Chapter Thirteen
Her nerves unsettled, Maggie sat in her captain’s chair, literally on the edge of her seat, and stared at the sea of infinite blackness on the viewing screen. Occasionally, her eyes homed in on a twinkle of a passing star, but otherwise, there was nothing. The scanners continually searching for a ship in pursuit were silent, no blips or screeching alarms. But she wasn’t so easily lulled into thinking they had gotten away.
Primarian warriors were proud, even more, they were determined. The fact that females, human ones at that, had escaped from beneath their very noses, would bother them greatly, jarring their gigantic egos. Not least of all, they needed every one of the nearly three hundred pairs of ovaries on her ship.
Yes, they were coming. The question was when.
“Engineering,” she called out suddenly.
“Quinn here, Captain,” came the chief’s reply a few moments later.
“Status?”
“We’re still running systems checks, ma’am. Other than our stealth capabilities, which have completely deleted, we haven’t found anything else altered yet.”
“Deleted!” Maggie scoffed. “You mean stolen. Let me know when you find more modifications. If they’d pilfer our best technology, I’m certain they’ve messed with something else.”
“Maybe there wasn’t time,” Quinn suggested.
“Keep searching. Bridge, out.”
She stood and began to pace, unable to sit for longer than a few seconds since arriving back on the ship. And she was irritable, biting everyone’s head off. They were all wired, and Maggie was worse than anyone. On top of that, she was exhausted, yet couldn’t imagine lying down and trying to sleep, not with the commander out there somewhere.
Coffee. That’s what she needed. It might backfire, but it was either that or keel over from sleep deprivation. The crew would just have to suck it up; her bad mood would only last as long as it took to get light years away from Primaria.
As the doors to the bridge swooshed open and her boot hit the floor of the corridor, Teagan stopped her. Sheer terror made her navigator’s voice quiver, and she called out, “Captain, dear God, look.”
Her fear was well warranted, because there, covering every square inch of the twenty-by-thirty-foot, state-of-the-art opti-res full-color screen, was the underbelly of an enormous battle cruiser.
“Where the fuck did it come from?” Nala shouted.
“It just appeared.”
“Out of nowhere?” Maggie demanded.
“No, ma’am, out of stealth mode.”
Damn him! He’d taken their technology and used it against them.
“Sound the alarm,” she ordered as a sense of déjà vu swept over her. This time as she stared at the ship, she knew who and what it contained. An inevitably pissed-off Commander Roth, not to mention a full contingent of angry warriors, considering they had bested many of them and left more than a handful tied and helpless. She could only imagine his retribution for this affront to his pride.
“Shields.”
“They’ve been up since we identified our stealth was gone.”
“We can’t hope to outrun them.”
“No, ma’am.”
“We’re screwed,” Nala hissed. “I knew we should have taken hostages. What the fuck do we do now?”
“Reverse full speed and come about,” she ordered, as she rushed to the navigation maps.
“Holy shit,” Rebecca muttered as she came onto the bridge. “What are we doing, fighting, or are we making a run for it?”
“Neither. Even at maximum power, which will drain our stores considerably, they’ll overtake us in a matter of hours. And I have a feeling our weapons will make them laugh,” Maggie muttered, pressing buttons on the panel to zoom out, her eyes frantically searching.
“What are you thinking?” Rebecca had come up beside her and was watching over her shoulder.
“There!” she exclaimed, pointing to the digitalized display. “Sector 6, Teagan. Set a course for that nebula cloud.” She twisted to her first officer. “If we can’t outrun them, maybe we can hide until we figure this out.”
Maggie heard the engines engage a nanosecond before the ship began to move. It wasn’t the ordinary smooth acceleration, instead, shuddering roughly, and the next instant she was on the floor.
“Ma’am!”
Flat on her back, she tried to sit up, but the g-forces were holding her down.
“Captain.” Teagan again tried to get her attention.
“Talk to me from there; I can’t seem to get up.”
“We’ve discovered some other modifications, ma’am.”
It was difficult, but Maggie turned her head Teagan’s way, blinking when she saw the Primarian battleship on the screen in front of her getting smaller instead of drawing nearer.
“They’ve upgraded our engines, which might give us a chance.”
“Do you mean we can outrun them?”
“That’s highly doubtful,” Teagan said realistically. “They are already gaining. Obviously, they didn’t upgrade us to their classification. I meant we might be able to outpace them long enough to reach that nebula cloud.”
A wave of excitement rippled through the bridge.
“Get us there, Lieutenant, but maybe a hair slower so I can peel myself off the floor of my own damn bridge.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Amusement was evident in her ordinarily businesslike demeanor, but in a few moments, the engines had cut power enough for her to sit up. Maggie rose shakily to her feet, as did the others who hadn’t been seated when they hit what seemed to be light speed.
“Hyper-fusion?” she wondered aloud.
“I don’t know what it is, Captain,” Teagan said with a huge grin, practically giddy. “But for a moment there, we were pulling more G’s than I’ve ever felt before. It’s freaking hot having so much power at my fingertips.”
Relieved laughter rippled through the control room and for the first time in days, the mood seemed lighter.
“Rebecca, Nala, Kara,” Maggie called. “Get down to engineering and help Quinn find out what other enhancements our dominant friends might have gifted us with.”
They hadn’t been gone long and were still a good distance shy of the nebula when their bubble of enthusiasm was shot to hell as systems around the ship started failing. The helm was affected first.
Maggie sensed it and glanced up from her monitor. “Are we slowing?”
Teagan didn’t answer as she worked furiously on her touch panel.
“Navigation?”
“The helm isn’t responding.” The hum of the engines cut out as she said it. Teagan threw up her hands. “I’m not doing it, ma’am. Someone else has the controls.”
“Bridge to engineering,” she called. “Quinn, what the hell is going on down there? We’ve lost the helm.”
“It’s not us,” the chief replied, sounding harried. “The engines reduced to half power, and there isn’t a thing I can do about it.”
“Incoming message, Captain.”
Maggie turned to a grim-faced Britta at the communications console then her gaze cut to the screen. Roth’s ship was looming in the distance, growing larger with each tick of the clock.
“It’s from Commander Rothke,” she announced without being asked. “He wants to speak to you.”
She swallowed, anxiety making her throat dry. “Put him on speaker.” Not view screen, she added silently, as if seeing him—even though it hardly mattered in their dire situation—would make the situation even worse.
There was a beep as the channel opened for all the bridge to hear.
“This is Captain Vohlmer. I demand you release control of our ship and let us go.”
“More demands, Maggie? Do you forget what your last few got you?”
Her face flushed as she felt eyes boring into her from all around the room. She didn’t acknowledge his statement. “We are a free people, Commander. You have no right—”
“We’ve been through this as well. You have been claimed by Primaria; the ship you stole is ours, as are you. You also have our Prima on board. Taking her from her mate, our Princep, can be considered an act of treason.”
“It’s not treason if we aren’t Primarians, dammit. We are from Earth; our allegiance is to our home planet and our people, not you. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?”
Silence met her question, but it lasted only a moment because Roth’s image suddenly appeared on the screen.
She spun to face Britta who held up her hands and shook her head. She hadn’t put him on screen; the bastard controlled every damn thing, evidently.
Maggie turned back to the screen. Roth’s eyes glittered with fury, the deeper-than-usual purple hue issuing a warning before his voice did. When it came, it was sternly unyielding and sent an icy-cold shiver down her spine.
“We have full control, Captain, and we have every intention of reclaiming the Odyssey in the name of Primaria, as well as all of its subjects aboard ship. Now, you can do this the easy way, and cooperate, or we can board you like we did the last time. You have ten seconds to decide.”
Unsure what to do, Maggie’s gaze swept through her officers. Rebecca was there, looking frustrated and angry. Eryn stood with her back to the wall, seeming shaken and resigned.
“Five seconds,” came Roth’s implacable warning.
“Eryn? Suggestions?”
For the first time since Maggie had known her, she read defeat in her gaze. “I don’t have any, Mags. At every turn, they outthink us or beat us in strength, technology, or firepower. And in a pissing contest, I guarantee we will not win, damn him.”
“Him?”
Eryn averted her eyes as she nodded. “Ram. I left him bound to our bed. Worse, since we didn’t bond, he told me he planned to ask for his release from me. Now, without a male in authority over me, it will fall to the council to decide what happens. I don’t think clemency is a word they recognize.” Clutching her belly as though in pain, she slid down the wall.
“Someone help her—”
Roth speaking again interrupted Maggie’s order. “It’s the hard way, so be it. Be prepared to be boarded. And this time when I come to claim you, Captain Magda Vohlmer, you will answer to me.”
His image blinked out as the transmission ended.
Claim you. She didn’t know what he meant by that, but the warning sent a tingling through her body and made her hands tremble. Soon she’d understand his full intent. Although, she was certain answering to him wouldn’t mean smoldering kisses or his tongue on her clit this time. She envisioned herself over his thighs for another punishment. Suddenly, she found it difficult to breathe.
“Breathe!” she exclaimed. “That’s it. We have masks onboard.”
“Captain, they will launch the probe with the gas long before we can deploy them.”
“They haven’t done it yet. Hurry. We don’t have much time.” It was a futile attempt to buy a few more minutes to think and plan a defense, she knew that, but Maggie had to do something. She flew to the storage compartments in the rear of the bridge and threw the doors wide. It was empty.
“God damn him!” she screamed.
Eryn, still on the floor, holding her belly, laughed without a drop of amusement. “My sentiments exactly, Mags.”
Not far from her, the bridge doors slid open. Eva stood there with Tara, the crew member assigned to guard her. Both women came to a frozen halt as they surveyed the chaos. The next moment, their eyes fixed on the viewing screen where the massive alien space vessel was speeding closer.
“They’ve come to take us back,” Eva murmured through the fingers covering her mouth, stating the obvious as her face leeched of color.
Maggie glared at her. “Your alien boyfriend and his band of abductors won’t quit, and this time he has us dead to rights. 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! Or did you forget we have a mission, to save our own kind?” Maggie turned her angry glare on Tara. “Return her to her quarters and see she stays there.”
“Wait,” Eva implored. “They need us, but we need them, too.”
Tessa’s same argument, but one-sided dealing wouldn’t work. Roth held all the cards.
“Time is running out for both our worlds, Maggie, don’t you see? Their hunting planet is perfect for our needs. Why not work with them toward a mutually agreeable arrangement?”
“Are you proposing we trade free women 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, yet within weeks, seven out of eight of our women were happily bonded to their Primarian mates.”
“Seven?” Maggie challenged. “You include yourself, Lieutenant La Croix?”
“Yes. I wanted to stay, but wasn’t given the choice.” A shadow of dread crossed her features as her gaze shot to the screen. “Now, I don’t know where I stand.” She glanced to Eryn nearby, who was slumped over onto her side next to a ventilation panel, and added, “Where any of us do, for that matter.”
The last words were broken, and as Maggie watched, she began to sway. Beside her, Tara staggered, fell into the wall behind her, and slid to the floor. Eva dropped to her knees the next moment, landing on top of her.
Suddenly, Maggie swayed as one by one, her crew slumped at their stations or collapsed on the floor.
“Good God. They modified something else,” she whispered in horror as her eyes rose to the image of the Dauntless, now on top of them, now taking up the entire screen. “He planted the gas inside the ship.”
Behind her, there was a thud. Without turning, she knew yet another of her people had slid out of her chair, unconscious.
“Fucking déjà vu,” Maggie murmured, her knees giving way as she, also, sank to the floor.
Immediately, she knew this was different from before. The enveloping blackness didn’t come. Instead, she couldn’t move, or even blink, and remained fully awake. This time, they’d used a paralyzing agent that had taken all voluntary movement from her control.
She lay motionless, vulnerable, and scared out of her mind, unsure how many minutes had passed. A whoosh of doors alerted her to someone on the bridge. It was followed by male voices, their conversation muffled and broken. She could only make out a few words. Out of context, it seemed to be an argument.
“I’ll carry her…thrashing.” That was Roth; she’d know his voice anywhere.
“…my duty,” said another man she didn’t recognize. “No matter how unpleasant…for Kerr to decide.”
She couldn’t see them; nor could she determine whose fate they were discussing. Next, she heard, “If we’re too late…the council.”
Without a doubt, it was grim.
Black boots attached to unbelievably long legs appeared in front of her. They bent in a crouch and Roth’s face came into view, his angry, nearly black stare boring into her over his mask. The intensity would have made her shut her eyes, or look away if she was able to. Instead, she could do nothing except stare back at him.
“For such small creatures,” he began with a huff of exasperation, “you have created an inordinate amount of trouble.” Lifting one hand, he stroked his thumb down her cheek and along her jaw. “I suppose in your place, I would have done the same to regain my freedom. Your bravery is to be admired. You better pray the council keeps it in mind when deliberating your treasonous fate.”
Her heart rate kicked up at his words and didn’t abate when he rolled her onto her back, or when his powerful arms slid under her, one at her shoulders, the other at her knees, and he lifted her. Holding her high against his chest, he moved, the bouncing motion telling her he was climbing the steps. She saw the walls and ceiling and knew he walked down the short hall from the bridge to the lift.
Once inside, he stopped alongside another male. Maggie had to use her peripheral vision to see him, which wasn’t entirely clear. What she could make out was a tensely held body and a fiercely angry, rigid jaw. In his arms, he carried Eva. Her head was angled over the crook of his elbow, her long blonde hair streaming toward the floor, and her face had grown incredibly pale. She was perfectly still, like herself, except for the single teardrop rolling down her cheek.
Maggie’s gut clenched. Eva was a good officer, respected by her peers and subordinates alike. She immediately regretted being so harsh with her. She had been taken captive, the same as the rest of them, certainly not by choice. And this mate bonding they described, a phenomenon strong enough to convince six others to stay with these men, was also beyond her control.
Inevitably, once the council was through with her, she would be matched to one of these aliens, too. Would she experience the same overwhelming draw to her future mate, and find contentment as Mai and Lana had, or misery, like Eryn? In her heart, Maggie already knew the answer.
She almost felt sorry for the yet-identified male who got her for a mate. Domesticity held no appeal. Exploring the universe, having a challenge in her life, and helping her people, those were her passions. It wasn’t that she didn’t want a family someday, but she thought it would come later, maybe a decade or more in the future, when she accomplished what she had set out to do. But like Roth had said, as the subjugated, none of what she wanted mattered.
The lift stopped, and she was being carried again, down the long hall to the cargo hold, her last stop before leaving the Odyssey for what she knew would be the final time. Her vision distorted suddenly, images in the narrow tunnel allowed by the paralyzing gas wavering as, like Eva, tears gathered.
It wasn’t like her; Maggie wasn’t a crier. But even this had been taken from her, the power to blink and hold back the flood of tears that threatened. Like everything else, dignity had been stripped from her, along with her freedom, and hope for a future.