sent me a gift. She is a blended woman from a thousand stars, one of our finest specimens. Her eyes are wide and emerald brown, a color that does not exist in the typical spectrum.
She is trained in the art of submission and pleasure. Her voice is melodic and gentle, her skin is a beautiful blue hue. Her hair falls in a star-shine silver cascade all the way to her perfectly shaped breasts easily visible through the sheer robe.
She is not ashamed of her nudity as Era is. She does not blush as my eyes fall on her. She smiles invitingly as she enters my chambers.
“How would you have me, Commander?”
I gesture toward the seating area. She requires no further direction. Her fingers move to her shoulders and she pushes the sheer robe down to let it fall gracefully over her perfect frame in a manner that I know must have been practiced a thousand times. She spreads herself on the soft surface, her arms above her head, her hands clasped together to present her breasts and her belly and her sex with parted thighs.
Era would not submit like this. I would have to pin her by the hands just to get her to lie down. I would have to growl and lecture her to stop her from squirming. This woman sighs and falls into perfect position, and though I am not immune to her beauty—this is not the same.
Era is gone, however. She chose the shuttle and her freedom. I cannot mope. There is no strength in that. I must move forward, make new conquests.
I look down and admire the way she is flowering beneath me, the petals of her sex flushed with desire. When I look below her navel, I feel desire, but the moment I raise my eyes to her face, I know she is not the woman I want. She is beautiful, but she is not Era.
“Stand up,” I say. “Put your robe back on.”
She does as she is told immediately, but there is confusion on her face as she pulls the gauzy fabric that covers nothing back over her body.
“Do I displease you, Commander?”
“No,” I reassure her gently. “You are eminently pleasing. I will pass on my highest regards and recommendations. I am merely…” I search for words. “Distracted.”
Her glance, for the merest fraction of a moment, is doubtful, but then the trained smile reasserts itself and she bobs her head slightly. “Please call on me again, Commander, if you desire.”
I watch the woman leave, her natural gait a sensual sway that would have driven me into a sexual frenzy before I met Era. I feel nothing. No impulse to conquer. No desire at all.
The moment she leaves, I know I have made the biggest error in all my life. I should never have presented Era with the option to leave. Even if she begged for her freedom every day of her life, I should have kept her. She was mine, and I am going to reclaim her.
* * *
The shuttle is tracked, of course. It should not be too hard to find her. A simple instruction to our tracking team should lead to her location. I am going to get my girl back.
I dress myself swiftly and make my way to the team responsible for tracking our ships. The young officer is only too keen to assist me. He turns to his monitors and begins to work with them as I wait impatiently. I should be preparing a shuttle of my own, but I want to know where she is first. Depending on how far she’s managed to make it, I may need heavier or lighter transport.
“Well?”
“Sorry, sir. There seems to be some kind of interference with the tracker…”
My heart drops to the pit of my stomach. “What do you mean…”
“I’m sure it’s just background radiation, sir, it can take a few minutes to lock a signal down sometimes.”
I’m making him nervous, I can tell. His palms are leaving sweaty marks on the interface.
“Let me know when you find it,” I say. “I will be preparing transport.”
“Yes sir.”
I go to the shuttle bay to pick out a suitable craft. She has the Starskipper. It is a robust and swift shuttle, but there are faster. I am considering the Ranger or the Warscout when the same young man approaches me, a tablet in his hand and a look of obsequious concern on his face.
“We’ve located the shuttle, sir.”
“Good. Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
That answer pleases me much less than the one before it.
“What do you mean, you don’t know?”
He cringes visibly, afraid of my ire. “We have found the shuttle. It is part of a Katiri convoy. She seems to have traded it. They have been hostile since contact, and do not seem to be inclined to indicate where she might have gone.”
The Katiri are traders. They’re small, they’re nimble, and they possess ships that are capable of interstellar travel in the blink of an eye. Suddenly, the few million mile radius I could safely assume she had to be within has extended to a nearly infinite amount of space. I have lost her in those stars she once stared at with such wonder.
“Impound the ship, bring me the Katiri captain. I need information.”
“Sir, that will cause diplomatic…”
“Impound the ship,” I growl. Diplomacy be damned. If the Katiri care about diplomacy, they shouldn’t be taking our ships as trade, and they certainly shouldn’t be denying me information.
Unfortunately, the ship is hours away, so for hours I am forced to wait. Every passing minute increases my agitation. I am aware that my impatience will not serve me well, nor will it get Era back any more quickly. Her absence is my fault. I shouldn’t be blaming our crews. I shouldn’t be blaming anyone besides myself.
* * *
“I’ll sue every single one of you fuckers!”
My orders have been carried out. The Katiri ship has been impounded and the captain taken into custody. Suffice to say, the Katiri captain is not pleased. He comes all the way up to my waist, but that doesn’t make him any less of a fearsome contender. The Katiri are one of the very few species we have not subjugated. In the end, it was easier to make an alliance with them than deal with their constant rebellions, not to mention their natural litigiousness.
He has long red hair covering much of his face, but two bright green eyes peer out from amid it. He is wearing the traditional dress of the Katiri, beaten sheet metal that encompasses his rotund frame. He’s stamping around the room, but stops when I enter.
“You, you’re the fucker who got me hemmed up here!”
“I believe you met a human woman named Era,” I say, getting to the point.
“I believe you can boil your dick.”
His insolence is an irritant, and I have no time for it.
“Did you see her, or not?”
“We saw her. Saddest little thing we ever laid eyes on.”
“Where did she go?”
He shrugs. “Promised not to tell. Was a condition of sale.”
“Rathkari shuttles remain property of the Rathkari empire. You know that. Your leaders signed a treaty agreeing to return all materials and technology that might fall into your hands.”
“Someone somewhere signed it, but I didn’t. I made my deal with that girl, and I honor my deals.”
I could break him in two. I’m tempted to do it. His defiance does not amuse me. I bend down, hands on my knees so I can get in his face. When I speak, it is with icy tones that carry all the vehemence I can muster.
“You are the one thing between me and the woman I love most. You do not want to be that thing, I promise you.”
He snorts. “The Katiri provide fuel to a thousand Rathkari colonies. You really want to jeopardize that more than you already have?”
I straighten and nod. “I see what the problem is. You think this is a rational conversation between two men. You think I’m interested in the bigger picture. You’re wrong. I am a dangerous, irrational male looking for his mate, and I will do whatever it takes to get her back. I will start a war—I will start a hundred wars if I have to—and you will be the first victim. Your head will…”
“Easy.” The Katiri holds up his hands and shakes his head. “Fine. I get it. Dramatic. Okay. She’s on one of our freighters heading for Essinia.”
“Call the freighter. Turn them around. I want her back.”
“They have perishable goods and medications aboard. Can’t turn them around. You’ll have to take a faster ship and overhaul them. Shouldn’t be any real difficulty for a Rathkari commander willing to tear the universe apart.”