The ship's corridor was quiet except for the low hum of the engines vibrating gently through the structure from two decks below. After five years, Hankura didn't notice. He was more intent on the two hours he planned to spend with his wife before her shift started, two hours before the star ship entered the Zev system and made preparations to put into orbit around Zevus Mar. Hankura grinned as he approached their quarters and pressed the access button to enter. He sensed that Chelle was awake and waiting for him. He felt her wanting him, urging him to come to her. The door whooshed open, and he stepped inside just in time. His body was responding to Chelle's vivid mental promises. As his mind mate, she knew all the most delicious ways to bring him physical pleasure, and her eagerness to have him return the favor was the most arousing.
He stopped in the doorway to their bedroom, pausing just to look at her. She smiled seductively under the warmth of his gaze as she read his thoughts. Her blue eyes sparkled back at him in admiration. Those blue eyes had captivated him from the first moment they'd locked gazes back on Earth—blue eyes and thick auburn hair that hung to her waist. Now as she half sat up in bed, it spilled over her shoulders in waves on to the pillows and covering her soft rounded breasts.
Her eyes never left his as he approached the bedside, unzipped his coverall and stripped it off. Her smile was soft and inviting when he sat down beside her and began toying lovingly with her hair. He felt her appreciation of his strong jaw line, broad shoulders, and taut, muscular body. His skin felt warm to her touch. She ran her hands over his shoulders and chest, basking in the feel of him. The sensations of her pleasure in touching him melded with his own enjoyment of her touching him.
In the beginning, he could barely wait to make them one, but now they had learned together to savor each look, each kiss, each caress. First, he tasted her earlobe, trailing soft butterfly kisses along her jaw line until he found her mouth with his. He felt an electrical charge jolt through his body as her mouth moved against his and she pressed her body against his.
He could see her desire in his mind, and it heightened his own. He felt her need for his touch even as she responded to his needs. Passion took them into a universe of their own, plunging them into a pool of water that symbolized the melding of their spirits and the depths of their passion. The water bubbled warm in the center of the pool, spraying steadily higher in the ecstasy of their physical union. No other woman could ever satisfy him so completely, and through the bond of their minds, he knew she felt the same about him. Not only did he know it; he felt it. She was that much a part of him, and he loved her almost more than life itself.
Hankura woke with a start and a deep, pervading sense of alarm. Chelle was gone, but he expected that. She was on duty in the infirmary, third shift supervisor.
Fear. He felt it reach out and grip him from several sources on the ship and even from Zevus Mar itself. He jumped out of bed and pulled a clean coverall from his clothing bin. Without even considering why he moved to the weapons cabinet and took his and Chelle's lasers out. As he ran out into the corridor, the general alarm began to sound.
Regulations called for him to remain in his quarters until he received orders otherwise, but his bond to Chelle was far stronger than his sense of duty. On the other hand, he was Chief Medical Officer, and he knew he would be needed on duty in sick bay. Though no announcement had been made, he knew the Searching Star was under attack by a warship that had them outgunned. A distress call was being sent out with a sense of futility. The nearest star base was two weeks away. The next announcement over the com system confirmed all that Hankura had sensed.
"All defense personnel to their stations, medical personnel to sick bay, all other personnel---general quarters. This is not a drill. Repeat. This is not a drill!"
A moment later, the ship pitched suddenly, and Hankura flew head first against the bulkhead. He first saw a blinding light, then blackness. When he next became aware, he didn't know whether ten seconds or ten minutes had passed. He only knew that Chelle was in danger. His head throbbed, so at first, he didn't realize he was floating weightless in total silence. The soft, steady hum of the engines that he had known for five years had stopped. No power, no artificial gravity. He pushed off what used to be the ceiling, launching himself toward a row of hand holds along the corridor. He caught one quickly, thanks to hours of drills between planet falls and raced hand over hand toward sick bay. Chelle needed him. They were hurting her . . . They? THEY?!? Who were they? He sensed no one but Chelle as he launched himself into duty module.
Two hulking men in unfamiliar uniforms held her struggling between them. Hankura, look out ... two others behind you! He twisted and fired on them, but they dodged his beam. He paused a split second to take more careful aim, then stopped as Chelle's fear gripped him. From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed a hand weapon held aimed at her temple. Sweet Mother of Life, anything but that!
Slowly, Hankura opened his hand and let his weapon drift away then held his other hand away from his body in surrender. For a horrifying moment, the soldier grinned with malice and squeezed ever so slightly on the trigger of his pistol. Hankura gasped knowing the stark terror he felt was reflected on his face. The soldier laughed in satisfaction. "Take him."
At that moment, Hankura began to consider just how he was going to kill him---not knowing how he might get the chance.
The two other soldiers grabbed his arms and bound them behind him, then bound his ankles together. Then they drew him toward the module exit. She-ell, I love you. I'll get you out of this, I swear.
I know you'll try, my love. Be careful. Please don't let them hurt you.
Hankura shook his head as they shoved him into the corridor. He wasn't worried about what they would do to him. He was worried about what they could do to her. He had never felt more helpless in his life.
Their progress was hindered in the main corridor by floating bodies, wounded, dead and dying surrounded by globules of blood floating. The dead and dying were simply shoved aside as the soldiers steered his weightless form through the maze, but the wounded ... the wounded were slaughtered on the spot before Hankura's eyes. Men and women who had been part of his life for five years; they were a tightly bonded group as close as most families. As Hankura cried out and struggled to stop them from taking aim as still another of his friends, a blow smashed into the side of his head, and his horrifying awareness ceased.
"Hankura. Hankura wake up." the sound of an urgent whisper reached through the veil of darkness, and he slowly opened his eyes. "Are you all right?" He recognized Cran's worried voice.
"I'll live for a while, yet," he muttered. "Where...?" He knew the answer before Cran could put words to his thoughts, but he didn't interrupt his friend as he answered. Normals always found that unsettling.
"On a Tregan warship. Remember nine months back---they took Lux Fe. Well, they just took Zevus Mar and us, too. We've just landed."
"Goddess!" Hankura swore. "They killed them---just killed them for no reason, murdering bastards."
"Who? Who did they kill, the women?" Cran demanded.
"No, yes... I mean the wounded---men and women."
"Luran? Chelle?"
Hankura shook his head. "They're alive ... Damn!! Fucking, murdering bastards!!!" the telepath raged madly.
"What? What is it, Hankura?" Jabe demanded.
“They’re raping her!” Hankura choked. "Fucking bastards! I'll kill you. I'll kill you." he screamed. Tears slid down his face, and he murmured over and over again. "I'll kill you. I swear I'll kill you. She-ell, I swear I'll kill them."
The others asked no more questions but echoed his vehement oaths.