Chapter Sixteen
Coming slowly awake, Eva stared at the stark white ceiling. It could have been any ceiling anywhere, but the humming noise, one she’d listened to every night for three long years told her was in her quarters on the Odyssey. Groggy and sore from the fiery jolt of Zalina’s weapon, Eva lay quietly for a moment, trying to piece together the lost chunk of time since then. It wouldn’t come.
Every muscle in her body screamed in protest as she forced herself to sit up. Lips dry and throat scratchy, she stared at the kitchen in the far corner, more specifically the drink dispenser. Since a cool cup of water wasn’t going to appear magically in her hand, she dragged her body out of bed, groaning with every step, shuffled stiffly across the room. After gulping two full glasses of water to relieve her severe case of cotton-mouth, she headed for the door. She had to find her captain and tell her she wanted to go back.
When she tried the entry panel, nothing happened. When she tried the manual override code, a red light flashed on the display. She stared at it with a strong sense of déjà vu. Although she knew better, she put her hands flat on the panel and tried to slide it open. It didn’t budge.
“Let me out!” she yelled, as she banged a fist on the door in frustration.
This went on for a while until a night-shift guard she barely knew entered with food.
“Tell Captain Vohlmer I’d like to see her,” Eva demanded of the guard as soon as she was in the door.
“She’s busy,” was her clipped reply as she crossed the room and set a covered tray on the table.
“I know, but this is important.”
She didn’t answer and turned to leave.
“Wait. How long am I to be locked up?” The guard kept walking, not sparing her a glance. “Please! I’ll go nuts if I have to stay in here.”
At the door, the woman paused and shot an annoyed look over her shoulder. “You’re confined to quarters indefinitely. Maggie is pissed over this whole Primarian capture fiasco. I expect she’ll deal with you in due time.” Without elaborating, she left.
Due time turned out to be two days.
To Eva, forty-eight excruciating hours of tedious waiting and wondering, and a whole lot of fruitless, agitated pacing seemed like an eternity. And in that time, she was miserable. The burn on her side constantly ached, her head pounded, and her stomach stayed tied in knots. And she couldn’t stop thinking about Kerr.
What had he thought when he came home and she had essentially vanished off the face of the planet? Was he angry, hurt, relieved? Did he think she had a hand in setting the fire in the mines? He must, and rather than merely angry, he must be livid.
She felt sick.
Her only visitors were guards she hardly knew—Maggie’s order no doubt. Her friends would be more sympathetic and might stay more than five seconds or talk to her. Since she didn’t have any distractions, she spent her time looking at the situation from all angles.
Her conclusion? They all shared the blame.
Her captain and crew of the Odyssey weren’t entirely innocent. They had started it all by intruding on an unknown planet, prepared to do what they must to find a safe place for their people.
Conversely, Kerr and his warriors were justified in defending their property from alien intruders then did what they must to save their people.
Hadn’t they both acted out of necessity, perhaps desperation, for the same goal?
A sharp knock on the door preceded the doors opening. Lying in bed, in the dark, facing the wall, Eva ground out, “Take it away. I’m not hungry.”
“Your last tray is untouched. You have to eat, Eva.”
She knew the voice well.
Rolling onto her back, she saw Tara, one of the crew she’d become close friends with during the journey, standing beside the table with a tray. She was frowning down at her untouched breakfast and lunch.
“Why are you here, Tara?”
“Because Dr. Juna received reports you are refusing your meals. They thought I might be able to coax some food into you.”
“You’ve wasted your time,” she replied, and repeated, “I’m not hungry.”
Tara set her tray down with the others before she came and perched on the side of her bed. “I’m worried about you. Eva. You’re depressed.”
“Wouldn’t you be if you were abducted and held prisoner twice in the same month?”
“Once was enough for me. Is it true you wanted to stay with your barbarian?”
“He isn’t mine.” Eva sighed. “And they aren’t barbarians, although you couldn’t have convinced me otherwise at first. They’re just different from us. In some ways, better.”
“You mean tall, dark, and hot ways?”
“Noticed that, did you?”
“What am I? Dead?”
Eva’s lips twitched. One thing about Tara, she could always make her laugh.
“We were in a holding area, while there,” Tara said. “It was only for a couple of days, but they treated us well while we were there. I didn’t see anything close to what Eryn described.”
“What did she say?”
“They treat their women as sex slaves, punish them with spankings, and they have public punishments in the town square.”
Eva was hard-pressed to deny any of it, so she didn’t.
“Then it’s true?” Tears welled in Tara’s eyes as she whispered, “Oh, Eva.”
She pushed herself up on the bed and reached out to squeeze her friend’s arm. “That didn’t happen to me. At least not all of it.”
“Please, say the ‘not all of it’ was the public punishment.”
“They have several archaic beliefs. He spanked me, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds.”
“And the other?”
She couldn’t keep the heat from rushing to her face.
Tara noticed. “So, yes to sex slave. Was it as good as it sounds?” As soon as she said it, her hand flew to her mouth. “Oh my God, Eva. Forget what I said. I was joking, and doing it badly. I’m so sorry.”
Knowing her friend well, Eva waited two seconds.
“No, don’t forget I asked. I’m dying to know. They are gorgeous, and it had been so long. I was having some awesome fantasies starring a seven-foot-tall, raven-haired, alien with violet eyes tying me to his bed.”
Her lips did more than twitch this time.
“Spill!”
Memories of the mate’s helper positions three and eight prompted her honest response. “It was as good as it sounds.”
Tara’s jaw dropped then she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “Phew! What a relief.” She grew serious a moment later. “Would you go back if you could?”
“In a heartbeat.”
Tara sighed. “After three years on this bucket of bolts with only women, I think I’d go with you.”
Eva looked at her, brows arched in surprise.
Her friend smiled. “I had a boyfriend a few years back who liked to spank me during sex. It was hot.” Tara’s smile widened into a grin. “I think I could adapt.”
“I’m glad they sent you to check on me; you always could cheer me up.”
“What are friends for?” she said, grinning. “But the real test is can I get you to eat?”
A sudden shockwave shook the ship, knocking them both to the floor.
“What was that?” Eva shouted as the alarm sounded general quarters.
“The same thing happened when the aliens boarded us the first time.” Tara jumped to her feet. “I need to get to my post.”
“I’m coming with you.” Holding her injured side, she was on her heels on the way to the door.
“You’re confined to quarters.”
Another shudder quake hit, and the lights flickered. “But you can’t leave me here, locked in and by myself!”
“All right.” Tara’s voice held a strange note of resignation. “I suppose if we’re going to be abducted all over again, it doesn’t matter.”
Out in the corridor, the alarm blared even louder. They ran to the elevator and rode three levels up to the bridge. As the doors opened, they both froze in their tracks. On the thirty-foot-wide viewing screen, filling it from edge to edge, was a massive battlecruiser many times larger than the Odyssey.
“Holy shit,” Tara breathed.
“I knew they’d come after us,” Eva murmured, the prospect of seeing Kerr both excited and filled her with dread.
Maggie turned and glared at her. “Your alien boyfriend has come well-armed. They’ve disabled our stealth capability, and we can’t hope to outrun them.”
“Why do we need to run?”
“So they don’t enslave us, you fool!” The captain turned her angry glare on Tara. “Take her back to her quarters and see she stays there.”
“Wait, please,” Eva implored. “They need us, but we need them, too. Three years into our mission and we’re no closer to a solution. Their hunting planet is perfect for our needs. Why not work with them toward a mutually agreeable arrangement?”
“Are you proposing we trade women to slavers for land? Are you insane?”
“You’ve been listening to Eryn too much. Please, hear me out. It’s true they took us against our will, but, within two weeks, seven out of eight of our women bonded happily with their Primarian mates.”
“Seven?” Maggie challenged. “You are including yourself, Lieutenant La Croix?”
“Yes. I changed my mind and wanted to stay, but I wasn’t given a choice.” Her eyes shifted to Eryn then back to the imposing Primarian ship. “Now, I don’t know where I stand.”
There was a loud thud near her as a crewman staggered and fell to the floor. Another, manning a control panel, slid out of her chair, unconscious.
“Not again,” Tara uttered. Around them, one after another, the bridge personnel collapsed at their posts. She swayed, and fell into her, taking them both down together.
Eva tried to break her fall, but her limbs wouldn’t listen to her brain. Her lips wouldn’t form words, and the scream she intended wouldn’t come out.
Lying there, as the room tilted and whirled, she tried to make her body move, fingers, toes, anything, but all she could do was stare straight ahead.
She knew her heart still beat because she could hear it thumping wildly in her ears. And she could feel every sensation, the coolness of the circulating air on her skin, the hard floor beneath her, and Tara’s warm body pressed against her. The rise and fall of her chest reassured her; at least her friend was still breathing.
The elevator doors whooshed open long moments later; someone came onto the bridge. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and a shadow crossed over her. Then a man stepped into her line of sight.
Despite the protective respirator covering his face, the richly tanned skin, dark hair, and teal eyes were familiar.
Trask!
She would have gasped or screamed if she could have, for he looked angry. No, the weak descriptor didn’t do the fiery emotion boiling within those stunning eyes justice. He was livid.
“I’ve found her!” he called.
Other footsteps drew close. Commander Rothke, who she’d seen only once before on the trip to Primaria, which seemed an eternity ago, bent over her next. Wearing the breathing gear didn’t hide his seething rage, either.
“I’ll carry her aboard ship,” he growled. “Though I’d rather give her the thrashing she deserves.”
“No, you are needed to captain the females’ ship. Besides, I vowed to protect her, so it is my duty. No matter how unpleasant.” Trask leaned low and scooped her up in his arms. “The thrashing will be left for Kerr to decide, or the Council if we’re too late.”
His sharp tone stung, but she was struck cold by his last comment. What did he mean by too late? And why hadn’t Kerr come for her himself? The Council wouldn’t have a say in her punishment unless he wasn’t able.
Perhaps the smoke and mirrors had been more than Eryn’s ally had promised and he’d been hurt. As her mind ran through the grimmest of possibilities, her thudding heart threatened to choke her. She would have demanded answers. Instead, her body reacted the only way it could, and tears pooled in her eyes.
He carried her swiftly to the lift, and, as it descended, Trask glanced down at her. Her image of him was watery and distorted, but she could see him frown when one tear overflowed, trickling over her lashes and down her temple.