Chapter Eight

 

 

Panic swelled in her chest, and her heart beat in a staccato stampede as she woke with a warm body in bed with her.

Aarak kissed her shoulder. “You will get used to it. This is only your third morning on the ship. When we are at one of the bases, and you can have a proper schedule, it will be easier for you.”

His arm was around her waist, and his grip kept her flat against his chest and thighs. With his wings, he could only sleep on his side or his belly, so he ended up spooning her through the night. It was fine when they collapsed together in a sweaty heap, but she was always alarmed in the mornings.

“One day you will have to tell me what happened, you know.” He feathered kisses along her neck.

She shivered and sighed as she shifted to give him a full range of touch. “I do feel better having those monitors off.”

“I regret that it took so long to purge the Mlia.”

She shrugged. “It’s over, and it isn’t as if there wasn’t pleasure in with the pain. I am just not a fan of a few of the places you chose to inflict it.”

“I will make the discomfort a distant memory. So, are you up to eating in the galley this morning?”

She sighed as he patted her belly. “Sure. Just let me zip through the sonic shower, and I will be with you.”

“You have a strange obsession with cleanliness.” He sat up and ran his hands through the mass of his hair that was not confined by neat metal bands.

She rolled out of his reach and walked across the room to the lav. It was a major triumph that she could now go to sleep with him after sex. It was a two-night habit that she hoped she could get used to. The first night, she had lain awake and passed out when he left the bed to attend to his business, but the second night, he had had shocking sex with her until she had finally dozed.

The night before, he had been tender, and she had slept easily in his arms. Waking up was another matter, but she hoped it would get better in time.

She took her quick sonic shower and brushed her hair. She smirked. He had braided the hair from her temples while she slept. Fiona brushed around the long braids and headed into the living quarters to go to the bed for her daily assigned gown. After the first night, nudity was no longer an issue. His tongue had been in and around most of her already, so he knew what she looked like.

One of the officers was standing next to his desk when she emerged. She shrugged mentally and kept walking. Aarak was still naked, and it wasn’t as if it was a mystery as to why Fiona was there.

She hummed to herself as she picked up the dress, and she slipped it on and fastened the dress up the front. The front opening was Aarak’s favourite, so it was what she was wearing. The shoes matched the dark silver gown.

When she was dressed, she smiled at Aarak and went to her desk to take up her daily assignment. The day before, she had been learning about the evolution of the Idel people, and now, she had to find the turning point of their society, somewhere in twelve thousand years of history.

“Fiona, what is your thought of our journey extending slightly by a detour to one of my worlds?”

She inclined her head. “Whatever you like, patron. Everything here is new to me. As long as I can breathe on that world, I am happy.”

He nodded. “You have your answer, Lieutenant. We will divert to Ekadi.”

The officer nodded, bowed, and left their chamber.

Aarak stood and stretched. “So, are you ready for your meal?”

She chuckled. “I am, but you might want some trousers or a wrap or something.”

He looked down and shrugged. “The Hmrain are not that fussy about clothing.”

She grinned. “I noticed.”

He smirked and went to the wardrobe to get his own clothing for the day. He put a pleated skirt on that draped from each knee up to the waist, and a central panel hung to his knees. It reminded her of Egyptian images she had seen as a child.

“Ready for your meal?” He smiled, his silver eyes sparkling.

“I am.”

She stepped to his side, and he extended his wing. This was his preferred method of protecting her in the halls, and protocols were what he whispered into her ear as she was falling asleep. Sexy pillow talk. She smiled as they exited their quarters and headed to the galley.

The Idel crew stood aside and let them pass when they ran into them in the halls. It was not worship, it was respect, but Fiona hadn’t run into that part of their history yet.

“So, what is on Ekadi that you have to take care of?”

“There is an issue with their harvest. One of the naturally evolving creatures requires half of what the locals plant, but they do not wish to part with it.”

“Will they starve?”

“No. They have plenty of reserves.”

“Is it migratory?”

“No, the animal rises once every century and needs the food to spawn the next generation.”

“There is only one?”

“For now. There has never been enough food for it to spawn and survive.”

She frowned. “If it is only every hundred years, why are they kicking up a fuss?”

“This generation has never seen the beast. They have studied it via cavern excavations, but they have never looked it in the eye or seen it fly.”

She blinked. “It flies?”

He smiled softly. “Oh, yes. It has been several risings since I have seen it, but it flies.”

Fiona mulled that over and entered the galley with him. He directed them toward a high table and helped her to her seat.

His chair was the thinly backed style that made it comfortable for his wings, and he settled his elbows on the table. “Do you have thoughts on the matter?”

“Not until I can read more on the subject. It isn’t my place to meddle with other civilizations.”

“Your place is what I say it is, but it is wise of you to wish to research the event. The odd thing is that they celebrate the day with a festival. They always have.”

The galley head came to their table and bowed to Aarak. “What can I get for you, my lord?”

“A meal selection from species level six for my companion, and two glasses of water.”

The crewman nodded and scurried away.

“How long has their species been on the planet?”

He cocked his head. “I believe it has been eight hundred years now.”

“So, what happens to the parent when the offspring is born?”

“They have three years of flight around the world, developing, and then, they burrow into stone, and the count begins again. The parent never emerges after that. They simply give themselves to the stone that sheltered them, I suppose.”

Fiona bit her lip. “I guess that finding out what happens to them after their natural life cycle is complete would help to determine what would happen next. Do you know what the effect of the flight is? When the hatchling and adult fly around the world?”

“They alter the wind patterns and the harvests for the years they are flying, and the crops are always abundant as if making up for taking what they need.”

“That seems more than fair.”

“I believe it as well, but I have to make my presence known on the surface to drive that point home.”

Her meal arrived, and she sat back while the hot stew and wedge of bread were slid in front of her. It smelled fine.

“I know I can eat it... by why level six?” It was a genuine question. Humans were level three.

“This is the style of food that was served on Ekadi when I first arrived.”

She tasted the stew and analyzed what she was eating. There was a meat, a starch, some bright flickers of vegetation, and more starch in the form of the bread. This was farming food. The folk who ate this had no time for anything fussy. “This style of food didn’t originate in a lush valley. This is subsistence-level food.”

She continued eating because breakfast was breakfast.

Aarak tilted his head. “How do you know that?”

“One-pot meals like this are for folk who are busy with other things and who need food that can cook unsupervised.”

He appeared impressed. “Very good. Yes, they were an agrarian culture.”

“And you met them and introduced them to the valley, and they all came along to build new lives.”

“Correct.”

“And they developed their technology at an alarming rate that has produced a population who believes only in what can be measured and quantified.”

He frowned. “How do you know that?”

“It explains the contempt of the natural world. I am guessing that it is the same on many planets. You feel that you are in control of your environment, so anytime it does something you don’t like, you are furious and seek to quell the offshoot of unpredictable activity.”

He nodded. “My people have observed the same across all of our worlds. Some species gain the wisdom with the technology, but others simply want to rush to an ending that they cannot predict.”

“Yeah, I am aware of that last one.”

She finished her bread and stew and drank some water.

“So, tell me about your life after the impact on your world.”

Fiona cupped her hands around her water glass, and she told him about being in the wrong place at the right time and hauled away to safety with the politician she had been assigned to.

The early days when their survival was not assured, she had stuck close to her employer, and then, the barters had begun.

She had been offered a better place to sleep than the open barracks, and she had paid the price, not knowing until then that her employer was coming along for the ride. She paid for everything with her body, and the more that they could get from her, the less that they offered.

“When they asked for oral sex in exchange for coffee that everyone else got for free, I began drinking water. When the communal desserts were offered in exchange for hand jobs, I stopped eating sweets. Everything that everyone else received free and clear, I was expected to pay for. Toward the end, the only thing that I paid for was my meals. The moment there was anywhere else to go, I escaped.”

His eyes widened. “I am amazed that you agreed to the bond agreement.”

“The initial assessor entered the paragraph into my contract that I would only have to serve one person if it was in an intimate manner.”

“Where is your joy?”

She paused and stared down at her hands before looking up at him. “My family is dead, my world is dying, I have no home and no place in the universe. I don’t mean to sound depressed, but I have no joy. I have existence and survival. I am content with that.”

His expression was appalled. “That is not life.”

She wrinkled her nose. “No, I suppose not, but I am hoping that as I travel, I will regain those moments that make life fun again.”

Aarak gave her a grim expression, but there was a twinkle in his eye. “I believe you have just offered me a challenge.”

She hadn’t felt this nervous since she decided to run for the stars.