TIMCUR

WARRIORS OF THE GOLDEN MERIDIAN: BOOK THREE

AVA YORK

STARR HUNTRESS

CONTENTS

Nora

Timcur

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Chloe

Storgin: Sneak Peek

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Rogue Mate

Kazan

NORA

The full-spectrum recorder I’d checked out of the university’s student media department floated near my shoulder. The world had become a much more technologically advanced place since Earth discovered life in the greater galaxy.

The woman who approached me could barely keep her comments to herself. I smiled. The upcoming city budget proposal might not be the most glamorous event to cover for my political science class project, but Professor Eggers liked to see his students out talking to the masses.

“How do you feel about the budget pro…”

Her words exploded from her mouth.

“Well, let me just tell you. Councilman Rogers has no idea what he’s talking about. That man couldn’t find his ass with both hands and a map…”

This lady is gold. She’s the perfect face of community outrage. This is going to look great in my project.

The woman continued to complain, giving me everything I needed to wrap up my short documentary project in a matter of minutes. Fifteen minutes later, I had my equipment packed. The project didn’t specifically call for full-spectrum recording, but I liked to think big.

Many species in the galaxy saw light spectra human eyes couldn’t, and I wanted my professor to see I was thinking beyond just Earth. Politics had always excited me. I salivated at the thought of running for office, and not just for the excitement. I really wanted to make the galaxy a better place.

And find human women an alternative to the lottery…

First, though, I must learn to play the game…and edit together clips of outraged masses. With the full-spectrum recorder carefully packed so I could return it without losing my deposit, I headed home.

I walked through the campus, past the majestic buildings and carefully manicured lawns. Large old trees, planted hundreds of years ago when the university had been founded, shaded my path. The light breeze ruffling my blonde ponytail hinted at warmer temperatures to come.

My comms bracelet buzzed on my wrist.

“Hi, Mom. I’m so glad you…”

“I’m happy to hear your voice, too, Nora. Now, don’t get all worked up. He’s fine now…”

“Who’s fine?”

“Your father had a medical incident. He’s going to be okay…”

I froze in my tracks. My heart raced. “Medical incident?! Mom, what happened?”

“Well, you know his heart hasn’t been the best.”

“Mom, get to the point.”

Mom sighed over the phone.

“Mom?”

“Your father had a small heart attack…”

“What the f…small? Heart attack? You act like this is normal—”

“I’m not acting like it’s normal, Nora. Well, I guess this is the new normal. Dad will be fine if I can convince him to follow the doctor’s recommendations.”

“I’m coming home right now.”

“Don’t you dare. You can’t leave your classes now.”

“Mom, I’m coming home. Dad is way more important.”

“No, Nora.”

Mom sighed again.

“Mom…”

“Nora! Listen for once. I’ll have him call you tonight, okay? Don’t you dare waste the education we’ve worked so hard to pay for.”

“Ouch.”

“Sorry. It’s just… Nora, find a place to sit. Don’t say anything yet. Let me get through this. Honestly, having to have this conversation with you is almost worse than driving your father to the Emergency Room.”

I dropped onto a nearby bench and took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m sitting. Let’s…just say what you need to say.”

“I know we promised to put you through university…”

“Yeah?”

Mom drew in a deep breath. When she spoke, her words came out in a rush. “With…with this…heart thing…”

“You need the money to take care of Dad.”

“I’m so sorry. It’s getting so hard to make ends meet. I…I just don’t know what to do, but your father is going to need some therapy and the new medications…I just don’t know what else to do, Nora.”

“Mom, don’t cry. It will be fine. Give me a minute to…to digest all of this, okay? There’s a solution, just let me think.”

“Okay. I’m so sorry…”

“No, Mom, don’t be sorry. Of course, Dad needs what he needs. That’s no one’s fault. Just…let me think. We’ll talk later, when you have Dad call, okay?”

“Alright, Nora. I’m so sorry.”

“Hush, Mom, everything will be fine. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

I sat on the bench long after the call ended. I tried to think, but my thoughts kept hitting the same walls—Dad. Money. My future. Mom sounding so worried.

Mom has enough to deal with now. She doesn’t need to worry about both Dad’s health and my future. Mom needs to focus on Dad. What am I going to do? Where am I going to find enough money?

I shook my head to clear the tangle of thoughts warring inside. I took a deep breath and decided to take care of what I could at the moment, then headed to the media department to return the full-spectrum recorder.

I walked in a daze, my head filled with newly born anxieties and impossible choices. Before I knew it, I stood at the media department counter. I downloaded my footage, wiping the recorder’s memory.

“Are you okay?”

My head snapped up. “What?”

The woman behind the counter looked at me like I was a lost child.

At this moment, maybe I am.

“Are you okay?”

When I opened my mouth to assure her I was fine, the tangled mass of my thoughts came out instead.

“I just found out my father had a heart attack, and my parents are struggling to handle the medical bills and now I don’t know how I will be able to pay for school and I hate myself a little for worrying about my school when Dad’s sick and Mom is so worried and…”

I broke down in chest-heaving sobs. Big fat tears erupted and streamed down my cheeks. My knees gave way. I wrapped my arms around my core as if to hold in my shock and grief. I plopped onto the floor, dropping my bag.

“Sorry, I’m sorry…”

The woman dashed around the counter and wrapped her arms around me. She petted my hair and made soothing sounds, rocking me while I ugly-cried on her shoulder.

“Nothing to be sorry for.”

We sat there on the floor until my tears finally stopped. To my relief, no one else stopped by to interrupt us. As soon as I could, I pulled myself together enough to stand up.

“Thank you. I’m so sorry, I think I snotted all over your shirt.”

She laughed, this stranger who had taken time out of her day to comfort me when she didn’t have to.

“It will wash. Feeling better?”

I nodded, digging tissues from my bag and blowing my nose. “Yes, thank you. I’m Nora.”

“Hi, Nora. I’m Jeannie. It sounds like you have a lot on your mind right now.”

I laughed. “Yeah.”

“Have you considered student services? They have counselors you can speak with.”

“I literally found out right before I got here. Returning the recorder was the only thing I could concentrate on after Mom’s call.”

She nodded. “That makes sense. Look, I don’t know the details of your situation, but my best friend was in what sounds like a very similar situation.”

I looked at her, the desperate need for hope gripping my guts. “What did she do?”

“She volunteered for the lottery.”

I blinked.

The lottery?

“What happened?”

“It worked out for her. Her family got the million dollars and she fell in love.”

“Well, shit. You make it sound not so bad.”

Jeannie laughed, then shrugged. “It was a long shot, anyway, matching an alien. So few match. But she did and she’s happy.”

I could split the money with Mom and Dad…

TIMCUR

Cloaked, The Golden Meridian floated in the blackness behind Ginaaak V’s fourteenth moon. Diana’s Arrow, the starferry, had drifted on along her route many hours ago. The edges of the planet peeked around the moon behind which we hid.

Perhaps I should have moved on long ago, but I struggled to find direction. The Mahdfel authorities had abandoned Goldie, believing the lies of that slimy, snake-headed Suhlik terrorist, Zarklac. Now my own superior officers believed Goldie and her crew had attempted multiple acts of terror across this sector of the galaxy.

Something deep inside me strained, stretched near to my limit. I had dedicated my life to my people, followed every order, respected every regulation…

How could the Mahdfel, my own people, have turned against me so quickly?

Guilt gnawed at my gut.

And now Goldie and her crew had been declared outlaws, rogues.

Pain and frustration fueled the roiling chaos of emotions inside me. My eyes searched the spectacular ruin below. Some tragic cosmic event had smashed another planetary body into Ginaaak V long ago. Only three quarters of a planet remained. The missing quarter made up the fourteen orbiting moons.

I felt like that shattered planet. My superior officers’ betrayal had hit me like that rogue celestial body cracked and sundered Ginaaak V. All I thought I knew and could rely upon, orbited me the way the planet’s shattered pieces orbited its frozen landscape.

How do I even put myself back together? Can I even put the shattered pieces of myself together? Or will I forever remain fractured?

Goldie’s intercom crackled to life, drawing me from the dark thoughts swirling in my mind. Rachel’s voice spoke to me in the darkness of my quarters.

“Captain! Message from the urchins on Diana’s Arrow.”

I jabbed the intercom button, energized by the prospect of actionable intel.

“On my way.”

I rose from my chair, shoving my worries deep into the dusty recesses of my mind. I squared my shoulders and walked through the corridors. As I approached the galley, Mr. Fluffbutt Clawson, Evelyn’s cat, nearly tripped me. I dodged at the last minute. Fluff wasn’t after me, he was stalking Lucky, Evelyn’s kehppû.

The tentacle-mouthed kehppû jumped Fluff and I left them to their play. I had never intended to travel with pets, but who could tell Evelyn no? Besides, at this point, were anyone to try, I felt certain the human women on Goldie’s crew wouldn’t allow it. I chuckled.

The human women originally joined Goldie’s crew as DNA mates. They also quickly took over.

And seriously improved all our lives.

I stepped onto the bridge. Rachel, our pilot, turned and smiled.

“Morning, Captain.”

“Is it? Let’s hear this message.”

Rachel punched a button on her console. A child’s thin voice spoke.

“To the captain and crew of The Golden Meridian: Greetings. Big Momma invites you to meet at Diana’s Arrow. We believe we have evidence which could help prove your innocence. Please respond.”

Rachel looked at me, cocking an eyebrow. Hope blazed to life in my chest, fueled by all of my guilt, frustration, betrayal…

Mahdfel HQ may have turned their back on Goldie, but I have not turned my back on my crew. Every person on Goldie deserves the chance at exoneration.

“Would you like to respond, Captain?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Recording.”

“The Golden Meridian accepts. Will transmit docking number upon arrival on Diana’s Arrow.”

“Sent, Captain.”

“Thank you, Rachel. ETA?”

“Two hours.”

“I’ll be in the galley. I’m craving slox.”

“Right, Captain. Do us all a favor and stay away from the news feeds, okay?”

I groaned. “Why? What are they saying now?”

Rachel’s eyes narrowed at me. She sighed. “Someone released a video of us on the Diana’s Arrow ag deck.”

“And?”

“And it makes it look like we planted the bomb.”

“But we saved them from the bomb!”

Rachel patted my shoulder.

“I know, Captain, I know. So we’re going to have to fiddle with the transponder a little and be careful when we return to Diana’s Arrow is all. I’ll get Evelyn on it. Go have your slox. We know the Urchin Information Network is on our side.”

I nodded. “True, true, and we need all the help we can get.”

“I’ll let you know when we get close, okay?”

“Thanks, Rachel.”

“No problem. If you see Thelkor, tell him to come give me a kiss.”

I spun on my heel and left for the galley, grumbling about nothing in particular. I struggled to maintain my normal jovial attitude.

I entered the pantry, grabbed my box of slox, and sat at the galley’s booth. I shoved a handful in my mouth. For a moment, I thought of nothing but the citrusy, sour notes of the crunchy slox. I couldn’t imagine why I was the only one who enjoyed the flavor of the little preserved bugs.

I shrugged, deciding their loss was my gain. I soon lost myself to my thoughts and the crunchy taste of my slox. Rachel’s voice over the intercom broke into my thoughts.

“Docking in ten minutes.”

I recycled the slox packaging.

This kitchen is a disaster again. Someone has got to do something about that eventually.

Olath and Evelyn jogged by hand in hand, on the way to the bridge. While passing me, Evelyn smiled.

“I masked the transponder, Captain. Now we look like a freighter called The Horse Face.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Evelyn. Goldie has never run more smoothly.”

Evelyn, our engineer, grinned from ear to ear. “Thank you, Captain!”

Olath, her mate and my executive officer, wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.

“See, my love, you’re awesome.”

Evelyn kissed him. For a moment, I wished I also had a mate, but I couldn’t complain. The crew had never worked better since Thelkor and Olath had found mates. Everyone but Storgin, our medical officer/doctor/ccientist, who preferred to travel in his lab, was strapped into their seats on the bridge.

With her usual awe-inspiring skills, Rachel docked with Diana’s Arrow and transmitted our docking number to the UIN. Evelyn insisted we dress in some hooded cloaks. I wondered where she had gotten them but decided it better not to ask at the moment.

“Thelkor, Olath, let’s go.”

“Yes, Captain.”

We opened Goldie’s hatch and stepped out into the busy corridor beyond. We attempted to look casual, though I was certain Rachel and Evelyn were probably laughing at us. A small child casually approached our position.

Before I could make contact with the child, a Mawkwil flanked by two security officers caught my attention. Eight-feet tall, a bipedal alien with a three-foot long neck dressed in a decidedly official suit, the Mawkwil walked right up to our party.

“Captain! Captain Timcur?”

Oh, no. They must think we’re terrorists, after the news feed…

“Captain! I must speak with you.”

A crowd began to gather. The young urchin jumped between the Mawkwil and me.

“Captain Gratham, we don’t need no trouble here.”

“Stay out of this, child.”

The urchin flashed a shiv at Captain Gratham.

“Captain…if you’re here to arrest anybody, I promise you trouble.”

Thirty urchins stepped out of the crowd, flashing their own shivs. The crowd grumbled.

Please let this not be a war…

TIMCUR

Captain Gratham’s gaze scanned the crowd. He put up his hands, palms out. The urchins gathered in front of Thelkor, Olath, and me. Thirty-some-odd children forming a defensive line between my crew and the captain of Diana’s Arrow both terrified me and filled my heart.

“No one needs to cause trouble. We will cooperate with Captain Gratham.”

Captain Gratham eyed the crowd of children before him. “Please, calm yourselves. There is no need for trouble.”

The urchin we had arranged to meet eyed Captain Gratham up and down, tapping his shiv against a palm.

“We have proof Captain Timcur and the crew of The Golden Meridian saved Diana’s Arrow, no matter what the news feeds say.”

“I believe you. We watched the entire thing on the security cameras.”

Captain Gratham removed a memory drive from his pocket and offered it to me. Every shiv disappeared within a moment. The crowd released a collective sigh.

“We found every video we could, as well as a list of witnesses who have provided video testimony on behalf of The Golden Meridian”.

The urchin fished a memory drive from his own pocket and held it out to me, as well. Profoundly moved, I dropped to my knees before the urchin and accepted the drive.

“Thank you.”

I could think of nothing more to say. These people, strangers one and all, believed in Goldie, believed in our innocence—believed in me. Captain Gratham closed the distance between us, placing the memory drive in my palm, next to the one the urchin had given me.

“Captain Timcur, your crew saved this starferry. Every soul onboard owes you and your crew their life. We saw your struggle on the security cameras, your bravery… I dispatched backup as soon as I could, but they didn’t arrive in time to assist. Thank you.”

The crowd cheered. I rose to my feet, humbled.

“Thank you.”

“Captain Timcur, on behalf of the ten-thousand-and-seventy-nine souls aboard Diana’s Arrow, I guarantee The Golden Meridian and her captain and crew sanctuary, safe passage, resupply, repairs, and anything else you may ever need for as long as I remain captain.”

I stood, stunned, unable to speak. Captain Gratham slapped me on the shoulder, chuckling.

“Well, Captain Timcur, I think this calls for a celebration.”

“Oh, you don’t need to go to any trouble.”

“Nonsense! You saved all our lives and my starferry. First Officer Plit!”

The Chawwaw standing behind Captain Gratham saluted, focusing all four of his eyestalks on Captain Gratham.

“Yes, sir!”

“Notify the head chef. Emergency party, right here, ASAP, to honor those who saved Diana’s Arrow.”

The four-foot tall, neon-pink Plit grinned ear to ear, saluted again, and dashed off to the nearest teleport pad. The urchin we had originally docked here to meet pulled his shiv again.

“Is there going to be enough for everyone, Captain Gratham?”

Gratham laughed. “Of course. This is a party.”

The shiv disappeared. The urchin smiled, then tapped a code into his comms bracelet. Urchins began teleporting in. I turned back to Olath.

“XO, notify the rest of the crew there is a party in their honor.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Olath trotted back into Goldie. Five minutes later, Rachel, Storgin, and Evelyn, carrying her kehppû, peeked out. Mr. Fluffbutt sauntered out behind them. He took one look at the gathered urchins and flopped on the floor.

Soon the corridor filled with the happy shrieks of children, kehppû, a cat, and Rachel and Evelyn wrestling in a pile. I worried someone might get hurt, with all the weapons the urchins carried, but figured Rachel and Evelyn had it all well in hand.

A hand thrust up from the pile. With a great roar, Thelkor appeared from the bottom of the pile. The children screeched and scattered, and Thelkor chased them. DNA-matches, mates, and offspring being so rare among the Mahdfel, spending time with children felt like a treat.

With two of my crew now mated, perhaps soon, if we are very fortunate, Goldie could welcome children, too.

Perhaps I will get lucky as well, and find my own mate…

I sat at a table, munching on the finest slox I had ever eaten when Captain Gratham returned. He slid into the seat next to me.

“Captain Gratham, I’m a little concerned about spending so much time here. What if Earth or Mahdfel authorities track us here?”

“Well, first of all, anyone looking for you will experience extreme difficulty and delay getting permission to dock. Then they will experience great difficulty accessing the teleport network, and the doors of their docking bay…well, those will have trouble, too…”

I chuckled.

“You’re a good man, Captain Gratham. I suppose the only thing left to do is figure out how to distribute all this evidence. I mean to clear Goldie’s name and the names of my crew.”

Captain Gratham waved away my concerns.

“That, Captain Timcur, is something to worry about after this party. Besides, I wouldn’t dare discuss this without the UIN. As long as I stay on their good side, they stay out of trouble.”

I laughed, thinking of the small army of armed children chasing Thelkor through the corridor.

“Have they no families?”

Captain Gratham shrugged.

“Some are runaways. Some are orphans. There are so many reasons…well, the same reasons as any city, I suppose. Diana’s Arrow sees so much traffic, it can be difficult to tell where they all come from.”

“Children are so rare and precious to the Mahdfel, it is hard for me to imagine leaving even one behind.”

“I can tell you their circumstances have greatly improved since you first came here. As I understand it, your pilot, Rachel, has set up services for them. Clothing, housing, education… You have much to be proud of, Captain. Even before your crew saved Diana’s Arrow, The Golden Meridian’s reputation had reached us all.”

Stunned, I couldn’t find words.

“When the news feeds began to call your crew terrorists, none of us would believe it. Had we detected Goldie’s transponder, we would have greeted you with open arms. No one who invests in a way to care for so many could have done the things of which you are accused.”

“Thank you, Captain. I am humbled.”

Captain Gratham grinned. “Next time you change your transponder, just let us know it’s you.”

He stood, winked at me, and trundled off to the extravagant buffet the chef and his staff had sent our way.

NORA

“Mom…”

“Nora, there has to be another way…”

“Mom…”

“I’m just not sure this is the best idea…”

“Mom! Listen for a second…”

“Nora…”

“The chances my DNA will match some random alien are astronomically low.”

“Well, I know, but…”

“And, even if I do match, we’ll split the money. Half-a-million dollars will set me up for the rest of my schooling and you can’t tell me half-a-million wouldn’t help you and Dad.”

Mom fell silent. I held my breath, waiting for her to process the idea.

“But…Nora, what if you don’t come back?”

I laughed.

“Mom, nothing, and I mean nothing, will keep me away from you and Dad for long. I’ve never even heard of a DNA-matched human woman complaining. Everything I have managed to research says the DNA-matched women are happy. And it will look great on my resume! Galactic experience, are you kidding me? Everyone in polisci would kill to get galactic experience on their resume, especially at this point in their career…”

Mom sighed. “Are you certain, Nora? This is a huge decision.”

“Mom, I’m sure. I’ve thought it all through. It’s not that much different than when I left for college…”

“Nora! This is, literally, millions of miles away from leaving home for college.”

“Ok, well, one weak analogy doesn’t change the fact that I feel this is an acceptable risk.”

Mom chuckled. “You always were hard-headed.”

“I prefer to think of it as confidence in my life choices.”

“I know you do.”

Mom sighed.

“Mom. You know I love you and Dad. You aren’t losing me.”

“I believe you, I just never really thought about you coming back from college with a half-alien child.”

I laughed long and deep.

“Well, that’s one way to look at the bright side. Would that really be so terrible?”

“Ask me next week, when I’ve had time to think about it.”

I laughed. “Mom, I love you.”

“We love you, too, Nora. What are you going to do about your things?”

“Well, I don’t have much. I mean, I’m living in the dorm. But I spoke to student services. Apparently, Earth Authorities have worked out a deal for students who DNA match. The testing center notifies the school, the school packs your things, and sends them to the student’s permanent address. Unless you don’t want to store my stuff…”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course we will. Just…Nora, just call me immediately as soon as possible, okay? I’m not going to stop worrying until I know you’re alright.”

I hung up before Mom could cry. I wasn’t certain I could walk through the doors of the university’s testing center if Mom started crying. For all my big talk to Mom, my stomach fluttered. I took a deep breath and stepped inside.

I walked up to the counter. The receptionist looked about my age. She smiled.

“Hi. How can I help you? Are you here to be tested?”

I took a deep breath.

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Just step this way, please.”

She rose and led me past the counter and down a hallway. We passed several doors before she opened one. She waved me inside.

“Here you go. A technician will be with you shortly.”

“Thank you.”

She smiled and left, closing me into the small room. I picked up a random magazine, prepared to wait patiently. I looked at it, but my mind saw nothing on the page. I fidgeted. A few minutes later, a technician opened the door and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Hello, my name is Darriel and I’ll be your technician today. We just need a small blood sample.”

“Hi.”

He reached for my hand, pricked my finger, and collected a drop of my blood with a pipette. He squeezed the drop into the collection well of a complicated-looking device built into one wall. On the device's screen, a circular loading message flashed.

Darriel and I watched the loading symbol circle long enough for my mind to wander. The screen flashed, “CODE 459”.

“What does Code 459 mean?”

“Uhhhhh…give me one second to find out. I’ve never seen that before. I’ll be right back…”

Darriel rose, exiting the room. My nerves jangled, and my knee danced.

What could that mean? Is there something wrong? Am I dying or do I have some terrible gene hiding in my DNA? Am I about to find out I have some horrible genetic disease? Maybe it’s just the machine…maybe it just needs servicing…

The door to the testing room opened and a uniformed man entered.

Earth Authorities? Why would…

A strained smile spread across the man’s face.

“Hello, Nora. I have some awkward news. First, you have matched to a Mahdfel. Unfortunately, that Mahdfel is a wanted terrorist.”

“What? What do you mean, terrorist?”

“Have you been following the news feeds?”

“I’m a polisci major, I eat news feeds like candy.”

“So, you are aware of The Golden Meridian?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, ma’am, I am dead serious.”

“But…but I can’t match with a terrorist!”

“And, for that, we are very sorry. This has never happened before, to be honest.”

The man sat in the chair opposite me.

“That would be a terrible blow to your political career, certainly. We have an offer, though, which may turn this lemon of a match into lemonade.”

“How? This is the most bonkers thing I’ve ever heard of…”

“It is certainly a first for us, as well. Obviously, on the surface this must look like a nightmare for you. But we are hoping we can all turn this to our mutual advantage.”

“We?”

“Earth Authorities would like you to choose to participate anyway. We want you to be our spy and help us bring those terrorists to justice. That would look good on your resume.”

“Wouldn’t that be dangerous, though?”

“Possibly. Which is why we are offering you twice the usual bounty.”

“Two million? I’m not sure I’m willing to take this risk for two million…”

“Is there a way we can come to an agreement?”

I blew out a long breath, my mind calculating faster than I even thought I could think.

“I’ll do it for four million.”

The man seemed to choke for a moment. He began to sweat.

“That’s pretty steep…”

I shrugged. “What options do you have? And I want half upfront, sent to my parents.”

He leaned back, whistling. He tapped onto his comms bracelet.

“Done.”

I blinked. Things were moving really fast. My comms bracelet dinged. I looked down. The text message read, “Holy shit, Nora, why is there two million in my account? I thought it took a year to get one…”

I typed in my response. “Trust me. I matched. I’ll explain later. Love u.”

I looked up at the man who’d just sent my parents two million dollars.

“Okay. What do I need to do?”

He pulled a necklace from his pocket, a locket hanging on an eighteen-inch box chain.

“Just wear this. It will record everything you hear. It has a locator so we can find you and will transmit all collected data anytime you get close enough to a communications network.”

“So…I just wear this, and that’s it?”

“And don’t get caught.”

“Well, obviously.”

“Are you ready?”

I nodded, drawing in a deep, fortifying breath.

Timcur

OUR EVENING WORE ON and the party, in honor of Goldie and her crew, wound down. Children had fallen asleep in various laps. Rachel rounded up anyone with a sleeping child held in their lap and led an excursion to take the little urchins to their beds.

People had wandered through the extravagant buffet for hours and the buffet tables looked like a war zone. Janitorial services swept up and broke down the chairs and tables so porters could carry them back to storage.

Lucky, the kehppû, lay in Evelyn’s arms, snoring softly and radiating a happy, purple glow. I began to wonder if its coloring would ever stabilize or if it would change color forever. Mr. Fluffbutt lay curled up in Olath’s lap while Olath stared at him, suspicious worry in his eyes since had Evelyn pointed out the venomous nature of cat saliva.

I stood and stretched. Goldie having been declared rogue weighed heavily on me, but Captain Gratham and the stream of Diana’s Arrow’s denizens walking by and thanking us for saving the starferry soothed my soul like a balm.

I turned to Captain Gratham.

“Captain, this has been a long day. I’ll take you up on your offer of sanctuary for the night. Tomorrow, we will depart, however. We didn’t remove that bomb just to bring Earth Authorities and Mahdfel HQ here to cause you trouble. Thank you for your hospitality.”

“It was the least I could do, Captain Timcur. Take your crew and sleep well. Tomorrow, before you go, let us sit down and see how we can help each other, okay? Let’s say…ten hours from now?”

I nodded. “I would appreciate that, Captain Gratham.”

He smiled and patted my shoulder. “Excellent. See you in the morning.”

I waved and stumbled to bed.

When I woke, all evidence of the party had disappeared, the crew were prepping Goldie for departure, and the galley was stuffed with supplies Captain Gratham had sent over. Evelyn’s pets chased each other through the halls, followed by Olath, who had been tasked with wrangling them.

I felt a little guilty for sleeping in, while so many already worked so hard on our behalf, but it had been the first time I had been able to rest since Goldie’s name hit the news feeds. I sighed.

Goldie’s tarnished reputation weighed heavily on me. I prided myself with the righteousness of my service to HQ. I was humbled to be chosen as a Vaznik warrior, defending those in need, and securing the galaxy against those like the Suhlik, who meant only to cause harm.

I had dedicated my life to performing my duties to the utmost. Losing the confidence of those I had served so faithfully cut me to my core. I no longer knew who I was. I had thought I was a good soldier, but now HQ called me a rogue.

Somehow, that morning, wearing a crisp ship uniform had not seemed so important, when, every other day of my service, I had always taken the time to begin the day fresh. A hand on my shoulder interrupted my morose thoughts. I blinked, coming back to the world outside my mind.

“Captain? Captain Gratham, three representatives of the UIN, and representatives of the Merchants Guild, Agriculture Guild, and the Dockworkers Union are here for the, and I quote, “Summit”. Is this a good time?”

“Yes, Rachel, yes. Please, see them in.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Captain Gratham led the Diana’s Arrow delegation into the galley, his long neck stooped so as not to smack along the top of the corridor. I stood and shook Gratham’s hand and greeted him.

“Captain.”

“Captain. Let me introduce…”

He turned, awkwardly twisting his neck around in the confined space.

“Captain, please take a seat. I think we can all await introductions until you can stretch your neck.”

The representatives nodded and Gratham sat in one of the galley chairs. Evelyn poked her head into the galley.

“Can I offer you anything?”

The representatives collectively groaned, waving appendages. Captain Gratham rubbed his distended belly.

“Thank you, but I am still stuffed from the feast, and I suspect I am not the only one.”

“I’ll just set out some water…”

“Thank you, Evelyn.”

Evelyn busied herself while Gratham made the introductions.

“Captain Timcur, let me introduce you.”

He gestured to the urchins. “Fox Face Chuck, Knuckles Mahoney, and Duck Spladdic.”

I shook their hands and tentacles. “Pleased to meet you.”

Gratham gestured to the adult representatives next.

“A’A’Vu Gutliiid of the Merchants Guild, Gorv of the Agriculture Guild, and Naholo Imastabi of the Dockworkers Union.”

I shook another round of hands and tentacles.

“Pleased to meet you.”

Knuckles stepped up.

“On behalf of the denizens of Diana’s Arrow, let me extend my thanks and offer The Golden Meridian our assistance. Tell us how we can help, Captain.”

The representatives nodded their agreement.

“Thank you. I am humbled. Right now, my biggest headache is how to get all the collected evidence to someone who will listen and can help prepare for the next attack.”

Fox Face Chuck nodded. Captain Gratham spoke.

“I have already submitted a statement of support and a copy of the data I have to the Intergalactic Authorities on behalf of Goldie’s crew against the charges against them, but that will take months to go through the intergalactic courts.”

“Thank you, Captain.”

“The Urchin Information Network has many contacts.”

A’A’Vu Gutliiid of the Merchants Guild spoke next.

“The Merchants Guild offers our fastest ship. There is no finer in the galaxy.”

Gorv of the Agriculture Guild interjected.

“I’m certain we can provide a cover delivery anywhere in the galaxy.”

My heart thundered in my chest. I struggled to catch my breath. Naholo of the Dockworkers Union stepped forward.

“I’m certain I can find a few men to escort this special delivery. Do you know of anyone who could help?”

I nodded and cleared my throat.

“Korath on Shackleton. He was our first pilot and only left the crew because he found his mate. I believe he will listen.”

Duck slithered up.

“Then let us deliver this for you, Captain Timcur. We wish to help save as many as we can from a similar attack. Zarklac must be stopped.”

The representatives cheered. I nodded.

“Thank you. Let me just have Rachel make a copy…”

“Here, Captain. I made several, in case anyone finds a way to get the message out from here after we depart.”

“Thank you, Rachel.”

Having come to a consensus, and with the beginnings of a strategy to counter Zarklac’s moves, the children broke their serious stoicism and tackled Rachel. They tussled for a moment, then we said our goodbyes.

Everyone froze when the teleporter powered up.

Who could that be? I didn’t think we were expecting anyone…

NORA

Darriel, the technician, returned and implanted a state-of-the-art translator into my head. The man with whom I had negotiated escorted me to the teleporter room.

“Again, I am sorry you matched with a terrorist. Obviously, we are obligated by treaty to send you to your matched mate, no matter what, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. Your government appreciates your choice to help us bring The Golden Meridian to justice. Though I do wish we could have provided better circumstances for you.”

I gulped. I understood the importance of these governments maintaining treaties and, when Earth Authorities and Mahdfel HQ had hashed out the Intergalactic DNA Match Treaty, Mahdfel HQ had made certain nothing would stop Earth sending human women to their Mahdfel mates.

Any interference in the DNA match system would mean war, no matter the circumstances.

Well, at least, if I must be sent off to an alien terrorist, I can help bring criminals to justice and split four million dollars with Mom and Dad. And possibly make some connections which could come in handy in the future…

“I understand. This is a difficult situation. Sir? May I ask your name?”

The man blushed. “I apologize, how rude of me. Colonel Birtch.” He offered me his hand and we shook.

“And will you be my normal point of contact?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

I nodded. We reached the teleporter pad. Darriel waved to the teleporter.

“If you will just step this way…”

I turned to Colonel Birtch. “If I may ask a question, why can’t you track them through the teleporter?”

“Ah! Excellent question. When the treaty was negotiated, Mahdfel HQ feared their people could be tracked in exactly the manner you suggested, and they insisted on protocols to prevent such an occurrence. Imagine if that network were ever hacked. The Mahdfel’s entire Space Navy would be compromised.”

Darriel nodded.

“The entire system is automated and heavily encrypted. Trying to hack it under any circumstances is grounds for intergalactic war.”

“I should have made it to Earth-Mahdfel Relations 102…”

Colonel Birtch laughed. I drew in a fortifying breath and stepped onto the teleporter pad.

“Good luck. Do your species proud.”

Before I could reply, Darriel pushed a button. Light flooded my eyes. For a moment, I felt like I had been turned inside out. After the longest seconds of my life, the light faded. I blinked.

When I could see again, a room full of people from several species I had never seen, and a few I recognized, stared at me from a doorway. One looked like a neon giraffe-man, with three feet of neck craned over a human woman and a Mahdfel. At their feet stood three rough-looking children. None spoke. My eyes darted between their faces.

Panic spiked, overtaking my usual ability to calmly assess a situation and move forward with confidence. I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t a spy. I wanted to do the right thing, but who was I kidding? It hadn’t escaped my notice that there had been no talk of what might happen if I was found out.

If these people really were hardened criminals, terrorists, then how would they react once they discovered a mole among them?

I worked desperately to smooth my expression and project the right level of pleasant trepidation rather than guilty panic. Was my racing heart as loud to them as it was to me? Would they brush off the faint sheen of sweat on my temples as nervousness at being matched?

If I couldn’t entirely suppress my emotions, the best way forward was to embrace them and deflect. Intellectually, I understood that there was no way anyone could suspect me. Especially not the man I’d matched to. And speaking of my match…

“Uh…hello. I DNA-matched a Mahdfel on this ship?”

Well, that was brilliantly banal.

The human woman blinked, then ran to a console. She typed furiously, then froze, her eyes wide as saucers. Slowly, her neck stiff, she turned her eyes to the hunky Mahdfel. My heart fluttered at the sight of him.

How strange…

“Captain?”

“Rachel?”

“She matches you…”

The Mahdfel blinked. He looked stunned, but no more stunned that I. We stared at each other for a long moment. My match was the captain of the ship? My heart sank. My match was the person who, if guilty, was responsible for the illegal activity of the ship and all the crew.

I had just been plucked out of an uncomfortable campfire and tossed into a raging bonfire.

I cleared my throat and managed a steady tone. “So, you are my DNA-match, Captain…?”

Rachel supplied the name. “Timcur. Captain Timcur, this is your DNA match, Nora. Nora, this is Captain Timcur.”

Wow, he’s handsome… So tall! Don’t go all squishy, Nora. Remember, he’s a terrorist…

My heart sank a little more, but I strapped some steel to my spine and put on my best public speaking smile and offered my hand. “Pleased to meet you, Captain Timcur.”

Timcur took my hand. As I accepted the impersonal greeting and our bare skin touched, the tattoos covering his body flashed white. I gasped as a jolt of electricity danced up my arm. I took an instinctive step back, but he didn’t release my hand. Timcur, his eyes dazed, looked at me like I had grown a second head…though I supposed there probably were aliens with two heads.

Maybe two heads aren’t that strange. Maybe I’m simply babbling because, wow…

He blinked and seemed to snap back to reality, slowly releasing my hand. His thumb, maybe involuntarily, caressed the inside of my wrist as he let go. A small shiver worked its way up my back and I stiffened myself against it.

I didn’t believe in instant attraction. I didn’t believe in instant attraction. I didn’t believe in instant attraction.

Shockingly, chanting that in my head three times neither eliminated the physical awareness between us nor sent me home.

Firming my professional smile, I slid back a step, needing to put the space between us. The air stifled, and for a momentm it felt difficult to breathe.

“I am very pleased to meet you, Nora,” he said, voice low, a thread of command in the deep masculine tone—a thread of some other emotion I couldn’t quite name, as well. But the look in his eyes… I could almost name the look in his eyes. Subtly, I pressed my thighs together.

He sighed. “This happens to be very awkward timing… Can we talk about this in a few minutes? I was just seeing some people out…”

“Yes, of course, Captain.”

“Thank you so much…Nora.”

His eyes trapped mine. He looked at me like I was a revelation. A thrill shot right through my core.

This was the man I was supposed to spy on, to betray? My breath came a little faster as panic rose again. If after just five minutes in his presence, my hormones were raging, and I could barely escape the mesmerization of his gaze, how could I steel myself to spy on him and turn him in?

Again, what would he do if he found out?

“Hi, Nora, I’m Evelyn. May I show you to the guest quarters?”

I blinked, ripping my eyes away from Timcur’s intense gaze. Another human woman, this one with red hair, smiled at me. I had been so lost in Timcur’s eyes, I’d failed to see her even walk up.

“Yes, of course…”

Evelyn took my arm and escorted me past the gawking crowd. The giraffe-headed alien shook Timcur’s hand.

“Thank you for everything, Captain Gratham.”

“It is the least we could do for The Golden Meridian, Captain Timcur…”

The captains’ voices faded behind us as Evelyn led me through The Golden Meridian’s corridors.

“Who was that?” I made myself focus on my job.

“Oh, that’s Captain Gratham of the starferry, Diana’s Arrow.”

“Oh… Who were the others?”

“Three representatives of the UIN…”

“UIN?”

“Urchin Information Network. They believe, because they are smaller than adults, they deserve three votes on every council. We don’t argue. The last thing anyone needs is an autonomous army of angry children.”

“Aren’t they all psychopaths at that age?”

“Pretty much.”

“Is that just a Diana’s Arrow thing?”

Evelyn laughed.

“Not at all. There’s a chapter of the UIN everywhere. Captain Gratham, the Mawkwil…”

“The neon giraffe-man?”

“That’s the one. He threw us a party last night and restocked our stores pretty well, so you should be able to find anything you want. We’ll meet up with Rachel later and get you some clothes ordered…”

My mind spun. Evelyn continued to talk to me, but I could not keep Timcur’s eyes from my mind. Everything had seemed so simple at the testing center.

These are the strangest terrorists I’ve ever seen. Could they really have committed all those horrible acts of terror I saw on the news feeds?

I like to pride myself on my ability to read people, but nothing made sense here.

What are they planning? More terror? Kids are planning terror attacks now, too?

Something landed on my head. Tentacles slithered all over my face. I screamed.

TIMCUR

Her name rang through my mind like a Flaznutian bell.

Nora… Nora… Nora…

My tattoos flashed white. Nora was the person with whom I was supposed to spend the rest of my life.

Who is she? What does she like? Oh, no… What will she think of me? Has she followed the news feeds? Does she think I am a terrorist? Will she reject me?

My heart raced. My mind spun. The world had profoundly changed so many times just in the last week. I feared that Nora, on top of every other surreal occurrence just this week, would break the last of my self-control.

And I met her in a crumpled uniform…

“Captain Timcur?”

I blinked, finding my way back to the present. Captain Gratham put a hand on my shoulder and repeated his words.

“Captain Timcur?”

“Yes, yes, sorry. Just…stunned for a moment.”

Gratham chuckled. “Yes, well, finding your mate is a big deal for a Vaznik warrior, no?”

“Very much so, Captain. Very much so.”

“On behalf of the UIN, please accept our congratulations on your happy news.”

Many rounds of handshakes and congratulations later, the UIN reps stepped up to the teleporter. Knuckles Mahoney turned back and tipped the brim of his hat.

“I give you my word this coalition will deliver your message faster than any courier. We will find your previous pilot, Korath, and we will make sure he takes the time to explore every bit of it.”

I chuckled. “I have every confidence in you.”

The children stepped onto the teleporter pad and disappeared in a white flash. A’A’Vu Gutliiid of the Merchants Guild, Gorv of the Agriculture Guild, and Naholo Imastabi of the Dockworkers Union stepped up next.

Each took the time to thank me once again, and teleported out. Genuinely moved by their appreciation and assistance, I felt a sliver of hope. Nora’s blonde hair and hazel eyes threatened to run away with my thoughts again, but Captain Gratham cleared his throat.

“Captain Timcur, before I leave, I was wondering where The Golden Meridian is headed next.”

“Well, I thought we’d head back to Tehglaish. We have a contact there, a Buravian named Lorka. He is currently trying to decrypt the remaining files from the data we seized at Zarklac’s secret base. I’m hoping he has made some progress.”

“Tehglaish is a good place to hide out. Any black market that successful is a great place to avoid official detection.”

“Exactly, Captain.”

Gratham nodded his head and patted my shoulder. “Stay safe, Captain Timcur.”

“And you, Captain Gratham.”

Gratham smiled and stepped onto the teleporter. He had to nearly fold his body in half to accommodate his long neck. A flash of light later and I stood alone, trying to decide what to do next. The memory of Nora’s eyes immediately invaded my thoughts. I inhaled, steadying my nerves.

My mate…but, who is she? Who is Nora?

I cursed the crappy timing. No matter how much I might want my mate after being in her presence for the first time, grimly I had to acknowledge that she might not be safe with me. Did I really want a mate under the circumstances, when we were being hunted down as traitors, and could be captured or killed at any moment?

But what choice did I have? It wasn’t like I could send her away.

This should be a joyous occasion, one I’d throw myself into wholeheartedly. But my heart shriveled just a little, shrinking under the faint horror of imagining the terrible things that could happen to Nora, what could happen if I failed her, both as a mate and as a captain. I rubbed my chest, gritting my teeth against the spark of pain. How did the others deal with this, knowing that our very existence brought danger to our women?

I stared at the tattoos on my arms. They no longer shone white, but all I could see was a repeat of the moment we’d touched. While I had always hoped to find my DNA-match, the chances I ever would have were so astronomically low, I had never really believed it would happen.

Yet, today, just minutes before, Nora had teleported in. Guilt stabbed into my core.

I never wanted to put my mate into a position like the one in which we find ourselves. A life on the run? That’s no life for my mate. I am supposed to provide safety…yet the world calls me a rogue, a terrorist…

“Captain?”

I looked up, blinking. “Yes, Storgin?”

Storgin grinned at me. “Lucky you! I was hoping maybe she was my mate.”

“Nora?”

“Yeah. She looks really smart. And she certainly is pretty.”

“Yes, she is.”

“As lucky as Goldie has been with mates, I’m sure it will be my turn next.”

I smiled. “I’m sure we’ll find your mate soon, Storgin. What does her file say?”

Storgin pulled a portable tablet from behind his back.

“Nora Chambers, twenty-four years old, five-foot four-inches tall. You already noticed the blonde hair and hazel eyes. Says she is a polisci major/communications minor at a nice university. Excellent grades, accelerated learning track… Wow, Nora is smart. 4.0 GPA! Both parents living…”

“Thank you, Storgin. Let’s give her the opportunity to tell us the rest. As much as I want to learn more about her, reading her file feels like cheating.”

Storgin laughed. Thelkor thundered into the room.

“CAPTAIN! YOU FOUND YOUR MATE!”

“Yes, I did. She seems lovely. Now stop shouting, Thelkor!”

Olath ran in, sliding directly into Thelkor, knocking the gunner to the deck.

“CAPTAIN!”

“YES, I FOUND MY MATE, STOP SHOUTING!”

“Yes, Captain.”

“GET YOUR UGLY FACE OFF ME.”

I slapped my hands to my face. “The next person who shouts is getting tranqed.”

Storgin held up his handy tranq gun.

“What is she like?”

“Well, Olath, if you’d stop wrestling Thelkor, I’ll introduce you.”

Olath and Thelkor jumped to their feet.

“I think the UIN has been teaching you the wrong things, men.”

Thelkor and Olath immediately bubbled.

“The urchins are my favorite part now… Can you imagine when we start having kids?”

“Yeah, Thelkor, I can imagine that, and your kids can’t play with my kids…”

“What do you mean, ‘Can’t play with my kids’, Olath? Of course they will play together.”

“No way I’m letting my kids play with your kids…”

Olath found a way to harass Thelkor the entire trek to the guest quarters.

A bloodcurdling scream tore through Goldie.

“What was that?”

Alarm streaked through me.

My mate is in distress!

I sprinted past Olath and Thelkor, not bothering to answer Storgin’s question. I ran through those corridors as fast as my feet would take me. Fear lit my entire body afire.

I must save her! I must save Nora!

NORA

I grabbed at the thing on my head. My fingers sank into something squishy and furry. The thing gently massaging my scalp felt like a pudgy cat.

This massage is pretty nice, actually… Why am I so calm all of a sudden?

I giggled reluctantly. The wiggly little creature made its way down my head and into my arms. Despite the gravity of the situation, there was always room for a bit of lightheartedness. “Hey there, buddy. Who are you? What are you?”

“I see you’ve met my kehppû.”

“Is that what this cutie is?”

Evelyn nodded, smiling. “Just a baby, too. Oh, look. I think it likes you.”

The baby kehppû burbled and squeaked at me, waving little face tentacles.

“Are they asexual?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. Olath bought me a manual, but… It read like a stereo manual. I kept falling asleep. Now I read it to put myself to sleep.”

“I used to read Heart of Darkness for the same reason.”

Evelyn laughed.

“What’s its name?” The kehppû wrapped his tentacles around my hand.

“I was thinking Spot, at first, but then it developed stripes. I’m starting to wonder if it will ever settle on a particular coat. Anyway, I settled on Lucky.”

“That’s pretty cool, actually. Sorry for screaming, I just never expected to find something like Lucky on my head.”

“I used to feel that way, too. Then I teleported to Goldie and it has been one unexpected situation after another.”

I felt something against my leg and I looked down. The most exquisite cat I had ever had the pleasure of seeing sauntered up and sniffed my leg. From nose to tail, he was longer than my arm. His fur was white and extremely fluffy, with a saddle of tawny brown running along his back. I guessed he approved of me because he circled my ankles.

“And who are you, Handsome?”

“Nora, meet Mr. Fluffbutt Clawson.”

“Aren’t you just exquisite?”

Fluff flopped on my feet and rolled onto his back.

“Mr. Fluff approves. He has a good sense for people, you know.”

Guilt stabbed into me.

Here Evelyn trusts me because Mr. Fluffbutt does. And I’m a spy.

The kehppû stroked its tentacles along my arm. I began to wonder if there were not some terrible mistake… Goldie’s crew seemed like such good people.

And Captain Timcur…

Captain Timcur barreled up at top speed, his chest heaving. He braced his arms on the corridor wall and searched all around, his panicked eyes wild.

“What happened? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Timcur began to inspect me for injuries.

I stilled, pinned under the intensity of that gaze.

“Captain.”

“What, Evelyn?”

“Let the woman go. She’s fine. The baby just startled her.”

Timcur let me go and seemed to regain some of his composure. He tried to adjust his rumpled uniform. His hair stood up wildly, though the messy mop looked foreign on him. He looked wound tight, like he was carrying a heavy weight.

A fire burned behind those eyes. He reminded me of a friend’s art project. She had called it Righteous Man Unbound. She had painted a man removing a well-polished mask, sporting the classic salesman’s smile, from an unformed face.

That painting had haunted me for years, the unformed face behind the mask asking me if I even knew myself. Timcur reminded me of that now.

There is so much more to this Vaznik warrior. Get a hold of yourself, Nora. Regardless of how compelling you find broodiness, Captain Timcur is still a terrorist…

I gulped. Timcur certainly looked the part of a rogue captain.

Can he really be responsible for so many deaths? What about Captain Gratham? Is the Captain of a starferry really involved in a terrorist cell? What could all these people, and kids, really be planning?

Earth Authorities would want to know more, and I was their spy. I realized I wanted to know more. What would lead this group of personalities to plan and execute acts of terror? The voice of ambition in my head whispered to me.

This would make an incredible story. Now, just to do my research. I want to be on the right side of history at the end of this. The Golden Meridian is the hottest story on the feeds, and I have unfettered access…and, if I do discover that these people, who have welcomed me so warmly, are actually terrorists, at least I can leverage this.

Mom always said I’d be president someday, and I had no desire to disappoint her. Timcur tried to smooth his hair with a hand and drew himself to his full height, towering over Evelyn and me.

My heart fluttered. I blushed and returned my eyes to the kehppû in my arms. I swear it winked…

“Well, it’s lunchtime for the furbabies, and I can only imagine the two of you have things to discuss.”

She smiled at me, holding out her arms. The baby kehppû leaped over to her and Mr. Fluff sauntered down the corridor. Evelyn muttered sweet things to them all the way down the hall.

“Who’s hungry? Is the baby hungry? Is Mr. Clawson hungry?”

She retreated to a chorus of meows and squeals.

I turned my gaze to Timcur. Emotions warred across his handsome features. I’d learned in Galactic Communication 101 that our Mahdfel allies shared many facial expressions with humans. We had practiced identifying facial expressions in that class as a study of body communication.

I watched hope wrestle fear. Occasionally, shame would streak by. I saw awe and sadness and guilt.

Timcur looked deep into my eyes. “You arrived at an interesting time.”

TIMCUR

Nora shone brighter in my sight than a teleporter flash. My heart thudded and every move she made felt like a revelation. I wanted to know everything about her, but couldn’t decide where to start. Questions crashed into me like a solar flare, leaving me mute in their fiery wake.

Her gaze flashed up to mine. I barely remembered to breathe.

“Hi.”

I gulped. Her voice fell on my ears like the first rays of sunlight against my scales.

“Hi.”

“I’m Nora. Nice to meet you.”

Yes, but who is ‘Nora’? Who are you behind that perfect face? Will I even get the chance to know you with the way things have been going for us, here on Goldie?

She held out her hand. My fingers trembled from the rush of so many life changes coming at me faster than I could process them. I took her hand in mine, marveling over the delicacy against my massive palm.

“I’m Timcur.”

I wanted to tell her about all the things I love, about my greatest pride, captaining Goldie... but my words died on my lips. I dropped my head.

“What weighs so heavily on those shoulders, Timcur?”

I laughed, a bitter sound, and drew in a massive breath. “I’m sure you are aware of the news feeds but, please, grant me the patience to explain.”

“I’m listening.”

“HQ tasked The Golden Meridian with tracking down a Suhlik terrorist named Zarklac. We followed him to a secret base. He got away, but we found a trove of data detailing his research on targets and plans developed to attack those targets.”

“Okay.”

“HQ then tasked Goldie, as we like to call her, with finding a hacker who could help decode the data. We sent the files he had decoded to HQ, but Zarklac included a virus, which corrupted the information, which made it look like we were the perpetrators of those horrible acts.”

I finally stopped talking and drew in a deep breath.

“That…sounds terrible.” She gave me an odd look. I didn’t know her well enough to read it, so I continued.

“It is. I…I have dedicated myself to the service of my people. Now, because of a Suhlik’s treachery, my own people hunt me. There is more to tell, but could we continue this conversation while we return to the galley?”

“Yes, of course. Please, tell me more. I…I want to know every detail. Obviously, we have matched, but…”

“But we have been declared terrorists.”

“Yes. I am obligated by treaty to be with you for a year. This is the life I will have to live for the next year, and I would like to know what that means before I make any decisions. Professor Brak says the truth is like a wad of loose yarn. Sometimes those threads go places you didn’t expect.”

“Your file mentioned you were a student…sorry, I should have let you tell me. I will admit, I was…stunned. Excited for the prospect, but stunned.”

Nora smiled a little, strained but still open. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“You are taking all this better than I had expected.”

“Well, what choice do I have? To freak out?” She shrugged. “What good would that do anyone? I try to understand what’s going on before I decide to freak out.”

I chuckled. We strolled down the corridors more slowly than I may have ever walked before. My arm may have brushed hers a time or two—accidentally. Hyperaware of her, I noted that she didn’t pull away.

“And those kids earlier?”

“Oh, they were representatives of the Diana’s Arrow branch of the UIN.”

“The network of stray children?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“The others? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“How could I mind? I am only ashamed that I could not meet you under better circumstances.” Frustration and betrayal flared in my gut.

Nora placed her other hand on my shoulder. “It looks like you have a lot on your shoulders, Timcur.”

My name on her lips set my heart aflutter.

“You have a right to know the entire situation.” I stopped and looked into her eyes. “And, maybe, you would lend us your education and help us find a way out of this...darkness… I…I feel untethered. This is not the man I had hoped my mate would meet.”

I placed my hand on my chest. “Please give me the opportunity to show you who I really am.”

Nora nodded. “I’m listening, Timcur.”

“Thank you.”

We continued our stroll.

“The other representatives were the other part of a delegation from Diana’s Arrow.”

“Is that where we are now?”

“Yes. She’s a long-haul starferry. Zarklac had planted a bomb on her ag deck. We discovered the plot just in time to save her, but Zarklac released doctored footage to the press to discredit us.”

“So that’s what happened…”

I drew a deep breath, nodding. “Yes. Captain Gratham has submitted a letter of support on our behalf, but that will take a long time to go through the intergalactic court system…”

She gave me another of those inscrutable sideways glances. What was she thinking? I knew she was listening carefully, gathering information to make a judgment. How much her judgment mattered shocked me. “One of my professors said something to the same effect.”

“She knows what she’s talking about on that account.”

We stepped into the galley. Captain Gratham rushed up to me.

“Captain Timcur, forgive my intrusion, but I didn’t want to say anything which might be recorded. When you arrived, we took measures to prevent your detection. I am ashamed to report HQ has tracked you to Diana’s Arrow and I don’t know how.”

I pushed a nearby intercom. “Attention. HQ is on our tail. Prepare for immediate departure.”

Captain Gratham hung his head in shame. I patted his shoulder.

“Captain, you have already done so much for us. Detection will always be a risk, but you and I know we have to try to save as many as we can. On behalf of The Golden Meridian and her crew, thank you for giving us sanctuary.”

“I also made certain you were repaired, resupplied, and refueled, but thank me later. Goldie needs to get out of here. The galaxy needs you.”

We traded salutes and shook hands. Captain Gratham stepped onto the teleporter pad and disappeared in a flash of light.

I turned to Nora. “If you will follow me, Nora Chambers, we will find you a chair.”

Upon her face, I saw the strangest look.

I will prove myself to you.

NORA

My heart thudded in my chest. They’d found us because of me.

I grabbed the locket at my throat, though I knew I couldn’t block the tracking signal with my bare flesh. I darted quick glances around me. I saw no looks of suspicion.

How long will that last? Can Goldie’s crew track the signal to me? What happens when they find out I’m a spy?

Suddenly, I didn’t want to be in this situation. They all seemed so, so reasonable… Timcur’s story moved me. It made sense to me in a way I could not yet define. In all my studies, everything I had been taught told me Timcur spoke the truth.

No, Nora. What you have learned tells you Timcur believes what he tells you. I still have no corroborating evidence…nothing definitive…just a feeling deep inside. Is that intuition? Or a pleasant delusion?

Evelyn stormed by, mumbling.

“I swear I searched every inch of you for hidden trackers, Goldie. I promise I’ll pick up a new bug sweeper at our next stop.”

She power-walked into a storage room, Mr. Fluff following. He looked at me like he knew all my secrets. I shivered and pulled myself together. I decided I was just nervous.

And be honest, Nora. You want to believe Timcur.

I shushed the voice of a lifetime of Mom’s advice in my head. Timcur waved a hand, drawing my attention.

“Nora?”

“Yes?”

“Please accompany me to the bridge. We will depart soon and we need to get you strapped in. Unless you have traveled on a starship before?”

I shook my head. “No. No, I have not. Show me what to do.”

Timcur smiled and led me to the bridge. We passed the largest Vaznik warrior I had seen yet.

“Thelkor, ride with Storgin in the lab.”

“Sir, yes, sir, Captain.”

“And try not to be a pain in my ass or I will have Storgin tranq you again.”

Timcur moved on, Thelkor objecting behind us.

“You know that wasn’t right the first time, Captain.”

Thelkor trotted off to the lab. I wondered if that was the same room I’d teleported into when I arrived. I forgot all about labs when I stepped onto the bridge and Timcur moved his giant body far enough out of my way for me to see out the front of the bridge.

Long docking arms pricked Diana’s Arrow, extending out for miles. Carefully shielded against space dust and micrometeor strikes, the docking arms branched out into a forest of modestly sized starships and smaller shuttles.

The hulking giants of larger starships stopping at Diana’s Arrow to trade and resupply floated nearby, keeping pace with the starferry.

“It’s so much more than I had really imagined…”

Rachel chuckled.

Timcur waved to one of the seats. I sat and he showed me how to use a crash harness. It had been a long time since I’d taken Introduction to Star Travel 101, and I may have been drunk. I didn’t get serious about my studies until my second semester.

Maybe I’ll keep that story to myself...

“Listen, Nora. I am sorry we met under these desperate circumstances. I promise to take the time to get to know you better after we take off. It will take…”

“Forty.”

Rachel supplied the answer, an amused grin tugging at her mouth.

“Thank you, Rachel. It will take forty hours to get to our destination.”

“But I plan to halve that.”

“So, twenty hours?”

“Yes.”

“Could you have started with that?”

“But then you wouldn’t fully appreciate my navigational abilities, Captain.”

Timcur began to chuckle. I smiled. The easy way Timcur and Rachel joked with each other showed how good their relationship always was. It spoke of long flights filled with long conversations.

I can live with that. Remember, I’m a spy.

My smile fell. That word, that job, that task of spying...began to rankle. He seemed good at that part of relationship building. Desire to have a relationship like theirs ignited in my core.

When he finds out I’m lying… How can I fix this? Where is the path out of this mess?

Timcur buckled the last strap, checked the fit, and smiled. “I’ll be free in just a few minutes. Rachel is so good, she has my full confidence.”

Rachel flashed me a smile. Timcur, Evelyn, and Olath strapped in, filling all five bridge chairs.

“Where do the babies ride? Do they have special seats?”

Evelyn laughed. “No. I toss them in zero-G storage. They just chase each other around, or bounce off the walls, or something.”

“Fascinating.”

Rachel hit the intercom.

“Leaving dock in three…two…one.”

Goldie shuddered, then floated free. Rachel hit the maneuvering thrusters, keeping Goldie en route for free space. Ship after ship drifted past the bridge’s screen. Careful to stay within the assigned flight path, Rachel rolled Goldie.

Diana’s Arrow, in all her twinkling brilliance, fell away. Shuttle traffic circled her in layered rings of flight paths, each carefully orchestrated to avoid collision.

The moons of a distant planet flashed against the backdrop of millions of burning suns. My first real sight of the world beyond Earth captured my breath. Rachel turned Goldie into her trajectory and sped away, leaving the glittering jewel of Diana’s Arrow behind.

Ahead of us rotated a massive, blue gas giant. I had heard of starships swinging around celestial bodies before. I had never expected to slingshot around a celestial body myself, however.

Projecting confidence was one thing. Experiencing anything but trepidation the first time you hurtle toward a planet at these velocities was another. I gripped the arms of my seat. The ball of swirling blue gasses filled our screen.

Rachel grinned, so in her element, and turned Goldie into her swing around the planet. The top layers of the gas giant’s atmosphere caught in our wake. The atmosphere reacted to Goldie’s energy trail, glowing a deep, hazy purple.

I gasped, remembering to breathe. Goldie shuddered from the turbulence. Rachel cackled. She sounded so happy, I chuckled, too.

Rachel pulled us away from the atmosphere and we shot out into the black.

TIMCUR

Rachel set Goldie’s autopilot and began unbuckling her crash harness. I released my own and turned to help Nora with hers. I smiled. She had herself half unbuckled already. Mr. Fluffbutt sauntered in and jumped on Nora’s lap, complicating every movement.

Mr. Fluff rolled around on Nora’s lap so shamelessly, I almost felt jealous. Evelyn bustled up, scooping Fluff into her arms.

“Come on, you.”

She bustled off with a wink, Lucky, the kehppû, trotting along behind. I stepped up to Nora.

“Would you join us in the galley?” I chuckled. “If you think you can stand the interrogation the crew is about to put you through.”

Nora looked terrified.

Oh, no. What have I done?

“They will just want to get to know you. But if that seems like too much too soon, we can find a quieter spot.”

“Oh! Now I understand. Yeah, no one looks forward to interrogations on Earth since the Spanish Inquisition.”

“I only meant they want to get to know you.”

Nora laughed, a little strain in her expression. Certain I had ruined everything, her laugh startled me. She patted my arm.

“Yes, I can answer a few questions. As long as you answer my own questions. Let’s make this a fair exchange.”

She smiled at me in a way that wobbled my knees.

She is so easy to talk to.

“Meow.”

We looked down. Mr. Clawson looked up in judgment, as if calling us to our fate. Nora stroked his back.

“Hello, Mr. Fluff. Please, lead the way.”

Fluff twitched his tail and sauntered down the corridor. Nora and I followed. The baby kehppû dropped from the ceiling and galloped up to Mr. Fluff’s side. Lucky’s little mouth tentacles stroked Mr. Fluff’s head.

“I was skeptical when Olath first asked permission to bring a, and I quote, “small, furry, arrogant, venomous predator” aboard to appease Evelyn. But I believe the cat and the kehppû have proven to be fine additions to Goldie’s crew.”

“What convinced you?”

“I hated seeing Evelyn so sad. Apparently, she and Mr. Fluff have been together for ten years.”

“Oh, my. That is a long time to be with a cat. It makes perfect sense to me.”

“Does it? Do humans really bond so strongly? Even with a pet?”

“Certainly. Humans are famous for bonding with other species for mutual survival. And there’s still debate about cats controlling minds.”

“Mind control, too? Fascinating.”

We stepped into the galley and Nora looked up at me.

“While I am happy to answer any of your questions, first, may I ask if there is a way to get a message to my mom and dad on Earth? I promised to contact them as soon as I could. Dad recently went into the hospital because of his heart, and Mom must be beside herself with worry by now.”

“Of course. Rachel?”

Rachel trotted up. “Yes, Captain?”

“Can you help Nora get a message to her parents so they don’t worry?”

Rachel smiled at Nora and slipped an arm around her waist as they strolled to the nearest comms station.

“So, Nora, what we are going to do is record your message and let Lorka send it so we’re less likely to be traced, okay?”

“Who’s Lorka?”

“A Buravian hacker on Tehglaish. He decoded the original data file. I just wish I had known it was boobytrapped before we transmitted it to Mahdfel HQ, but no one even thought about the data carrying a virus.”

“Tehglaish?”

“Oh, it’s a black-market planet. When HQ ordered us to get a hacker to decode the data, Tehglaish was the closest place. The whole thing is full of smugglers, mercs, and hacktivists. That’s what Lorka is, a hacktivist. Something about a home planet, but I haven’t really had the time to sort it all out. Things have been busy.”

“Wow.”

Rachel tapped a few buttons on the console.

“Okay, one second…” Rachel turned and shouted at the rest of the room. “QUIET.”

Everyone in the room froze. Rachel allowed a few seconds to pass so the ringing her voice left in the crew’s ears could fade.

“If I have your attention, Nora needs to record a message, so shut your traps. Okay, Nora. This button is record. This one is stop. This one is pause. I drew the usual Earth symbols in permanent marker.”

“I get it.”

“Record when ready.”

Nora pushed the button.

“Hi, Mom. I just wanted you and Dad to know I’m okay. I matched a Mahdfel. He and his crew have been very good to me. I can’t talk long… I…I will be out of communication range for a while. I will let you know where to contact me soon. Love you.”

Nora let the button go. We all knew she lied to her mom about communications. She could have given away clues to our position, or said a name, but she had chosen not to give us away. I gulped.

Nora turned from the comms console with a sad smile. She had chosen to protect Goldie and her parents by hiding the full truth of her situation. My chest swelled. Nora had made a hard choice with such grace.

She played with her locket. I wondered if it held pictures of her parents.

“Thank you, Rachel.”

“Of course. Being matched and teleported off without even a chance to get your breath is hard enough. Add in an alien, the huge galaxy filled with life of every kind, a kehppû on your head, and flashing tattoos, and anyone would need an adjustment period.”

Nora laughed and Evelyn joined them. Mr. Fluff rubbed Nora’s ankles, and the kehppû followed Mr. Fluff everywhere Fluff waddled.

“Rachel, that slingshot around that blue gas giant was amazing. I’ve never seen anyone circle so close before.”

Rachel smiled.

“Thanks! It’s not my first slingshot. I enjoyed piloting freighters between Earth and Shackleton back in my old life, but Goldie is a dream. That’s why I tried the lottery in the first place. I wanted to buy my own starship to trade my way across the galaxy. Goldie has been better than I had hoped for.”

Guilt twisted my gut.

I am responsible for every soul aboard this starship, and I have led them into piracy.

The thought tore at my chest. Fear and guilt tore me asunder, but determination raged through the wounds.

I will find a way to clear your names. I will find a way to clear the reputation of The Golden Meridian you all love so much, and whose crew I am coming to admire.

NORA

“Come on, Nora. Let’s raid the pantry. We don’t even know what you like yet.”

Rachel smiled and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Evelyn giggled and wrapped an arm around my waist.

“The flavor-changing ice cream really threw me for a loop when I first got here.”“Did you volunteer for the lottery, too?”

“No way! I was happily studying Mechanical Engineering when my birthdate came up. I can’t complain anymore. Well, not after Olath got Fluff aboard.”

On cue, Mr. Fluff rubbed my ankles. I stooped to give him a petting and say a few appreciative words about his magnificent fluff. I glanced at Timcur. The intensity with which he stared at me sent a blush over my cheeks.

“Anything in the pantry is fair game, but I’ll tell you now to avoid the captain’s slox.”

“Why, Rachel? Is he particular about it?”

Evelyn laughed, shaking her head.

“No, they’re just disgusting. I caught Thelkor throwing out the last batch, but someone, Captain Gratham maybe, found out he likes them and stocked us full.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what is slox?”Rachel turned to me, a pained look on her face. “Super sour, vaguely lemon…space cockroaches? Dried? Anyway, the captain loves them but they freak the rest of us out.”

The thought of kissing Timcur and getting insect legs in return quivered my stomach.

“Maybe we can get him switched to sour dried plums or something…”

Timcur stepped up. Our gazes clashed. “Have you picked anything out yet?”

“We haven’t even started, Captain.”

Rachel grinned at Timcur. “But I’m glad you’re here, Captain. We were just about to ask Nora what she likes. Take notes.”

I chuckled, casually tearing my eyes from his face to look at anything but him. I forced my limbs to relax and tried to look casual. Difficult to pull off when everything inside me was clenched so tightly.

But I made myself face him again, friendly warmth on my face, pretended I wasn’t a traitor, a liar, pretended everything in me wasn’t leaning towards him.

“Might I suggest throwing a few things together in a basket, or something. A lot has happened today, and I would very much appreciate some time to catch my breath. Maybe the Captain can show me a quiet spot?”

“Call me Timcur…”

“Timcur.” I smiled up at his handsome face. “Does that sound all right? I swear, I will answer every question eventually. And I don’t mind if anyone reads my file in the interim.”

Rachel and Evelyn smiled.

“That sounds like a lovely idea, Nora. I’m sure you and the captain must have much to discuss.”

Rachel giggled at Evelyn’s words. Evelyn winked at me. They waved and found a levcrate, a crate fitted with a magnetic levitation device. They moved through the kitchen, packing various things into it as it floated behind them.

“Captain Gratham gave us more than we can possibly eat. Rachel?”

“Yeah?”

“See if we can sell some of this stuff on Tehglaish while we’re there, will you?”

“Sure. If I can’t sell it, I’ll figure out how to preserve it.”

I slipped my hand into Timcur’s. He jumped at the unexpected contact, then smiled, wrapping his fingers around mine.

Mistake. My smile froze for a second while I processed the sensations uncoiling inside me. How could so simple a touch have such a great effect? I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t. Conflicting emotions and agendas grappled for supremacy.

I suppose the first time doing anything with your DNA-match must be a surprise. He is so sweet…and he cares so much about his crew.

Timcur’s mere presence warmed my heart. The locket weighed heavy around my neck. I wrapped my fingers around the cold metal, struggling with what it meant. And what it meant was that I was rapidly weakening.

“Missing your family?”

Timcur pointed to my necklace.

“Oh. Yes. We have always been close. I haven’t spoken to Dad much lately, though. Not since he went into the hospital. There simply wasn’t time and he needed rest. I…I’ve never heard him sound so tired.”

“I can see you have many things on your mind right now.”

“It’s why I decided to get tested. I was going to split the money with Mom. My part would pay for college, and her part would help take care of Dad.”

Timcur smiled. “I imagine that felt like quite a sacrifice. And you meet your match only to find out he is a fugitive.”

Timcur’s smile faded and I patted his arm. With each casual touch, it was getting easier not to flinch away, to control the desire. He looked at me, his soul clearly raw with the crushing weight of self-imposed responsibility.

I shrugged. “Sometimes things work out. There are a lot of good minds in this galley alone. I’m sure we can find a solution, between us.”

He nodded, cheering up a little.

Rachel returned and pushed the levcrate our way. “Be nice, Captain.”

“What? I’m always nice…”

Rachel chuckled and saluted. Evelyn slid her arms around Olath’s waist. He smiled and wrapped his massive arms around her.

“May I suggest my sitting room? It has an excellent view of the stars.”

“That sounds lovely.”

We strolled out of the galley, levcrate in tow.

“So, how did this all start? How did Goldie get caught up in all this?”

Timcur blew out a long breath.

“I suppose it all began when the Suhlik tried to invade Shackleton Crater Moon Base.”

“I remember hearing about that, but I didn’t realize it was the Suhlik. I was knee-deep in a paper for Introduction to Galactic Law 101 and missed the details.”

“Well, our original pilot, Korath, helped foil that attack, met his DNA-match, and decided to stay with her. Goldie has been tracking Zarklac, the Suhlik responsible for this entire mess, ever since.”

“Sounds like I will never be bored.”

Timcur laughed. “Of all the things I have felt since Zarklac’s first attack, boredom has never been one of them.”

We stepped into his cabin. A kitchen, bedroom, head, and office opened off a small sitting room. He had angled the couch so he could watch the galaxy pass by the viewscreen on long nights when he needed to think.

He pulled the levcrate near the low table between a small sofa and two comfortable chairs.

“Do you mind if we eat here? Or I can extend the table, if you prefer?”

I forced myself to look cheerful, unconcerned. We were alone in his cabin and all I could think of was peeling off his clothing. All I could think of was what would happen if we were mates in truth. . .and then I had to turn him in.

“Oh, goodness, the conversation pit looks perfect. I can’t wait to get off my feet.”

I slipped off my shoes and sank into a chair. I rubbed my neck, which had been tense since I first put on the locket. Timcur began setting out the food.

We ate and laughed. Timcur showed me the footage of their adventures. I hadn’t decided what to think yet. I would need to verify the videos had not been faked before I could really believe…but the locket felt heavier than ever.

TIMCUR

The more I watched her, the more enchanted I became. She had a way of tilting her head and narrowing her eyes before she laughed that took my breath away. I wanted to know exactly what she thought about in those few seconds when her eyes were so intensely trained on me right before she laughed.

“So,” she said, running her finger along the rim of her glass as she gave me another long look. “Do you have any hobbies?”

I was floored by the question as much as her beauty. I literally couldn’t think straight, and she had asked me a question impossible to answer.

“I am captain of a spaceship,” I said proudly, but a bit unsure of myself.

“No, no.” She shook her head, her eyes sparkling up at me again. “What do you like to do?”

I was lost again. “I like being a captain.”

I was starting to feel like I was failing at the conversation and I knew, if my brain quit on me now, I would never forgive my nervous system for giving out and making me look ridiculous in front of my mate.

“Let’s change the question,” she said, taking a sip from her cup. “Do you like to read?”

“Of course!” I answered, my conversations with Rachel rushing back to me. I remembered how easy it was to talk to her and I figured that was because my body wasn’t screaming in desperation to bond with its genetic match.

“What do you like?” Her lips slid across the edge of the cup. I was so distracted, I almost told her exactly what I wanted her to do with those lips.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I lost focus. There were too many changes, certainly. I was unsettled. No matter how hard I tried to regain control of our situation, it just kept getting worse. Adding my mate to the mix made me feel like I might have been given a lobotomy in my sleep, completely destroying my ability to reason.

“I like adventure stories,” I said eventually. “It’s what made me want to become a captain.”

“Oh, so do you guys have fairy-tales?”

I had a vague notion of what those were and shook my head.

“Not really, not like you do. But I grew up hearing about the fiercest members of our race and the incredible physical feats they were capable of. I wanted adventure, to explore. I also wanted to lead.”

“Why?” she asked, her eyes lingering on mine.

That gaze pierced me. I didn’t like the question, but I was completely struck by her.

“I like to be in charge,” I said, my chest loosening at the admission. “I like knowing that everything is where it should be and that the ship and its crew are working at their very best.”

Inside, I felt a sinking feeling. I was sure her questions were innocent, but I felt like she was stripping me to the soul.

I couldn’t believe that this beautiful, incredible woman had been matched to me and now would be trapped in the life of a criminal. The guilt rose in me, shedding a glaring light upon my lack of control of the situation.

It hurt. That was the only way to put it. “Nora,” I said softly. “I’m so sorry.”

“What for?” she asked, putting her cup down.

“For all of this. You deserve so much better. This is my fault and I want you to know, I will make it up to you any way that I can.”

She looked at me curiously, and I realized how close our faces were. She looked pensive, indecisive. Almost as if she had something she wanted to say.

I could only focus on her beautiful lips, deep eyes, and the scent of her. It intoxicated me, even seemed to slow down my thoughts. It was a moment so full of meaning it seemed to draw us together within it.

All I wanted was to kiss her. Did she know that? She seemed to, from the way she was leaning into me. For a brief second, I let myself feel it, the certainty that she wanted me, too. I even inched a bit closer, ready to touch my lips to hers.

Then she blinked, and the spell was partially broken. My insecurities and fears rushed through me—things I’d never had until such a short time ago. My stomach twisted and I thought of the horrible consequences if I was wrong. I could screw everything up.

Like I’ve screwed up just about everything else.

I moved my head back a little, watching her eyes and her lips as I did so. I couldn’t just kiss her, not without asking. Not now, when my instincts seemed to keep driving me further from my goals. There was very little that I could be sure of, but overall, I wanted her to be sure of me.

I sat back, watching her. She looked up from under her lashes, her lips slightly parted. I saw uncertainty flash through her again, as if her thoughts were hard, sharp, and impossible to organize. At least we had something in common right now—I was just as confused as she appeared to be.

I wondered if she was thinking of kissing me. I hoped so. I told myself that a woman in her position would have many questions and I should worry more about her feelings, not the needs of my lips.

NORA

I really thought he was about to kiss me.

Disappointment slumped my shoulders a little. I was finding Timcur incredibly charming, even more so by the way he had reverted into shy mode when I got really close.

I had been drawing him in, not really listening to the answers to my questions. I wanted to get to know him, so my questions were important, but I felt that I was learning more about him from his body language and reactions than from his words.

I didn’t like that I had to keep fishing. As much as I wanted to get to know my mate, I was also supposed to be spying on him. That thought darkened the entire conversation. When I looked back up at him, I knew, deep down, I was going to have trouble betraying him.

He looked away, a little awkwardly. The space between us should have felt awkward, but it didn’t. All I felt was an urge to fill that space between us, to shuffle closer to him. When he looked into my eyes, I felt something...and not just a flutter in my heart or a throb of something deeper or more sensual. No, what I felt when he looked into me, I felt with my entire body.

My attraction for him was swimming in my veins, touching every single part of me. I’d heard all the cliches of being in love, and I’d had a few crushes, but I had never understood how you could be completely blown away. Now I did, because I trembled in places I had never even thought about.

Sitting this close to him thrilled me almost to the point of paralysis. I was disappointed that he hadn’t kissed me, but maybe he hadn’t wanted to, and I’d misread the signs. I looked into my lap and suddenly realized I had no idea what we had been talking about.

“I should walk you to your quarters,” he said, standing up. He extended his hand and I looked up at him, not willing to get up right away.

I wanted to kiss him, right now. The moment had been broken, he had made sure of that, but I wanted it back. I felt like I had missed a chance to kiss him, and I felt angry and cheated that it was gone.

I must have been frowning quite fiercely, because Timcur’s face changed immediately to concern.

“Nora, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“You look like you’ve suddenly taken ill.”

I shook my head, standing up. As I did so, he took his hand back. I frowned again.

I had been just about to take it! Why did he pull away so quickly? Doesn’t he want to touch me?

From the way he scuttled back as I got closer, maybe he really didn’t. My attraction for him was welling up inside me and warring with the bad feeling that he didn’t actually want me. I had never been so confused in my entire life.

Then he took my hand. His fingertips brushed gently across my wrist as he slid his fingers around mine. The jolt of energy was almost shocking as my body responded. My blood felt hot, and that fire spread throughout, almost stealing my breath. I looked up at him and smiled, a truly genuine, carefree smile.

He smiled back and I knew that, for at least a few seconds, we completely understood each other. Just as I was about to step up and hug—maybe even kiss—him, I remembered my mission and looked away.

I felt bad for breaking the look. His fingers tightened on mine, but they felt cold. For a few seconds we had been genuinely connected, and I had to go and break it. I couldn’t look him in the eye while I was thinking about turning him in—or the money I might make doing it, though.

“It’s been a long day,” he said, more evenly than I expected.

When I looked up, his face was full of sympathy. I had been expecting hurt or confusion. My chest felt too full—his first thought was for me, not himself. It just made everything so much harder.

I had not expected this. How could I have known that the call to bond with my mate would be so strong? I didn’t know that the feelings manifested directly like this. I thought that being matched was only about babies…not about being attracted and desiring sex.

It dawned on me, as we walked out of the room, that of course, desire, attraction—would be all built in. What a fool I had been to imagine that being mate-paired would be like a contract without any feelings of affection. I squeezed his hand gently as we walked, enjoying the rising feelings within me.

Without even looking at him, I could sense something similar happening in him. When we stopped at the guest quarters, I looked up into his eyes and I saw all that warmth, all that promise, just waiting there for me. His face showed a man in conflict, but, looking through all of that, I was sure I could see him offering me his heart.

“Have a good rest, Nora,” he said very softly. “I’ll see you before we approach the dock.”

“Okay,” I said, letting go of his hand with regret. I was about to tell him to stay, but he nodded and turned away before I could find the words.

I watched him go, feeling my heart sink. Then, just before he turned the corner at the end of the hall, he looked back at me. In his eyes, I saw everything that I had ever wanted—and what I now feared I could never have.

TIMCUR

Rachel’s voice emanated from the intercom.

“We will begin our final approach to Tehglaish in fifteen minutes. Please return to your seats and strap into your crash harnesses, though I suppose you could ride in the zero-G storage with the pets. Please return your trays to their upright positions…”

I never understood why Rachel found that so funny. Thelkor walked by.

“Thelkor…”

“I know, ride in the lab with Storgin. Hey, could you maybe explain to Nora I’m not a medical experiment, I’m just giving her my seat on the bridge?”

“If I understood enough about what he does in there to interfere, I would. Until I get as many medical degrees as Storgin has, I’m leaving the medicine up to him.”

“But, Captain! He keeps jabbing me with things!”

“As long as he’s not jabbing me. He hasn’t killed you yet, Thelkor. Storgin hasn’t even made you sick yet. Why complain? Who knows? All those injections might be good for you.”

Thelkor threw up his hands and walked off, grumbling the entire way. I entered the bridge. Rachel, Olath, Nora, and Evelyn had already strapped in. They greeted me with a chorus of, “Morning, Captain”.

Nora smiled at me. My knees threatened to collapse, and I desperately wanted to draw her into my arms and kiss her. I jerked my gaze away—and a second later dared a glance. She looked…amused.

Does she simply enjoy driving me half mad? Wait…do I really want her to stop?

I tore my eyes and thoughts from Nora and tried to focus on this landing. I had no worries about the landing, per se. Rachel had earned my full confidence. I hoped focusing on work would help keep my mind off Nora.

Who makes my head spin in the most delightful ways… Focus, Timcur!

My mind hunted me, trying to keep my frantic thoughts in line.

“Beginning approach sequence.”

Rachel brought us in through the first layers of Tehglaish’s dry atmosphere. Goldie’s inertial dampeners cushioned our entry and we swooped down to the landing pad in gentle circles. The dusty city of Mavrii and the Vaiymâ Foothills swirled past the viewscreen.

I darted a glance at Nora. Wonder shone on her face brighter than a sun.

This will be her first time on a planet other than her homeworld. This is a big moment.

Everyone unstrapped their harnesses and headed to Goldie’s new wardrobe department. Rachel and Evelyn took Nora by the arms, giggling, and hustled her off the bridge. I followed behind.

“Okay, so, since we were first tasked with going undercover, we have collected a few costumes,” Rachel explained. “Evelyn and I recently converted one of the cargo holds into Goldie’s new wardrobe department...”

“Wait a minute, when did this happen?” I questioned.

“Last night, while you and Nora were getting to know each other better.”

“No one mentioned a plan for that.”

“I only thought of it last night, Captain. And I didn’t think you wanted us to interrupt you for such a little thing.”

I nodded. “Makes sense.”

Rachel continued. “So, I never go out on the excursions. I stay with Goldie in case we need a quick getaway. Evelyn, though, has the best character.”

“On Tehglaish, I went all dominatrix.”

Nora laughed. “I can’t wait to see your outfit.”

“Oh, she’s totally hot in it.”

“Thanks, Rachel. I have some experience in high school one-acts, but we really need a better negotiator. We were hoping that, with your polisci experience, you had speech/debate experience.”

“Do I ever. So, I think this will work out best if Evelyn maintains her role, but designates me her negotiator,” Nora responded.

“Rachel, Lorka knows who I am already.”

“Yeah, but no one else does and they expect you in your dominatrix best.”

“She’s right. Besides, this sounds like fun.”

We arrived at the cargo hold Rachel and Evelyn had converted into a big changing room. Rachel tossed a stack of clothes at me. I managed to catch them before they hit the deck. She pointed out of the wardrobe department.

“Go put that on, Captain. We’ll be right out.”

She shut the door in my face. I blinked for a moment, then raised my hand to pound on the door and demand entry, but Thelkor stopped me.

“Trust me, this time, do as you’ve been told.”

“Uh…okay.”

I shrugged and changed into the black combat suit in my hands. I wrapped the cloak around my shoulders.

“Thelkor?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Does this make me look…cool?”

“Sure.”

Thelkor spun away and fiddled with the weapons he had gathered.

“Thanks. Listen, I want you to stay here with Goldie and Rachel. And by that, I mean paying attention, not…making out.”

“I swear I will pay attention to Goldie even while making out with Rachel.”

“Thelkor—”

I forgot what I was saying as soon as Nora stepped out of the wardrobe department. She wore a similar combat suit. Her blonde hair cascaded down her back from a high ponytail. She wore a blaster on each hip.

I gulped. I had never seen anyone more beautiful. She strode up to me in black, calf-height tactical boots.

“Hey there, handsome.”

I nearly fainted. I wanted to grab her by the arms and kiss her.

Get a hold of yourself, Timcur!

Rachel, Evelyn, and Storgin joined us, Evelyn and Storgin already dressed in their outfits. We looked like a team. Nora beamed.

She fits right in.

Rachel nudged me with an elbow. “Captain?”

“Ah, yes. If you will follow me.”

I turned and walked out of Goldie, my team following close behind. Nora walked beside me.

“Where are we headed?”

“Last time, we found Lorka at the Tii Dâth Pub. It is a rough place full of vile characters, but it’s where Lorka likes to hang out.”

“Someone said he’s Buravian?”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“Oh. He has green skin but looks a lot like a human.”

“Green? That’s pretty cool.”

Evelyn turned her character’s fierce gaze on us. “Silence. Remember your character.”

Nora chuckled.

NORA

I followed Evelyn’s lead. I remembered Public Speaking 102 and the lessons on projecting a professional air. I held my head high, confident. I attempted to look those we passed in the eye. That became difficult when I stepped into the pub and came face-to-face with what Timcur called a Chawwaw.

The Chawwaw looked like an Earth lemur to me—except for the four eyes on stalks and the neon coat. I scanned the other barflies and quickly realized Evelyn and I were the only humans there.

Of course there aren’t many humans. This isn’t Earth, even if it does resemble Arizona.

Evelyn pointed at a table. Timcur, Storgin, and I sat. We watched her like hawks, spring-loaded and ready to take out anyone who displeased her. I suppressed a chuckle.

I certainly never expected to have this much fun.

I had been on stage and in competitions for as long as I could remember, but nothing had felt so real as this moment. Storgin’s eyes scanned the patrons, watching for trouble. The barkeep waved a tentacle toward a shadowy booth in the back.

Evelyn thanked him and walked over. We stood and followed. She slid into the booth with a green-skinned humanoid with pale gray eyes. I settled next to her, Storgin next to the alien and Timcur pulled a chair up to the end of the booth.

“Any news on the translation?”

“I’m a hacktivist, Captain Timcur, not a terrorist.”

Evelyn slapped the table.

“You know perfectly well we aren’t terrorists and, had you done your due diligence and scanned those files for that virus, no one would even think we were terrorists. You owe us.”

Lorka held up his hands, cutting off Evelyn’s stream of words.

“I am sorry about that. My latest algorithm has nearly finished another round of decryption, okay? I was going to contact you then.”

Timcur looked at him. “Lorka, you’re partially responsible for this mess.”

“I know, Captain, but I don’t exactly have a ton of resources at my disposal. What I do have, I try to use to help my people.”

Timcur slammed his fists on the table. I glanced behind us. Other patrons very carefully did not look our way.

“Lorka, when I first stepped foot upon The Golden Meridian, I swore to maintain her reputation to the highest of Vaznik standards, yet now the news feeds are calling us outlaws, pirates, rogues!”

I lay my hand on his arm. “Timcur, take a breath.”

I turned to Lorka. I am the negotiator. This is my bag, baby. I turned my one-thousand-watt smile on Lorka. “Lorka, is it?”

I offered my hand. Lorka took it and I spoke while we shook.

“Pleased to meet you, Lorka. I’m Nora. I recently discovered Captain Timcur here is my DNA-match. Isn’t that wild?”

“Good luck with that.”

“Thank you, Lorka. I appreciate your well wishes. Now, tell me about the Buravian people and their struggles.”

“Uh…well, about six-hundred and fifty-eight years, seven months, and four hours ago, the Kkkkkkaw blew our planet up. Those of us off-world at the time had to seek shelter on other planets and we have been petitioning the Intergalactic Authorities for a new one ever since. Most places see us as vermin, but they don’t know our history. Buravians have much to offer the intergalactic community.”

“I bet you do. Those bastards.”

“Exactly!”

“You are fighting to clear the reputation of your people in the galaxy, right?”

“Yes.”

“And to find a way for your people to have a homeworld of their own.”

“Yes, yes, exactly.”

“Well, Lorka, give me a chance to explain how we can come to an arrangement which may benefit us both. I promise I will not waste your time, but we may be able to help each other. You have a unique opportunity here to elevate the plight of the Buravian people.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way…”

“Well, I’ll tell you what—let’s go somewhere more private and I’ll tell you what I have in mind.”

“Certainly. If Storgin will just let me out…”

“Oh, yes. Excuse me.”

Storgin slid out of the booth, Lorka following. The Buravian must have been seven-feet tall, but he was far thinner than the Mahdfel.

Once all the giants had moved out of our way, Evelyn and I scooted out of the booth. We followed Lorka through a few back halls until we arrived at a basement door. He opened it and we followed him into a basement so cliché, I wondered if I were dreaming.

“What are you offering me, Nora?”

“Everyone in this room knows The Golden Meridian is innocent, but most people outside of this room have not only heard of her, but they think she’s gone rogue.”

Lorka shrugged. “Yes, but I’m not certain what you could offer me to assist beyond decrypting the remainder of the first files, unless you have a planet hidden in that outfit.”

“First, tell me why it has been so difficult to find a suitable planet.”

Lorka threw up his hands. “We require the same planetary conditions as many species. No one wants to give up a planet which would sustain their own colonies.”

“I see. And no one wants to mention habitable planets they survey in case they want to colonize them in the future.”

“Right. So, I have been doing what I can to save enough money to mount a survey of my own.”

I placed a hand on Lorka’s arm.

“That is amazing, Lorka. After we get all this drama settled, I would love to make a documentary on you and the struggles of the Buravian people. I think your story is very compelling. Assuming The Golden Meridian survives and is cleared, of course.”

“Of course.”

“I know a professor who will eat this up. I think I can talk him into securing funding for this project. You know how hungry Earth is for stories about the galaxy.”

Lorka’s suspicious eyes brightened. “You think we could really make that happen?”

“Of course. Now, let’s talk about how you can help Goldie.”

TIMCUR

“Never underestimate the disruptive power of a human college student with a cause, Lorka.”

Nora’s ability to handle Lorka amazed me. She moved with such grace and spoke with such poise and elegance. She sparkled in my vision.

“All we are asking you to do for us is tell the truth. Help us tell Goldie’s truth and we will help get out your truth. I’m certain we can get you a copy of all the files, all the footage, all the documentation.”

Evelyn stepped up to Lorka and handed him a memory drive. “Here, have mine.”

She placed the small rectangle in his long-fingered, green palm. Nora wrapped his hand around the memory drive.

“Think of it, Lorka. You will be helping to clear the name of the crew who saved Diana’s Arrow from a Suhlik bomb. Captain Gratham already submitted a statement of support for The Golden Meridian and her crew.”

“Did he?”

Nora nodded. “Yes, he did. Just think how good it will look for your cause when the truth makes it through the intergalactic courts and finally comes out and you were the hacktivist kind enough to help us…”

Lorka’s eyes glazed.

“And think of all those grateful people you will help save by helping us thwart any of Zarklac’s future attacks,” Nora continued.

“You have a point…”

“I’m certain many of them will be grateful enough to donate to your cause.”

He slapped a ragged plush toy on a shelf beside him. The back wall of the basement slid open, revealing a room stuffed with computer systems, wires, worn old couches, and spray-painted crates.

Evelyn looked at Storgin. “You owe me twenty GC.”

“I never took that bet.”

“Lies.”

“Welcome to my computer lab. Don’t touch anything. Storgin. Couch. Now.”

“I’m a doctor, Lorka, not a Thelkor.”

Lorka pointed.

Storgin groaned. “Don’t you have a teleporter around here? At least I could check on my experiments.”

“Speaking of which, stop experimenting on Thelkor,” I ordered.

“Don’t worry, Captain. Storgin was just shooting Thelkor up with some vitamins. Rachel was worried about him.”

Evelyn shrugged at me as she flopped into one of the chairs.

“I do have a teleporter.”

Storgin perked up at the Buravian’s words. Lorka pointed at the far corner of the room.

Storgin hopped up and trotted over. “Captain?”

“Yes, go ahead.” I waved Storgin away. “Send me a bag of slox.”

I saw the white teleporter flash and wondered if he had heard me. I returned my attention to Lorka as he bent over a console screen.

“The next decryption report should be coming in any minute.”

“What about finding Zarklac’s current location, Lorka?”

“That is a big search, but I can try.”

He sat on a stool and typed, muttering to himself while he programmed. I looked at Nora as she perched on the corner of a shelf nearby, grinning. I couldn’t be more impressed.

She smiled at me and I thought my heart would stop in my chest. The teleporter flashed again and Thelkor sauntered in, trailing a couple of levcrates behind him.

“Rachel sent some food while we wait.”

Lorka looked over. “What about beer?”

Thelkor opened one of the crates, reached in, and handed Lorka a cold bottle.

“I snuck some out. You don’t mind, Captain?”

I waved my hand. “No. We may be waiting for a while.”

I wondered if Nora wanted to cuddle. Before I could ask, the teleporter flashed again. Olath joined us, Evelyn’s babies in tow. Mr. Fluff walked directly up to Nora and jumped in her lap. The baby kehppû bounded up to Evelyn, popping and squeaking.

“Hi, sweetie. Do you remember Lorka?”

Lucky turned to look at Lorka. Lorka grinned and held out his arms. The baby bounded over and jumped into his arms. Lorka cradled it, letting it feel his hands with its little mouth tentacles.

“You look healthy. Yes, you do.”

Mr. Fluff stretched out across Nora’s lap, luxuriating in her attention.

“What is the ETA on that data? I don’t want to be anywhere for too long.”

Lorka looked up at me, a happy smile stretched across his face.

“The program is crunching the numbers, Captain. What do you want? Magic?”

I rolled my eyes. “Ha.”

Lorka stood and crossed the distance between us. He handed me the kehppû.

“Take the kehppû, Captain. It’s good for you.”

“I don’t need a kehppû, Lorka.”

“Yes, you do, Captain. Yes, you do.”

Nora and Evelyn chuckled. I sighed and accepted the wiggly thing.

Funny… I thought this thing was smaller…

Little mouth tentacles tickled at my face. The thing was cute, in a tentacled way. Waves of soothing blues and greens ran along the kehppû’s fur. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

“So, Nora, what’s your favorite food?”

Nora raised an eyebrow at Evelyn’s question. “Tacos al pastor.”

“Kinky.”

Evelyn and Nora laughed. Evelyn groaned.

“We need a taco night. Do you know the last time I had tacos?”

“I can make some.”

Evelyn’s eyebrows flew to her hairline. She pointed back and forth between herself and Nora.

“We’re going to talk. Later, though, when we reorder.”

I broke in. “And we are already quite full. Lorka? Any interest in some foods from the Diana’s Arrow ag deck?”

Lorka’s eyes widened. “What exactly are we talking here?”

I waved his question away. “I don’t even know. We’ve been moving really fast lately. Olath?”

“Yes, Captain?”

“Please give Lorka a look at the pantry. I’ll tell Rachel to meet you there.”

“Yes, Captain.” Olath waved Lorka over to the teleporter. “Come on. Let me introduce you to The Golden Meridian.”

“I accept your invitation.”

Lorka hopped up and recycled his bottle before grabbing another. He popped open the top and caught up to Olath. The two teleported away.

I spoke into my comms bracelet. “Rachel? Please meet Olath and Lorka in the pantry to discuss trade.”

Her voice responded from my comms. “Aye, Captain.”

I turned back to the others. “Nobody break anything.”

Nora giggled. Mr. Fluff batted at her hair. The kehppû jumped out of my arms and batted at Mr. Fluff’s tail. We snacked on cheeses, pickles, and crackers. Nora and Thelkor competed to see who could build the most complicated stack of snacks.

Nora won by a single olive.

TIMCUR

“Eat your creations and come give me some context on these clips you’ve brought me.”

Every head in the room swung to look at Lorka. He turned and shuffled up to a console. He stuck the memory drive into a port and began to sort the data.

Thelkor ate his tower in one bite and jumped to his feet. He leaned over Lorka, peering into the console displaying the drive’s files.

“Let’s start with the ag deck. Then we can trace Olath’s path through clips.”

“You’re breathing down my neck, Mahdfel. Give a Buravian his space.”

Thelkor stepped back, arms up, palms out. “Maintain an even temper, Lorka, no harm meant.”

Nora stood and joined them. “May I join you? I would love to hear your take on this.”

“Pull up a worn-out, uncomfortable, metal stool.”

“You are too kind, Lorka. Would you be comfortable recording this? I think it will really look good in a documentary.” She looked over at me. “Captain? Could you possibly work a recording device so I can get a good look at what we have to work with?”

Nora smiled at me. Her eyes sparked with the seeds of an endeavor. I tried to capture a memory of how beautiful she looked in that moment.

This moment would make the perfect painting. Since when do I care about paintings? Would painting be a hobby? I didn’t have any hobbies when Nora asked. What if she wanted me to have a hobby? I will take up painting.

Thankfully, my train of thought crashed. I struggled to remember the question Nora expected me to answer.

Uh…a recording device. Find a device for recording. Can I?

“Yes. I will go get one.”

I turned and walked to the teleporter.

I could just call Rachel.

I tapped my comms bracelet.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Can you send over a recorder and control unit?”

“Certainly, Captain.”

“Did you get some of the food? Do you need anything?”

“Captain, after I send you the recorder kit, I’m getting back in my bath.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then.”

A recorder kit arrived in a flash.

“Thank you, Rachel.”

“Welcome.”

I walked back to where Lorka and Nora sat. Olath and Evelyn were giggling on the couch, and Thelkor walked by, waving.

“Later, Captain. I’m going to keep Rachel company.”

“She said she was in her bath…”

Thelkor ran to the teleporter.

Nora called me over before I could figure out why he ran. I opened the kit and pulled out the control drive, then plugged it into my comms bracelet and tapped commands into the interface.

The recording drone came to life, levitating around us. I hoped the autopilot knew what it was doing, because I had no clue what made a compelling documentary. Luckily, the instructions reverted to easy mode once I randomly smacked enough of the buttons.

“Please select genre.”

“Documentary.”

“Did you say,‘Mockumentary’?”

“No.”

“Did you say, ‘No’?”

“Yes.”

“Please select genre.”

“Doc-u-men-ta-ry.”

“Did you say, ‘Documentary’?”

“Yes.”

“Initiating Documentary Mode. Beep.”

The drone recorder began circling, recording. I looked at Nora. She sat on a metal stool near Lorka, a delicate hand over her mouth. She and Lorka watched a security video of Olath and Evelyn standing on a giant pile of manure.

In the next video, Olath grabbed an object and ran. Nora pointed to it. “Let’s mark those clips. Those will be great.”

Lorka turned to her. “Do you really think this will work?”

Nora patted his arm. “I really do. There’s a lot to work with here. I see how the clips here were manipulated in the news feeds. We’ll create an expose showing the rest of the story. The news feeds will eat this up.”

A small ding rang out from a console against a back wall.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

Lorka stood and crossed to the dinging console. His long fingers danced over the keys. I walked over to him, recorder bobbing through the air behind me. Lorka looked up into my eyes.

“My latest algorithm reconstructed some of the data I couldn’t decode before. I know his next target, but not much else yet.”

“Well, what is the next target?”

“The Bouhek Intergalactic Games Center, Captain. In about seventy-two hours.”

Nora and Evelyn looked at our alarmed expressions.

“What is that?”

Olath spoke up. “A recently completed space station dedicated to hosting intergalactic games. Ever heard of Jetmoto Ball?”

Evelyn and Nora shook their heads.

“Players ride hoverjet cycles in a giant force field bubble? They compete as teams to get a ball through the opposing team’s goal.”

Evelyn and Nora shook their heads and shrugged.

“Extreme Team Wave Warping?”

“Sorry, my love. I was never much of a sports fan.”

Olath grinned at Evelyn. “Let me explain the Danhog Gladiatorial Games…”

“Olath, we do not have time. We need to form a plan of action.”

“Yes, Captain.”

Olath whispered to Evelyn, “Don’t worry, I’ll explain later.”

Lorka grinned. “Krause Ball was always my favorite.”

Nora held up a hand to forestall any more sports talk. “So, it’s a space station filled with arenas.”

I nodded. “Basically. Also, restaurants, concessions, gift shops, all the usual things a large space station requires to entertain the masses and support the small city’s worth of workers.”

Nora tapped a finger on her chin. “Fascinating. I assume the players are big stars? From all over the galaxy?”

OLATH, Storgin, Lorka, and I all nodded.

Nora looked at me. “How many of those recorders do we have, Captain?”

I scratched my head. “Five or so? I would really have to ask Rachel…”

Olath shook his head. “No, don’t do that, Captain. We’re all here because Rachel and Thelkor are there…”

I sighed. Nora chuckled, then continued. “Good for them. Anyway, I may have the beginnings of a plan.”

She smiled. I thought I would faint under the power of her charm. I opened my mouth to ask about her plan. An alarm blared and everyone jumped. Lorka dashed for a console flashing red.

He swore. “Mahdfel ships incoming. ETA in forty-eight hours, Captain.”

NORA

“Forty-eight hours?”

Timcur leaped to his feet, his shout echoing from the walls. My heart thudded in my chest. I grabbed the locket which still hung so heavy around my neck.

I’d gotten caught up… I’d gotten distracted by the challenge of talking an intergalactic alien hacktivist into proving the innocence of my mate and his crew.

I knew the Intergalactic Authorities had tracked me here. I looked around, terrified to find one of my companions staring at me like they knew I was a spy…a traitor.

Am I, though? I was supposed to be working for the authorities.

No one stared at me. No one suspected. The kehppû crawled up my leg. I tried to pry it off me so I could find a way to end the chaos of shouts around me.

“Not now, cutie.”

I made the mistake of looking directly into Lucky’s eyes. Time seemed to stop around me.

The only way out of this is to tell the truth to Timcur and, mostly, to myself.

Time returned. The kehppû crawled onto my shoulder and behind my neck. Little tentacles played with my hair and massaged my scalp.

Why is everyone so loud?

I whistled my loudest parade-group whistle. Silence fell as my whistle stabbed into our ears.

Olath grabbed Lorka by his upper arms and shouted into the Buravian’s face. “How did they find us?”

“I don’t know. And I’ll never be able to find out unless you let me go.”

Olath let Lorka go. “Sorry.”

I spoke in my stage voice. “Calm down, we have forty-eight hours before they get here. We have time to answer some questions and make a plan if we can all stop shouting at once. Everybody breathe.”

I glanced at Timcur. He looked haunted.

Timcur looks like he could use a friend.

The guilt for spying stabbed into me. I gulped and crossed to Timcur. I placed a hand on his arm.

“Timcur?”

Timcur looked down at me and smiled. Though strained, he still radiated hope. My heart filled until it felt heavy in my chest. He patted my hand with his.

“We will find a way to set things right, Nora. There are many good minds here.” He cleared his throat and leaned in to whisper.

“And you are magnificent with Lorka. Would you be interested in handling Goldie’s communications while aboard? You seem uniquely suited for the role.”

I smiled. Pride tried to swell in my chest, but guilt dragged it back down. I wanted to be proud of myself for gaining Timcur’s confidence, but I knew I was a spy. Shame burned through me.

How can this be right? Nothing which hurts like this can be right.

I put on my best stage smile—the one behind which I hid all my pain. “Thank you, Timcur. Your appreciation means a lot to me.”

And I speak the truth, this time. Know what I tell you now is true.

Timcur spoke first. “We need to get out of here before the Authorities arrive.”

I held the locket so tightly, my knuckles turned white. I knew my flesh would not stop the signals transmitting from it. I looked at Lorka, worried he would find me out any second. He spoke over his shoulder, his fingers typing in a blur.

“It can’t be your transponder…maybe they got a tracker on you. Have you checked the hull?”

Lorka looked back and Evelyn threw her hand into the air.

“That’s my department. Let me go call Queen Ha’ Nan.” She stood, waved, and walked to the teleporter.

Olath jumped to his feet. “I’ll come with you!”

He sprinted after her and they teleported out in a flash of light. Timcur leaned over Lorka’s shoulder, trying to get a better look at the console. Lorka elbowed Timcur’s looming form.

“Get back! Why does everyone crowd the computer guy?”

“I just want to take a look.”

“As if you, a starship captain, are going to read code, in Buravian, faster than a Buravian.”

Timcur put up his hands in surrender and stepped back. Guilt over leading his crew into this situation, the agony of having been rejected by the institution around which he had built his life, and worry for his crew tightened Timcur’s shoulders.

That look on his face is the last straw. I don’t want to spy anymore. I will have to tell him.

I had forgotten the necklace was programmed to transmit as soon as it came within range of an accessible communications network—like when we’d approached Tehglaish.

Will Timcur forgive me?

I sighed.

Will any of them forgive me?

The kehppû stroked my head with its tentacles.

I have seen the clips. I know the crew of The Golden Meridian are trying to stop terror attacks. I’ve seen how Timcur’s allies look at him. They know him. They trust him. Timcur is a good person taking on the responsibility of a mess not of his creation.

Lorka slammed his console.

“I can’t tell, Captain. This must be sophisticated equipment, if I can’t find it. I had heard whispers of a new generation of spy tech, but only rumors. If only I could get my hands on some…”

I don’t want to spy on these people, but what will this do to my career? My future? Am I really prepared to defy multiple intergalactic governments? Are the arguments for helping Timcur and the crew of The Golden Meridian really that different from the arguments I used to convince Lorka?

I looked at Timcur.

He is my DNA-matched mate. Now that I have met him, how do I really walk away from that? And, once he learns the truth, will he even still want me?

I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn’t tell him. The secret would eat me from the inside out.

Certainty entered my heart. I knew what I wanted. Now that I had made the decision, calm settled over me.

I looked around Lorka’s computer lab, searching the bits and pieces lying around. I found a computer component bag lined with metal.

I ripped the necklace from my neck. I slid a computer component from the bag and replaced it with the locket.

The metal will interrupt the signal. We have time.

NORA

Will the news feeds call me a traitor now, too?

I wrapped the excess metal bag around the necklace in my hand. I clutched it and raised my head, committed to baring the truth to Timcur and the crew of The Golden Meridian, who had taken me in like family.

How will I explain?

Imagining their betrayed faces threatened to overwhelm me. I squared my shoulders.

“Lorka.”

He didn’t hear me over his own voice.

“Timcur, listen, I will have the new algorithm finished in an hour. All I have to do is adjust the parameters to consider energy signatures I don’t usually look for and find a correlation with…”

“Lorka!”

He heard me that time and turned. “Yes, Nora?”

“Be patient with me. I have a lot to say, but first, I need to get a message to my parents as soon as possible.”

Lorka and Timcur stared at me, blinking. Lorka looked at Timcur.

Timcur shrugged. “If she believes it is important, I trust her.”

Shame stabbed into me. A sob threatened to burst from my throat, but I held onto my composure and fought it back.

Timcur says he trusts me, and, within minutes, I must confess I am a spy.

I took a deep breath.

Lorka typed a few commands on his console, then searched stacks of computer components for a microphone. A moment later, Lorka returned and calibrated the microphone’s settings.

“Point at me when you are ready to record.”

I nodded and pointed. He pushed a button and nodded back.

“Hi Mom, Dad. You may hear some things about me on the news feeds soon. I want you to know I’m supporting a righteous cause, like you taught me. I have found where I want to be. I love you. Get the money into a secret account ASAP. Trust me. I swear, when the whole story comes out, you will see I made you proud.”

I pointed at Lorka. He stopped the recording and focused on his console. A tear welled up into my eye. I closed my lids. I laid a hand over them for a minute, until I felt certain I could forestall the impending bout of crying.

I felt a hand on my back. I opened my eyes to see who comforted me. Timcur smiled down. Kindness softened his hard features. I leaned into him, placing my cheek against his chest. He wrapped his big, muscular arm around my back and held me.

Even knowing I had chosen him¸ Goldie, and her crew, regret that our circumstances forced us to begin our life together on a lie weighed on my heart. I rubbed a hand over my neck where the broken box chain had scratched my skin.

I suppose this betrayal is like any wound. With time and proper care, it, too, will heal. Just not until I tell the truth.

A thought hit me. I gasped.

What have I actually done? Think, Nora.

I spied, yes, but what did I actually record? Timcur caring about his crew and working tirelessly to protect more people from attack? Captain Gratham of Diana’s Arrow thanking the crew of The Golden Meridian for saving the starferry from a Suhlik attack?

Won’t the recordings on the locket simply further prove our innocence? Think, Nora, did I hear anything I wouldn’t want Intergalactic Authorities to know…

I searched through all the things I had seen and heard since I’d teleported aboard The Golden Meridian.

Bouhek Intergalactic Games Center. Does it matter if they know our destination? Even if they do get that transmission in time, could they even catch us?

Timcur opened his mouth to speak.

I held up a hand. “Please, Timcur, I am thinking very fast right now and I need to ask Lorka a few questions. Lorka, Tehglaish is a black-market settlement, yes?”

“Well, by black market, do you mean…”

“You know what I mean. Yes or no, please.”

“Yes.”

“You have some sort of way to suppress traditional comms transmission, yes?”

Lorka nodded. “What are you getting at?”

“But no one suppresses transponder signals, right?”

“Well, no.”

“Okay. Let me think…”

My mind whirred, thinking at top speed. The faded memory of my grandmother telling me that, if I thought any harder, smoke would come out of my ears, wandered through my mind. A thought rang through my head. I grabbed Timcur by the arms, though he towered over me.

“Timcur, I have a plan. Call a family meeting.”

“But Evelyn is preparing to inspect the ship…”

“Tell her to come back. Bring them all.”

Timcur nodded and walked a few feet away. He spoke over his comms bracelet.

“This is your captain speaking. This is a general summons to Lorka’s…lair. Except for Rachel. She can call in over comms.”

A series of groans and complaints replied over the comms, but Timcur ignored them.

“The crew should be here shortly.”

I nodded. “Great. Thank you, Captain. Lorka, I’m not done with youyet, but I think you’re going to like what I have for you.”

Lorka grinned.

“Just let me know when you’re ready.”

Nora grabbed the recorder floating in the air and handed it to Lorka.

“Get what clips you can from this. Blur anything you don’t want the galaxy to see.”

“Got it.”

Lorka took the recorder and plugged various wires into it. His fingers danced over the keyboard. Within minutes, Evelyn, Thelkor, Olath, Storgin, Lorka, and Timcur stared at me, with Rachel on the comms. I took a deep breath.

“Goldie needs a makeover.”

Timcur looked at me like I had grown a second head in front of his eyes.

“I don’t understand.”

Rachel’s voice rang out over the comms. “I do, Captain.”

TIMCUR

A terrifying smile spread across Evelyn’s face. “Yes! It’s about time…”

Rachel’s voice spoke through the comms.

“I started a list a while back, Evelyn. When you have a list, let’s compare your list to mine and see if we can’t get a few things marked off both.”

Evelyn nodded. “Sounds like a plan. I’ll get back to you.” She turned to Nora. “What did you have in mind?”

Nora ticked her list off on her fingers. “New transponder signal.”

Lorka interrupted. “For a small finder’s fee, I can facilitate the work.”

Rachel replied over the comms. “Two percent.”

“Ten.”

“You’re out of your mind, Lorka.”

“Nine.”

“Do you want me to get Thelkor after you?”

“Fine! Five but that’s as low as I go.”

“Deal. I’m going to get things started on my end. We only have forty-five hours, to be on the safe side. Rachel out.”

Nora waved a hand at the chattering crowd. “As I was saying, new transponder and paint job. And whatever Rachel and Evelyn want.”

Evelyn grabbed a portable tablet and began tapping across its surface, chuckling to herself.

How much is this going to cost…

Nora stood on a coffee table. “If I can have your attention.”

All eyes turned to her.

“Thank you. I have much to explain, and I promise I will, but I need to start my explanations with Timcur. So unless you need me, Timcur and I need to speak privately for a moment.”

Evelyn waved Nora on to her own business and returned to the portable tablet in her hands. Everyone wandered off to their tasks and Nora held out her hand to me. I took it and helped her step off the table.

She looked so serious and…sad.

“Nora, what’s wrong?”

“I will explain, but let’s find a little more privacy, okay?”

Worry began to gnaw at my gut. I nodded, trepidatious and unsure.

What could she possibly have to tell me?

Feet now on the floor, Nora retained her hold of my hand and led me to the teleporter. We stepped on and arrived on Goldie in a flash of light. Nora tugged on my hand, leading me to the nearest unoccupied room.

We stepped into a storage closet stuffed nearly full with boxes of fruit from Diana’s Arrow. Nora shut the door behind us, then turned to face me. She looked up into my eyes. Tears welled in hers.

“Nora…”

She stopped the hand with which I intended to stroke her face. “Timcur, just let me get this out.”

She pointed to a sturdy-looking crate nearby. “Sit and listen. Let me get through the entire thing before you react, okay?”

“Okay, Nora.”

“Promise.”

“I promise. Now what…”

“Intergalactic Authorities sent me here as a spy.”

Nora released a deep breath. She seemed to deflate, as if tension had held her aloft this entire time.

“Intergalactic… I don’t understand…Nora, you’re speaking nonsense…”

Nora shook her head at me. “No, Timcur. I was sent here as a spy.”

I shook my head. None of this made sense to me. “Spy? But how…”

Nora reached for me. I put up my hands, holding her back while her words, her assertions processed through my suddenly thick mind.

Spy? I never thought Nora would…betray us—Goldie—me…

Something inside me snapped. I felt my face fall.

Spy. Nora is a spy.

“Timcur?”

I held up my hand. Thoughts warred in my mind.

“You promised to let me finish, Timcur.”

I drew in a ragged breath. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I can’t lie to you anymore. I hate that I ever lied. I hate that anyone ever put me in this position in the first place. Because I made a mistake and I want to help fix that mistake.”

My head spun. The world began to fade. I plopped onto the crate Nora had pointed out earlier. I put my head in my hands.

“I will listen. I…just need a moment. Nothing makes sense right now.”

“Which is why I want the opportunity to explain, Timcur. Please. Give me the chance to put it all into context.”

My thoughts moved slowly, but they travelled familiar paths.

Betrayed…again. First, Goldie was betrayed by HQ, who were supposed to protect us. Now, betrayed by my DNA-matched mate, the one being in the entire universe with whom I was fated to spend my life.

I dropped my hands and looked at my fingers.

Am I fated to betrayal after betrayal?

My hands trembled. I had accepted Nora without question. I never even considered she could be a spy.

I was such a fool.

“How many of your smiles were even real? Did you charm me as easily as you charmed Lorka? Am I simply another fool for a pretty face and a heartstopping smile?”

“You…think I’m pretty?”

I threw my hands into the air. “How do you not know you are the most exquisite being I have ever seen? How do you not see how people melt around you, how easy you are to like…to believe?”

Tears streamed down her face.

“Was it all a lie? Were you, the woman I have so quickly come to adore far beyond the simple need to mate, even real? Or is everything I thought I had learned of you—that I had come to respect—lies?”

She looked like I had struck her. Guilt stabbed into me. I didn’t want to hurt her. I wanted to love her…

Nora reached up to place her delicate hands against my face. I flinched away. Nora wrapped her arms around herself.

I felt on a precipice, high above a valley full of jagged rocks. I couldn’t decide where the greater danger lay at the moment.

Do I try to trust her? Do I listen to her explanation? Do I give Nora the chance to hurt me like this again? Or would it hurt worse to push her away now?

NORA

Timcur dropped his hands and looked at me. He looked as if he had been hollowed out and filled with doubt, conflict, and pain.

When he spoke, his voice came out a ragged growl. I gulped, hugging myself.

I am responsible for putting that look on Timcur’s face.

“When I went to the testing center on my university campus, things started out normal.”

“What changed?”

“Well, when my test came back, there was some sort of alert, or alarm, or warning, or something. The technician, Darriel, left the room and a Colonel from Earth Authorities walked in.”

Timcur sat straight upright.

“What do you mean, walked in? It is expressly against the Earth-Mahdfel treaty to delay, or interfere, in any way, the delivery of a DNA-matched human to the Mahdfel with which she matches. We all study the treaty during Vaznik warrior training.”

“Really? I haven’t studied that treaty in detail at the university yet.”

“How long did they delay you?”

“Oh, maybe an hour. It was difficult to keep track of time.”

Timcur stood. “Do you understand? By delaying you, Earth Authorities broke the treaty.”

Timcur grabbed his head with both hands.

“Are you okay, Timcur?”

I wanted to touch him, but I no longer felt certain my touch would bring him comfort. I nearly cried again.

“It is unthinkable…breaking the treaty. There are severe penalties, Nora. Possibly…war.”

“Would you like to hear the rest?”

“Yes. Please, forgive my interruption.”

“Colonel Birtch came in and explained I had matched a terrorist, and asked me to spy for them.”

“And you agreed.”

“I thought you were all terrorists, at the time. I want to run for office. I want to be able to make the world a fairer place for human women. Mating with an outlaw would end my career. And they offered me money.”

Timcur looked at me, a new fire in his eyes. “This Colonel Birtch offered you money to spy on your DNA-matched mate?”

“Yes.”

“How much?”

I shrugged, still a little smug over my negotiation. “He first offered me two million. I negotiated it to four.”

“And you receive it after a year with me?”

I shook my head. “No way. Half up-front, half after.”

“They already paid you two million?”

“Colonel Birtch deposited it to my parents’ account immediately.”

“Two million dollars?”

“Yes.”

I thought Timcur would faint.

“Nora. Colonel Birtch broke so many intergalactic laws, I don’t even know where to begin. HQ—no, all of Mahdfel—would be in arms if they knew. But, how could we possibly prove it?”

“I didn’t get to finish.”

“I’m so sorry. Please continue.”

“Then he handed me the necklace. Colonel Birtch said it was a homing beacon and would record and transmit everything said around it.”

Timcur’s eyes searched for the locket at my neck. I held up the bag.

“I’ve neutralized it for now. I’m hoping Lorka can help me make it useful soon.”

Timcur’s eyes grew wide. “Nora, was this necklace near when you negotiated your deal with Colonel Birtch?”

I thought for a moment. “He had the necklace in his pocket during the entire exchange, until he put it into my hands.”

Timcur looked at me. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Then we have a recording of Colonel Birtch breaking the treaty.”

I grinned, my spirits rising. “Which means we have proof.”

So happy I finally had a way out of this mess, I flung my arms around Timcur’s chest and hugged him. His entire body stiffened. I released him and stepped back.

“Sorry, Timcur. I was just so happy to find a way out of this. I know now none of you are terrorists. I’ve seen enough of the evidence.”

I sighed. Timcur softened. He drew a deep breath.

“I can’t say what I would have done in your situation, Nora. I can’t say I would have made a different choice. You were probably smarter, negotiating for more credits, actually. I was never good at that. Which is why I let Rachel handle all that now. I’m babbling, aren’t I?”

I gulped.

“Timcur, I’ve come to know you now. And Rachel and Evelyn, and Olath and Thelkor and Storgin. The Golden Meridian and her crew fight for a righteous cause. You never stopped protecting the galaxy.”

Hand shaking, I wrapped my fingers around Timcur’s hand. He didn’t pull away that time.

“Even when HQ abandoned Goldie, you didn’t abandon your crew. The Golden Meridian’s mission is vital for securing the safety of this sector. The Golden Meridian is the only thing protecting people from Zarklac’s evil.”

Timcur took my other hand in his, too. His big thumbs stroked down my wrist and palm. He opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted him before he could make a sound.

“Please, let me get the rest out before your judgment, before I forget to be brave. I know I have betrayed your trust, and the trust of the rest of the crew, but I beg you to give me a second chance, Timcur. It is all I ask. A chance to prove I have dedicated myself to the cause of The Golden Meridian.”

Timcur shuddered under my words. “Are you really so convinced of our innocence, Nora?”

“Yes. I have no doubts.”

He reached out and pushed a golden lock of hair out of my face. “I believe you, Nora.”

I hugged him. His big arms wrapped around me, engulfing me. My heart thudded in my chest as our bodies pressed so close. My cheeks burned.

This is not the time to get all squishy, Nora. People will think we are making out in here, not confessing our sins…

He pulled back. I darted a look at his face.

“It is not simply up to me. There are others involved. You have won me to your side, but you will have to make your case to the others.”

I smiled up at him, tears threatening to flow yet again.

“I will, Timcur.”

TIMCUR

My mind reeled, and nothing was slowing it down. It was too much, far too much being dumped on me all at once. As a military man, I figured that I could take any kind of shock, but being turned upon by my superiors, hunted like a criminal, then finding out about my mate’s deception was obviously my limit.

I stared at her, and I wasn’t even sure what it was I could see. My head had been full of such wonderful possibilities. Now, I couldn’t even be sure she was on my side.

I was still sitting a bit back from her, resisting the touch of her hands. It was the last thing I wanted to do, but I felt like, if she touched me, I wouldn’t be able to think straight.

“Timcur,” she said gently, her voice like a caress. “I’ve explained to you that I can’t go through with their plan. What will it take for you to trust me?”

“I did,” I answered, without thinking. The statement felt incomplete. Without even realizing it, I blurted, “I do.”

She smiled and leaned towards me. This time I let her touch me. Her hands were soft and warm as she held my cheeks. I looked into her eyes. I reached up and covered her hands with mine.

“I can’t help but trust you,” I murmured. “My heart simply throws itself at you. I can’t help it.”

“You know that you can trust me,” she whispered. “Because I’m here, now, telling you this, and I couldn’t go through with that plan.”

I nodded, realizing that that made perfect sense. The mate bond was strong and complete. She couldn’t betray me any more than I could betray her.

“Come on,” she said, squeezing my hands and tugging me to my feet. “We need to see Lorka.”

“We do?” I asked, mystified. She nodded and started dragging me out the door.

As we hurried along the halls, Nora muttered to herself several times. It worried me that I couldn’t help but trust her and that I would let myself be led into a horrible trap. I could only have faith in our genetic compatibility—it should be impossible for her to turn on me.

But what if it wasn’t?

I guess, even in a situation like ours, there could still be doubts.

We walked by Evelyn, who was talking excitedly on a communicator. Her eyes lit up with glee as she surveyed equipment and tools. I didn’t like the look.

“Can you see any two-point conductor plugs?” Rachel’s voice came through the speaker. “They are great for enhancing signal strength and speed. I won’t have to wait thirty seconds for the back engines to engage if I set up with those.”

“Good idea!” Evelyn cried. “I’ll get a bucket load. I’ve also got some bound cable with crystal fiber.”

“Yes!” Rachel shrieked. “Don’t forget the super-charged thruster to go with it. Do you realize how fast we will be able to go with that?”

“I do,” Evelyn said evilly. “I’m going to put in a heat-resistant fuel line, as well.”

Rachel screamed with such ecstasy, I literally jumped. I’d only ever heard that sound issuing from Thelkor’s room late at night.

Occasionally from the bridge, but I tried hard to ignore that.

“Silver blades and red panels for the new outer shell,” Evelyn said.

“Hey, wait!” I tried to break off from Nora to stall Evelyn. “What are you going to do to my ship?”

“Anything they have to,” Nora said, dragging me away. “I have to do this now, and you gave them permission to do anything they needed to.”

“But—”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I allowed myself to be persuaded. We headed in to see Lorka. Nora squeezed my hand hard before letting me go to face up to the hacker. She poured the necklace she’d always worn from the metallic bag clutched in her hand.

“What have we here?” Lorka’s eyes lit up.

“It’s a spy device.”

“I know that, honey.” He reached out to touch it, handling it with care when Nora handed it to him. “But it’s highly sophisticated. One of the best.”

“It’s from Earth,” Nora said flatly. She stared at it with dislike, putting her hands behind her back. “Specifically, from the Earth Authorities. It’s how they were tracking Goldie. I need your help with it, Lorka.”

“What are we going to do?” he said, chuckling, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

I jumped at a sudden clap on my shoulder, and glared at Olath as he made me turn around.

“What is it, can’t you see I’m busy?”

“I just wanted to know what you wanted to offload here. We can make a bit of money and lighten Goldie up a bit, but I didn’t want to get rid of anything without your say-so.”

“You’re perfectly capable of deciding on my behalf, Olath,” I said, a little exasperated. There was so much on my mind right now I couldn’t care about supplies.

“Okay, boss. I just wanted to make sure.”

“Save plenty of bacon,” I snapped.

Olath nodded. “Will do, Captain.”

I turned back to watch Evelyn and Lorka talking not far away. They were gesturing and pointing at the locket. I realized that my vision was blurring, and my head ached. I needed a break.

I took myself back to my cabin, my head spinning. I never thought I could unravel like this. I’d prided myself on being strong, calm, and steady.

As soon as I got to the privacy of my room and shut the door, my hands started shaking. I clenched my fists and took deep breaths, trying to clear my mind and think of nothing.

If I put some space between myself and my problems, maybe I could come at them from another angle where they wouldn’t look so complicated.

NORA

Standing in front of Lorka, I finished up my conversation with Rachel. She happily switched between me and Evelyn on comms, having the time of her life. We were all very busy and it was so much better to be actively doing something to pull ourselves out of this muck, instead of just running.

I turned back to Lorka as I closed the channel, watching him dangle the necklace in front of his nose. It spun slightly, even though he kept his hand still.

“It’s weighted,” he said in admiration. “And it responds to magnetism. This thing transmits a crystal-clear signal when it’s in the right place.”

“But that’s good, right, considering what we have planned?”

He nodded slowly. “Very good.”

He let the necklace swing for another second or two before dropping it into a small grey box. “That’ll keep it quiet for a while.” He slipped it into his pocket, then slapped his hands together and rubbed them briskly.

“What have you got for me?” he asked eagerly.

I looked around and saw Thelkor approaching. He must have decided to bring out Lorka’s goodies before heading to the market with the other stuff. I waved him over.

“We have artisan bread,” I said, opening the big wooden crate and pointing. “Thick creamy butter, fresh berries and fruit. A dozen large eggs. Some handmade cake and—”

“Oh, my fucking stars,” Lorka swore. “Thick-cut, deluxe bacon!”

I laughed, watching him dive into the box and pull out the package. I hadn’t met many carnivorous species yet who didn’t love bacon. Thelkor was still trying to figure out how to keep pigs on Goldie. All us girls held firm that that was never going to happen.

“More than sufficient,” Lorka grinned. “It was an absolute pleasure doing business with you.”

I nodded politely. “And you.”

I hurried out of the pub and came through the market, stopping in on Evelyn and Olath. They had a few large crates and were standing in a small group of aliens. A couple of fights broke out as they saw what was in the crates. Olath and Evelyn were trying not to be overwhelmed.

“I will fucking shoot you!” Olath roared, pulling out his blaster. Evelyn grabbed his arm.

“Don’t shoot our customers, honey,” she said patiently. Olath pretty much ignored her, pointing the muzzle of his weapon around the circle.

“No one is getting anything for free, and don’t think you can steal from us! We know what this gear is worth so if you don’t have fair trade, just fuck off. I’m telling you right now, anyone who steals from me is going to get a laser blast to the knee. If you’re really lucky, I might kill you before I leave.”

“Jesus, Olath,” Evelyn muttered.

Olath looked at her sharply. “Stop calling me ‘Jesus’,” he muttered. “I can’t figure out if you’re insulting me or not.”

In spite of the situation, Evelyn snorted with laughter.

“I’ve heard of Jesus,” a small alien piped up. He was kind of spider-like but stood upright. He glared at Olath with glittering blue eyes. “Are you really him?”

“Sure, whatever,” Olath sighed, exasperated. “I’ll be whoever you want. Do you have any decent credits to trade for that fresh raw honey you’re eyeing?”

I turned to go, thinking about Timcur. He had disappeared in a hurry and I was pretty sure he wasn’t feeling well. He was obviously distracted and distressed, and I didn’t like the way his face was drawn. His eyes, usually so clear and focused, had been deep, hooded, and dark for most of the day.

As I entered Goldie, I saw Rachel under the main console, surrounded by a mess of wires on the deck. I winced, hoping Timcur hadn’t seen his beloved ship with her guts hanging out like that.

Even though Rachel was working with care, she had some pretty hefty tools. I was shocked when she took a handful of wires, wrenched them out, and hurled them over her shoulder.

“Burned out,” she whispered to herself. “Won’t be needing those.”

I hurried down the hall, passing Storgin’s lab. He muttered over a batch of samples and didn’t even see me go past. I had no idea what he was doing, but he was adding drops of clear, shiny liquid to little bottles with plants in them. Storgin didn’t talk much about his work and, even though I was curious, I knew I’d probably never understand it.

I checked the galley, finding it empty. There was only one place left to look.

I knocked softly on the door to the captain’s quarters. As I came in, Timcur looked up from the edge of the bed. His head had been resting in his hands and his shoulders were hunched. He looked at me intently, but his eyes were tired and red.

“Are you okay?” I whispered. He nodded, but I knew he wasn’t.

I crossed the room and put my arm around his shoulders. He reached out and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me close against his body. I could feel the intense warmth radiating from him, the strong rhythm of his breath.

I let myself get even closer, folding under his arm to put my cheek against his chest. I could feel his heartbeat, steady, even, and strong. The sound affected me more than I thought it would. Something about the beat soothed me, my mind, body, and soul.

It was as if I had waited my whole life to hear it, as if I had been missing it every day without even knowing it existed.

A feeling of great pleasure rose in me, my skin tingling and stress bleeding from my muscles. I knew I had doubted comfort and security before, because I had been waiting for this sound, this beat.

This was home. This was all I needed. I felt emotion growing in me. From the way Timcur’s body hardened against mine, he could feel it too.

TIMCUR

I had come to my quarters to be alone, but once I got there, the cabin felt far too empty. That feeling changed immediately when Nora entered. All of a sudden, it was as if there was no air to breathe.

She enchanted me, it was true. I would trust her with my life, my ship, my crew. That terrified me because my entire life had been a careful calculation of variables. I added things up carefully before I took action—except when it came to Nora.

She shifted on the bed beside me, her cool fingers touching my arm. I blinked hard, wishing I could just grab her and throw her on the bed as I so wanted to. That wouldn’t solve anything, though. I knew holding Nora’s perfect body in my arms would solve nothing.

Yet resisting my desire for her, my body’s urges, felt unnatural. I knew the man in me would only end up confused and angry if I joined with Nora if any doubt remained in my heart.

“Timcur?” she whispered, her fingers light on my arm.

I sat up and looked at her, enchanted by the way her eyes caught the light. There were stars set there, precious gemstones which sparkled at me and drove all reason from my mind.

“Nora,” I whispered, reaching out to sweep her hair off her cheek. She leaned into me. I cupped her jaw, amazed by how soft her skin felt under my fingertips.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

It was probably obvious that I was not okay, but I understood why she asked. Mates or not, we were still strangers to each other in a lot of ways.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. My horns throbbed a little as my body responded to her scent. Maybe, if I could think clearly just for a moment and get her aroma out of my nostrils, I’d be able to think. The trouble was, I never wanted to get that far away from her.

“Talk to me,” she said, her fingers tightening on my arm. “Please.”

I couldn’t resist the pleading tone in her voice. I cleared my throat and looked at her, then realized that wouldn’t work. I was too struck by her beauty to speak plainly if I was looking into her face. I looked down, focusing on my hands and the deck between my feet.

“Life on the Goldie is not like life on some other ships,” I began. “I thought that I wanted unpredictability and adventure in my life. I was far more disciplined than the other crew- members here and took my military training very seriously. Still, when it actually came time to set off into the galaxy, I was pleased to get a small ship and crew with a lot of flexibility. Some of the other cadets put me down for it, saying I wasn’t a good enough captain to take a star fighter or battleship. But I was pleased.”

I sighed, feeling Nora leaning on my arm. She listened intently, not trying to interrupt or ask questions.

“We’ve had adventures that a regimented ship couldn’t possibly have had, and that’s been wonderful. But the whole time, while I was thinking that I was living without rules, out on the edge where anything could happen, in fact, I remained safely in my own little box.”

My sigh now was deep enough to dredge the depths of my soul. I could tell Nora wanted to speak as she sat up and looked into my eyes. I just stared at her, unable to articulate.

“Now that you’re actually on the edge—or beyond it—you realize how far you’ve come from your comfort zone.” she said softly.

“Comfort zone,” I repeated. I wasn’t familiar with the term, but it felt right. “Yes, I’m out of my ‘comfort zone’.”

She grinned. “I can relate, but I can’t really understand. Our circumstances are just too different.”

“Yes,” I replied, looking at her and taking her hand. “But part of my problem is you.”

“Me?” she asked in a small voice.

I nodded. “I’ve dreamed of finding my mate for a long time, but not like this. I’m head over heels for you, Nora. But you’re a spy. My heart and my soul, they belong to you, but my mind won’t let it rest. How can I trust you? My whole world has been turned upside down, ripped to shreds. The only thing that makes sense is you, and I can’t trust you.”

Her eyes glittered even more, and I realized she had tears gathering which she refused to shed.

“I only agreed to the mission out of desperation,” she whispered. “My family and my career were everything to me when that colonel walked in and stuck his nose where it didn’t belong.”

“His nose? Earth men assault people with their noses?”

“No, Timcur. That is an Earth expression. It means he interfered. Stay with me. Do you think this is easy for me? I love you, I know that I do.”

She gripped my hand, pressing it tightly to her cheek. Her eyes closed. A few of those glittering tears spilled down her cheeks. My heart seemed to skip a beat from the emotion in her voice.

“I will never leave you,” she said, her eyes opening to gaze straight into mine. “Not willingly. I can’t. I don’t know how to convince you, or comfort you over the loss of everything you’ve ever known. You might just have to make a leap of faith, Timcur.”

I blinked, my chest hurting as if her words had wounded me. I didn’t think I’d ever taken a leap of faith in my entire life—not one as blind and dangerous as this, anyway. I gazed at her and felt my body singing for her, my palms itching to touch her.

I knew that I had absolutely no say in this, I was only delaying the inevitable. Fighting it was hurting us both and getting us nowhere.

Time to leap.

I leaned forward and pressed my lips to hers, kissing her softly, gently, then deeper as she leaned into me.

NORA

I’d heard it all before—read about it in trashy novels, seen it in hokey movies and listened to my friends who were infatuated with their new boyfriends. It was all so very cliché that I had never stopped to really consider the meaning of it.

He took my breath away.

That was not some meaningless saying, or an empty euphemism. My lungs were empty. My head swam. Blood pounded in my temples and my hands and feet tingled. I gasped softly as he pulled back a little, but it did nothing to clear my head.

When he brought his lips back down to mine and opened my mouth again, I moaned. I didn’t know how that was possible. Surely, if my breath had been stolen, my voice would have been too.

His strong hands came up my arms, his fingers leaving hot trails from the light, grazing touch. That teasing edge gave way to pure, full-on lust as his hands clamped around my upper arms and crushed me, pulling me against his chest.

I didn’t try to make sense of any of it. I couldn’t. I succumbed to his kiss, to his power. I had never felt anything like it before and all I knew was that I didn’t want it to stop.

I let myself drift for a few minutes, not wanting reality to intrude on this fantasy made real. I couldn’t stop my head from plotting against my heart though. I reached out, put my hands on Timcur’s shoulders, and pushed him back.

“Stop,” I whispered.

He sat back so quickly, it was almost violent. He disentangled completely and utterly, putting a few inches of space between us immediately. His eyes were dark with disappointment and, maybe, even fear.

“Did I go too far?” he asked.

I smiled, reaching for him. “No,” I said gently, stroking his face. “It was the best kiss of my life… Maybe even the first real kiss I've ever had.”

That pleased him, I could tell. His features softened and I saw his body relax.

“So, what’s wrong?” he asked, reaching out to stroke my hair.

“I need to tell the others.”

“Tell the others what?” I could tell Timcur was wondering why I felt the need to tell everyone about the kiss. I even giggled a bit at his puzzled expression—men could be so simple-minded when sex was involved.

“About my spying mission,” I said.

His face twisted in understanding. “Oh,” he muttered, looking away. “Do we have to? I mean, everything’s okay now, isn’t it?”

I nodded. “Of course it is. But I betrayed them, too. I can’t just keep lying, I couldn’t live with myself. I’ve… I’ve come to love them, all of them.”

The words shocked me, but Timcur didn’t even look surprised. He smiled and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

“I know,” he said.

I smiled, letting him press me against his chest. His heartbeat vibrated between us and I felt my entire body respond, relaxing and tightening at the same time. I longed to tear his clothes off right then and there, but I knew I couldn’t let things go any further until I had confessed to the entire crew.

“I can’t possibly leave you,” I said, sitting up and looking into Timcur’s eyes. “I don’t know if I could even if I wanted to. But the others… If they can’t trust me, I just couldn’t stay. I’m not that selfish or that cruel. They need to know everything so they can make up their own minds about me. If they decide they hate me, I couldn’t stand to see that hatred on their faces every day, knowing that it could have been love.”

Timcur was visibly moved. I saw emotions flashing swiftly across his face.

“Yes, the crew is a family,” he said. “We always have been. I didn’t really consider what it would mean, bringing our mates into the mix.”

He stroked my cheek again, looking into my eyes with frank admiration.

“You have more heart, more soul, and more honor than anyone I’ve ever known, Nora,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “I don’t think I could love you any more than I do right now.”

My eyes filled with tears and I kissed him again, gently. I kneaded his lips with mine for a few seconds, then pulled back before we could fall too deep. I knew if we did, we might never leave this bed.

“Okay,” Timcur said with determination. He went to the intercom and called the crew to the galley. I stood up from the bed, breathing steadily as I let the stress of what I was about to do flood through me.

The whole way there, I gripped Timcur’s hand like I might be blown away by a storm of fury if I loosened my grip.

To my relief, the only ones in the galley when we arrived were Lucky, the kehppû, and Fluffbutt. I sat down on the floor and patted them both. The cat sat regally, tilting his nose to encourage me to scratch him on the top of the head. The kehppû brushed against me as if it were a cat, something it had learned from Fluff.

Timcur sat down with some nuts and crackers and handed me a stack of cookies. I crunched them down, enjoying the buttery texture and high chocolate content. In any universe, there were ‘cookies’ and then there were cookies.

As the crew started to file in, my nervousness jumped several notches. Everyone was so casual and friendly, I didn’t feel good about what I had to do. I knew it would break the mood—maybe forever.

Would they ever trust me again?

Once the others were sitting comfortably, eating chips and sipping beer, I stood. Leaving behind the comfort of the pets made me feel wobbly and uncertain. I began to wonder if I could actually force out the words, I was so ashamed of myself.

“Hey, what are we doing here, anyway, Captain?” Thelkor asked, taking a sip of beer.

I took a deep breath and swallowed, trying to clear my throat.

Everyone turned to look at me at almost the same time. My courage wavered and my heart faltered, but I didn’t run. I just took another deep breath and prayed it would steady me enough to say what I had to say.

TIMCUR

I watched her stand before everyone, her knees and hands shaking. She looked at the floor, trying to clasp her hands together to hide her trembling. She had never looked more lost or vulnerable as she did right then.

Still, all I could see was strength. Her eyes shone with determination. She steadied the wobble of her lips admirably as she looked up and focused her eyes on the room.

Fluff full-body plastered himself against Nora’s legs, almost upsetting her balance. Lucky sat beside her, tentacles reaching out to touch her leg. It made a funny warbling sound, its colors today almost difficult to look at—neon orange shot through with electric blue.

“I have a confession to make, and first, an apology. I’m very, very sorry to each and every one of you, because I've been lying this whole time.”

The girls looked worried, eyes opening wide in various states of shock. Olath looked at me sharply. As first mate, he needed to know if I considered her a threat to our safety, but I shook my head minutely. Olath looked back to Nora, full of apprehension.

She took a shaky breath and ignored the tear which slid down her cheek. When she looked down, Fluff was there, looking adoringly into her eyes and blinking as if trying to give her confidence and support. The kehppû warbled, a questioning sound—why are you so upset, big warm food/love-giving machine?

“I was sent here to spy on you,” she said in a rush. “Earth Authorities intercepted me after I matched and offered me all sorts of rewards if I could bring you in or transmit any information that would help them capture you. I figured, I’m chasing down hardcore terrorists, so I’m doing the right thing.”

The words came out so fast she almost tripped over them. The others reacted in different ways—Thelkor merely narrowed his eyes and shared a wary glance with Rachel. Olath took Evelyn’s hand, watching Nora as if she might suddenly explode, killing us all. Storgin frowned heavily.

The kehppû warbled and looked pointedly at Evelyn with its strange round eyes. She blinked at it and bobbed her head, and it returned the gesture.

Is she talking to that thing?

Fluff meowed loudly, his body pressed against Nora, his tail practically wrapped around her legs.

“I’m so sorry,” Nora sobbed so hard it almost broke my heart. “I know now that you couldn’t possibly do all the terrible things I was told about you. You’re innocent, I know it. I could never betray you. I’ve come to love all of you.”

I had already been in love with her. Showing such a sign of strength and integrity truly threw me into a new state of admiration and respect. She really had guts and she was a fighter, one with strong ideals she would fight to defend.

I loved her and now I knew I was safe to love her. She had broken my trust, but this went a long way to repairing it.

I believed her, every word.

Evelyn jumped out of her seat and knelt on the floor, reaching out to both pets.

“If it’s good enough for these guys, then it’s good enough for me.” She beamed up at Nora, who knelt down to cuddle the pets, as well.

“Fluff doesn’t make mistakes,” Evelyn said, hugging Nora. “He’s telling me right now that you’re family and I’m going to listen to him the way I should have listened to him about my senior prom date.”

Nora gulped and sniffled as Evelyn let her go. Olath shifted uncomfortably.

“My own personal opinion begs me to be cautious, but, since mating with Evelyn, I am under Mr. Clawson’s rule. What he says goes. My only other duty, to my captain and my ship, depends entirely on my captain’s judgment. If Timcur trusts her, I shall, as well.”

I nodded to him, surprised. It was his job as a soldier to question everything and I knew this wasn’t just duty—he was truly investing in what I believed.

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure that it was going to work out, not at first,” Rachel said, thoughtfully. “It all seemed a bit awkward. Now I know why.”

She shrugged and gestured around the table. “It took a long time for me to settle in. I figured Nora might need the same for her to get comfortable. After what Thelkor and I went through, I was prepared to wait. The mate bond triumphs against all else.”

“It does,” Nora said softly.

Thelkor nodded, saluting Rachel’s speech with a beer. “My job is not heavy thinking,” he said, taking a hearty sip. “I do as my captain and my mate say. I trust you, Nora. Welcome to the team.”

She nodded her thanks, tears trickling down her face again. Storgin smiled and raised his glass.

“I see that Timcur has trusted your story and he is here in full support of you. I can’t argue with that. You’re safe, Nora. You’re with us now. We won’t let any harm come to you.”

Nora burst into such violent sobbing, I had to get up and huddle next to her on the floor. I wrapped my arms around her so she could cry herself out. I didn’t know if it was relief, fear, or just plain exhaustion, but I knew she was emotionally wrung out. It would take all of us some time to process this.

Once we did… What a crew we would make. Finding my mate had enhanced every single aspect of my life in ways I could never have imagined. I still felt uneasy about how fast the world had turned around me. I thought I might be, finally, finding my feet.

NORA

Timcur released a shuddering breath. He cupped one big hand around my cheek, while his other hand stroked my hair. His eyes roamed over my face as if each inch of me were precious.

“You may be the bravest person I have ever met, Nora.”

His words rolled over me, soaking into my skin, setting me afire. The crew’s confidence in us filled the places in my heart which had ached so acutely. I reached up, threading my fingers around his neck, pulling him down to me.

Finally, finally I kissed the lips I had wanted to keep kissing since the first time.

Our tongues met and danced, the room fading around us. I fell deep into Timcur’s eyes, until only his arms around me felt real. I breathed deeply, finally able to embrace my growing bond with Timcur.

“Get a room.”

Thelkor’s pained voice cut through the ethereal cloak of gazing into my mate’s soul. I stepped back, blinking. The world tried to surround us again, but I grabbed Timcur’s hand.

“Great idea.”

Timcur looked surprised and confused. I grinned and tugged his hand, leading him away. As soon as we slipped out of sight of the rest of the crew, I kissed him again. Timcur wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me high enough to kiss me without bending double.

My body melted into his embrace. Now that the truth was out, no reason to hold myself back remained.

“You only made it past the doorway, Captain.”

Timcur broke the kiss. Panting, he wrapped an arm under my ass and carried me back to his quarters. I stole every kiss I could on the way, and he only tore himself away when we bumped into some random thing, but his eyes and lips always returned to me.

We drank each other in, savoring every aspect of the other’s essence until any distance remaining between us faded and fell away. Somewhere on the way to Timcur’s cabin, we lost most of our clothes. Neither of us cared much at that moment.

All that mattered to me, in that moment, was Timcur. I ran my fingers along the contours of his neck and along his jaw. I stroked my fingertips over his scalp and along the dynamic curls of his magnificent horns.

He sucked in a breath and pinned me to a corridor wall.

I spoke soft, breathy words. “Does that feel good?”

A shudder ran through Timcur. His chest heaving from his deep breaths, he answered in a husky voice.

“Yes.”

Timcur leaned his forehead against mine, his eyes closed. I ran a finger around the base of one horn and he groaned. He leaned his body into mine, pinning me between him and the corridor wall. I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him for all I was worth.

I forgot the rest of the world again. I floated in the space between reality and dream where hunger, desire, and passion defined existence. He kissed down my neck and I threw my head back, luxuriating in the surges of pleasure streaking through my body.

“Keep going. The two of you are almost there…”

I pulled out of my timeless kiss with Timcur and looked up. Rachel’s voice spoke over the intercom again.

“Yes, I’m talking to you, Timcur and Nora. Five more steps and you’ll be in Timcur’s cabin where you can shut the door.”

I began chuckling. Timcur carried me into his cabin in two giant leaps. I pushed the cabin door as I went through.

“Really close the door.”

Timcur reached behind him and fully shut the cabin door.

“Thank you.”

Timcur carried me to his bedroom with my legs wrapped around his waist. He plopped me onto the surprisingly comfortable mattress and landed atop me. I giggled and tugged at his still-buckled belt, my fingers fumbling with the strap.

He wrapped his hands around my wrists and slid off the bed onto his knees, ripping through what clothes we still wore. His eyes drank in the sight of my bare body.

His hands shaking, Timcur placed his hands on my thighs. I spread my knees for him, panting.

“Touch me...”

Timcur slid a slow hand up my thigh. He stroked a finger over my folds. I shuddered with pleasure at his touch. He looked at me, as if worried he had done something wrong. His nostrils flared as he sampled my scent.

I moaned a breathy whisper. “Don’t stop…”

Timcur growled and dove his head between my legs. My hands flew to his head as I felt his thick tongue lick over my dripping slit. My thighs quivered in his embrace and he nuzzled in deeper, wrapping his big, muscular arms around my hips. He drew my throbbing pussy tight against his mouth.

He lapped over my slick folds and I wrapped my fingers around the base of his horns. Timcur growled deeply and lost all control.

He licked and nibbled my slit. He ran a finger down my folds, tracing circles around my entrance, dipping the tip of one thick finger into the well of juices at my entrance.

I whimpered and babbled incoherent nonsense, begging to feel any part of him inside me. He pressed his big finger at my entrance, and I slid onto him.

His finger moved in and out, exploring every millimeter of my tunnel until he found the perfect spot. I gasped and Timcur’s eyes darted to mine while he played with the spot like it was his new favorite toy.

I groaned and writhed around his finger, grinding up against him. He added a second finger to the first, stretching me, and my tunnel clenched harder and harder. I could feel a huge orgasm building in my core. Then Timcur put his lips around my clit and sucked.

My back arched and my head flung back as the orgasm ripped through me. Timcur held on, pushing me through the waves of pleasure crashing through my essence. I grabbed at any part of Timcur my hands could reach, pulling at him until he lay in my arms in his bed.

We fell asleep like that, cradled in each other’s arms—together at last.

TIMCUR

Even though I was up early, Nora was gone before me. Just touching her had sent my emotions skyrocketing, her scent and taste hammering at my hormones like an onslaught of enemy ships.

I staggered towards the galley, my legs barely working. It felt as though I’d been back on the training grounds at military school, pushing my body beyond endurance. I hoped to see Nora grabbing breakfast in the kitchen, but she was nowhere to be found.

I found some fruit, muesli, and juice—seriously, you can’t eat bacon every day if you want to stay healthy, even if you are Mahdfel. Storgin came in, muttering angrily.

“Captain! You need to get out there and organize this mess. They’ve kicked me out of my lab!”

“Who has?” I asked in alarm, getting ready to find a weapon. “Have we been invaded?”

That felt like an impossible situation. I was standing there, holding a banana, some mixed fruit, and veg juice while we got boarded and plundered.

“Only by techs and engineers!” Storgin cried, his frustration evident. “They’re everywhere!”

“But not in here,” I grinned.

“Praise be to that dude the girls mention all the time,” he said sarcastically. “I’m not happy. They kicked me out of my lab.”

I ate my breakfast, smiling and shaking my head. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be that bad.

I kept thinking that as I finished my food and headed for the bridge. The closer I got, the more disturbing the sounds became. I was looking for Nora, but the screams of tortured metal and the whine of power tools were really starting to make me nervous.

“Jesus fuck!” I screamed as I reached the bridge. It crossed my mind briefly that soon I’d be calling on their ‘God’ Himself after listening to the girls, but this sight demanded the worst possible cuss I could utter.

“What the fuck have you done!” I yelled in a shaky voice.

The main console was ripped apart. It was way above and beyond the other mods Rachel had started. It looked like Goldie’s brain had been taken out and stretched along the floor.

“It’s okay, Captain.” Rachel stuck her head out from the darkness under the console. “Just calm down.”

“Calm down!” I spluttered. “My beauty… She’s everywhere!”

“I’m going to put her back together, boss,” Rachel said soothingly. “She’ll be better than new.”

“I need a soldering iron, Rachel,” muttered a voice from somewhere in the dark.

“Rubber pliers, too, please,” another voice cried.

“How many are in there?” I asked hesitantly.

Rachel frowned. “Maybe it’s better if you don’t know.”

As I turned to leave, I was almost run over by several big, muscular aliens carrying new chairs. A quick glance down the hallway showed Storgin’s lab getting the same treatment.

“Oh, no,” I muttered, hurrying along the corridor. Past Storgin’s lab was the armory and engine room.

Why are there so many people in the engine room?

If the bridge scared me, looking at the engine room lalmost iterally made me pass out on my feet.

All the wall and console panels had been taken off and piled on the floor. Wires, plugs, and switches lay bare all around us. Cables were twisted all over. I stood, shocked into silence, taking in the carnage. Others in the room barely noticed me.

“Okay.” Evelyn poked her head out from the wall, her hair a mess and a smudge on her cheek. “Try it now.”

A guy with dark green skin pressed a few buttons. There was a harmonious chime and crystals lit up under the console. Evelyn let out a whoop.

“Oh,” she said, noticing me finally. “Timcur. Maybe you shouldn’t be in here right now.”

I stood there in silent fury, shaking my head.

“It’s all going to be okay,” she soothed.

“Hey, Evelyn.” Thelkor came sliding out from under a low shelf on a board on wheels. “I’ve got the superconductor in place, but the charge won’t flow through to the main gun. Can you help? Oh, hey, Captain.”

I looked down at him in disbelief. “What are you doing? She’s cut open Goldie’s heart, and you’re helping!”

Thelkor grinned. “We’re building her a new one, Captain. Don’t sweat it. Evelyn, get in here, please.”

“You got it.” She disappeared back into the wall and Thelkor rolled under on his little board.

Stunned, I wandered up the hall again, barely recognizing my ship. I headed for the side doors and when I walked out into the dock area, I felt a strong sense of loss. Goldie would never be as she had been. Next time I walked around in there, on my bridge, my engine room, or my galley, it would be a completely different ship. I understood how Storgin felt about his lab.

Finally, I saw Nora. She was standing with Lorka some distance away. I knew she was the only thing that could cheer me up after seeing my beloved Goldie torn apart. I hurried towards her, my mind overflowing with images from the night before.

She jumped up when she was close enough, pressing her body to mine. Her arms went around my neck. I kissed her, the memories of the night before becoming sensory. They obliterated all else, my heart and mind comforted by her touch.

Nothing matters so long as we are together.

It was hard to let go of a lifetime of control, but with Nora to guide me, I had faith that I would come through this a much stronger—and happier—man.

NORA

Timcur looked so strong and commanding. Yet, at the same time, I could see the confusion lurking deep in his eyes. I kissed him and let it linger, enjoying a refresher of all the intimacy we had shared last night.

“We don’t have much time,” Lorka muttered, irritated.

“Of course,” I said, turning back to him. “We need to get moving.”

“What’s happening?” Timcur asked. “It looks to me that Goldie isn’t going anywhere.”

“Not right now,” Lorka agreed. “But they should be done with her in an hour or so.”

I saw Timcur open his mouth to say something, only to shut it again and look at me. That far-away confusion was manifesting into recognizable anxiety. I understood he was having trouble finding his feet in all this uncertainty and it probably hadn’t helped to wake up and find his ship being rearranged.

“We have a plan,” I said, gripping his hand firmly, trying to give him confidence. “Lorka and I have fitted out a drone as a distraction.”

“What?” he muttered. Lorka grinned. Before the Buravian could pull off any of his smart-assery, I cut in.

“The Authorities are coming for us,” I said. “They are on their way right now. They are following the transponder in the necklace and they should be here in about twelve hours.”

“I have one of my most sophisticated drones programmed,” Lorka said, cutting in with a lofty tone. “I’ve fitted it with Goldie’s old transponder and the necklace, so from its signature it appears to be your ship.”

“We’re launching it immediately,” I said. “It will lead the Authorities away from Tehglaish and give us time to finish up Goldie so we can get clear.”

Timcur nodded. “Okay. It’s a sound plan. I like it.”

I grinned, gripping his hand as I reached up to kiss him on the cheek. I hadn’t known how he would handle all of this, because he was accustomed to absolute power, but from the look of it, he was coping quite well.

“Shouldn’t we keep the necklace as evidence?” he asked.

Lorka pulled a tiny memory card out of his pocket. “This is a copy of all the data that was on it. It’s better this way because the Authorities will be planning on cutting any footage so it looks favorable to them and they can do that through the link they have to the necklace. This one is uncut.”

Timcur nodded, taking the memory stick and putting it in his pocket. He was trying hard to look cool, but I could see the hidden frown waiting to come out.

I leaned against him, wishing fervently that we could have spent this glorious day in bed. I had wanted to wake slowly with him, our limbs tangled under the sheets while we whispered and giggled to each other. I wanted to take the slow morning hours to trace over his rough horns with my fingertips and discover the glory of every inch of his skin.

I couldn’t curse our circumstances, though. If I had not been sent here by the very people who were now hunting us, I wouldn’t have met Timcur at all. I tried as hard as I could to believe in a future where we could be together without fear, a place where we could enjoy each other without running from those determined to destroy us and keep us apart.

I hung on to that belief. It was all I had. It kept me going, kept my spirits high. I hoped Timcur felt the same way. When he flashed me a cute smile, I felt something—something pure and true.

We are thinking the same thing.

I didn’t know how I knew it, but I did. We were on the same wavelength and it felt like we always would be. It was above and beyond anything I had ever expected love to be.

“Something else you should know,” Lorka said in a guarded tone. “Mahdfel HQ tracked your comms the last time you were here. It isn’t just Earth that’s after you.”

“My own superiors,” Timcur whispered.

Lorka grinned, lifting an eyebrow wryly. “First time? People have been after me for years.” Lorca shrugged. “Welcome to trying to stand up for what’s right, Captain.”

“But I’m not—I mean, you are—”

“A criminal?” Lorka said softly. Timcur nodded.

“How did you become a criminal, huh? Because you did something wrong, or because they decided you broke the law?”

Timcur struggled. I saw it in his face. His world had been so clearly defined before. Now, the lines of good -vs- bad were blurred. The two sides bled together into endless gray.

“What did you do?” Timcur asked.

Lorka shook his head. “There isn’t any point talking about that now. Let’s just say, I don’t mind helping out a fellow activist who fell astray of some Authority through no fault of his own. I was able to track the transmissions, and they only allowed your contact so they could get a trace on Goldie.”

Timcur nodded, considering that. From his perspective, a guilty man would not have called in at all, but from my own thinking—and the authorities’ thoughts, obviously—a guilty man might call in to see how much he could manipulate the situation.

Timcur pulled out the memory stick from his pocket, and stared at it.

I knew he was looking for salvation somewhere, anywhere, and that, so far, he couldn’t be sure it existed.

Please, let Goldie find some peace.

I had never really been in love. I had never known what it meant to see my beloved in so much pain that I’d do anything to make it stop. I straightened my shoulders and turned my thoughts to the plan.

I had to make this work so that he could be free… Free to love me and make a life we could both enjoy for the rest of our days.

NORA

Timcur looked at the little device on his palm as if it could transport us away to a place where everything made sense. It was interesting to me how he could fall into these deep silences and look somewhat lost when I knew he was calculating things the whole time.

I really felt bad for him that he had such little control over what was happening. I had never known a life like his—one of order, of obeying and being obeyed—but I could appreciate how much it hurt him to lose it.

“It’s a copy of everything I’ve heard since I arrived on Goldie,” I said gently. Maybe, if I helped him see it from a different perspective, he would feel better about it.

“That’s what they told you to do, isn’t it? Get as much information on us as possible so they could prove our guilt.”

“But that’s not what I found,” I said. “All I saw and heard was evidence of good people, people who wanted no harm to come to others. Everything on this disc now proves that you are innocent of the crimes they accused you of. Far more than that, this information proves that you are putting yourselves in danger to keep going after Zarklac and prevent others from being hurt.”

“That’s above and beyond, as far as I’m concerned,” Lorka remarked. “There are plenty of bolt holes where you could have disappeared and settled down, but you kept yourself in the spotlight. Proving your innocence is damn near impossible, so I know you aren’t doing all of this for that reason. Saving people from the Suhlik is a noble idea, but it isn’t one I’d risk my hide for.”

Timcur looked up sharply, shooting angry eyes at Lorka. I just grinned.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked, deliberately using a mocking tone. “You say you don’t care, but here you are, helping us. I’d say your ass is hanging pretty far out on this, Lorka. Are you doing it just to help us, or the millions of people the Suhlik could take out if they pull this off?”

He frowned. “I told you, I don’t mind helping out fellow activists...”

“Oh, so you do like to help, then?”

Lorka’s face twisted, and I laughed. Timcur joined in on it and Lorka kept his stormy look for a few seconds before he laughed, too.

“Let’s just say it’s bad for business,” he grinned. “Don’t let it get out that I might be a softie. It will damage my rep beyond repair.”

“Secret is safe with me,” I said, making a zipping motion across my lips.

Timcur put an arm around my shoulders and I leaned into him. When I looked up, he was gazing down. I had another one of those moments where I knew we were thinking the exact same thing. He bent down to kiss me, and my world narrowed until there was only Timcur and his hot, wet lips.

“Really?” Lorka whined. I giggled a little as I pulled away from my mate.

“Really,” I said, blushing a little. Lorka shook his head and picked up the small case he had at his feet.

“You’ll need fake identities, and you can find everything you need in this kit. You should be able to move around completely undetected.”

Timcur took the box gratefully. “You’re doing a great thing here, Lorka. If I manage to clear our names, then I’ll be putting in a good word for you back at the council.”

Lorka snorted with laughter. “Don’t bother. I’m too dangerous to keep alive. That being said, if they ever got me, they’d have to keep me locked up so they could squeeze me for information. I’m familiar with every computer network in the galaxy.”

“So, what’s next?” Timcur asked, pointedly changing the topic.

Lorka pulled out a small remote control. “We’re just launching the drone now. It should give the Authorities plenty of time to change course. Then we can get the finishing touches done on Goldie and you’ll be clear.”

Lorka pushed a few buttons on the remote and spoke into his comm device.

“Understood,” he said. “The drone is free. We just need to see if they take the bait.”

We only waited a few moments, but it felt like an eternity. Lorka appeared quite relaxed, drumming his fingers absently on his leg while Timcur and I amassed enough stress for several heart attacks.

“You there, boss?” crackled a voice in the comm.

“Yeah, is she lit?”

“They are after her, sir.”

Lorka grinned like a kid playing with a new toy. “I knew she would take them!” he cried. He covered the comm and mouthed to us.

“I built it myself.”

Timcur laughed. I could tell he was coming to like Lorka and his strange ways.

While Lorka went back and forth with one of his guys, discussing direct trajectory and transmitter strength, Timcur’s comms bracelet lit up.

“This is Rachel. You read me, Captain?”

“I read you, Rachel,” Timcur said, snapping to attention.

“Zarklac has been located.”

“That doesn’t do us much good without a ship.”

“Goldie will be ready in twenty minutes.”

“Really?” I had to grin at Timcur’s surprised voice. “But her guts were all over the deck.”

“Yes, Captain,” Rachel laughed. “But she’s a damn good little ship and she can’t wait to get out there and get the bad guy. Are we ready?”

Timcur looked at me and I grabbed his hand, sharing a grin with him. Yes, he was ready, and so was I.

“Let’s go get that motherfucker!” I whispered, leaning in for a deep kiss. I let our lips tangle briefly before we turned and ran back towards the ship, calling goodbye to Lorka over our shoulders.

TIMCUR

Our feet seemed to fly. I didn’t let go of Nora’s hand the whole run back to Goldie. We were about to go into one of the most dangerous events of our lives. Even though I felt lucky to be doing so with her, I hated the fact that she was about to put herself in serious danger.

I barely recognized my Goldie when we reached her. I knew that was the whole point of the makeover, but it unsettled me greatly. I tried not to pay attention to the new patterns made by colored panels and focused on the interior, which was still somewhat the same.

We ran straight for the bridge. Rachel was set up in her chair with the engines already humming.

“C’mon!” she yelled. “I want to take these new thrusters for a spin!”

I sat down in one of the brand-new bridge chairs, sitting near Rachel at the console. Olath and Thelkor sat behind, with Evelyn and Nora sitting in the back. I knew that Storgin preferred to stay in his lab, and I was pretty sure they’d set up extra seats in there, too.

Rachel seemed to drop into her own little world as she detached Goldie from the dock supports and fired her up.

“Oh, yeah,” she whispered, moving the controls in her hands. A shudder ran through the ship and I felt a moment of anxiety. I’d never heard my baby make a noise like that before. Was she going to blow up around us?

The hum intensified into a whine. I was about to get up and cancel the launch entirely when Rachel slapped a red button and yelled at the top of her lungs.

I was thrown back into my seat so hard I thought I might have left my bones behind. I heard Olath whimper and Thelkor let out a growl like a whipped dog. Somewhere in the ship, I heard Lucky shriek and Mr. Clawson hiss like a snake.

We were in hyperspeed for roughly three minutes and Rachel hooted the whole time as if she were dancing to a throbbing beat. As Goldie crested and slowed, she seemed to pause, a completely still moment in between time, then she evened out and the absorbers kicked in, leaving us with normal gravity.

“How was that?” Rachel asked, looking around. “At least six times faster than our previous hyperspeed and she’s got improved maneuverability. I could even starfight at hyper-speed now. Her fine controls are that good.”

“Get me a gun,” whispered Thelkor. “I can’t wait to bend bullets!”

“I’m going to check on the pets,” Evelyn said, getting up. “They were in a secure grav field, but it sounds like Fluff is pissed.”

She disappeared down the hall while I shook myself off.

“What’s our ETA for Bouhek Intergalactic Games Center?” I asked.

“Twenty-four hours,” Rachel replied. “I don’t see the need to stretch Goldie’s legs any further today. We’re making good time.”

I nodded, pulling out the case Lorka had given me. “We should head to the galley to sort out our cover.”

“She’s set on course, Captain,” said Olath, getting up from the console. “We can leave her unmanned for a short while.”

I took Nora’s hand and we hurried to the galley, meeting up with the others. Evelyn was there feeding Fluffbutt some small pieces of fresh-roasted chicken while he scowled at her.

“I don’t think he’ll ever forgive me,” she wailed. “Promise me we won’t do that unless we absolutely have to.”

“I promise.” Rachel crossed her heart with one finger.

“Okay,” I snapped, diverting them all back to the business at hand. “These are our fake identities.”

I opened the case, and everyone started handing out identity cards. Thelkor and Olath had a laugh at some of the funny names and job descriptions.

“I’ll be a trash inspector,” Thelkor laughed. “I can’t believe that’s even a real job.”

“It will do,” Nora said quietly. I looked over to see her swiping away on a tablet, an intent look on her face. “There's a great opportunity here to get in as an amateur sports team. We’ll have pretty much full run of the place and there are new teams trying out all the time.”

“I like it,” I said, admiring her idea. She looked up and grinned.

“I’ll be the team’s agent,” Nora said. “I can also post as reserve player, so I go into the arena with you. You’ll be the team captain, Timcur.”

“Of course,” I said, hurrying over to see what she was doing.

“Is it okay for me to stay here?” Rachel asked. “I’m not big on sports.”

“No, you should definitely stay here,” I muttered. “In case we need a quick getaway.”

I saw Nora sweeping her finger across the screen to go through all the games we could enter. She was groaning and frowning at each one.

“I don’t think we can enter any of these. We’ll be killed. Look at this sea monster thing—who would play that?”

“Oh, I did, once,” Thelkor said, sipping on a beer. “I was blind drunk. I lost, but I didn’t die.” He saluted himself and finished the bottle.

“Oh, how about anamura ball?” Nora asked cheerfully. “It’s just a little furry guy. We can handle that, can’t we, Evelyn?”

Evelyn grinned, hugging Fluff and Lucky. “I can handle any animal, anywhere.”

I frowned but didn’t say anything. Anamura could be difficult little things and there was still a chance of getting banged up. Still, it beat sea monsters and space bulls, and we had a way in. That was all we really needed, and I’d try to keep the girls out of the games if I possibly could.

NORA

While I was still on the games center site, we ordered uniforms. All of them were utterly hideous, so there wasn’t much choice involved.

“Do they all have to be skintight spandex?” Evelyn asked wearily. “It reminds me of the difference between swimsuits in women’s and men’s sections in department stores.”

“Ah, but this is guys as well as girls,” I laughed. “They are skintight so they know you don’t have any pockets.”

We decided on some dark green suits cut with silver stripes. It reminded me of a peacock’s feathers, but I had the feeling it wouldn’t look as regal once it was on.

I watched the guys talking and laughing and tried to imagine them in skintight spandex. It was impossible. I giggled a bit, thinking it would be fun to see how the boys looked.

“Let’s go and do a bit of practice,” Timcur said, putting an arm around my shoulders.

“But we don’t have an anamura” I protested, confused.

Timcur shrugged. “We can just use a basketball for now.”

“You know what basketballs are?” Evelyn asked, surprised.

“I like the jumping,” Storgin said. “It’s a game of precision, skill, and luck, all at once.”

“I suck at hoops,” Thelkor said. “But I can throw and catch.”

“Isn’t it kind of useless?” I asked. “The basketball isn’t going to stick its legs out and scuttle away like a real anamura.”

“It’s better to practice a little than not at all,” Timcur said. “We are entering as amateurs, but we should, at least, be able to throw and catch.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

I let him lead me up the corridor with the others. Rachel went back to the bridge to check up on Goldie. I had never really explored the ship before and was shocked to find a large cargo bay at the back.

Thelkor whistled. “I think this place is twice the size it was before.”

“It is,” Olath agreed. “After that thing with the bomb, we just closed it off. With all the new mods, we were able to put in a whole new back wall.”

We spread out across the room while Storgin found his ball. He bounced it a bit, jogging around, then tossed it straight at Olath.

He caught it against his chest, then hurled it at Thelkor. He tossed it to Timcur, but Evelyn cut in and threw it to me.

I had to jump for it, and I bounced it once or twice before throwing it back at Storgin. Without laying down any specific rules, we had started up a rhythm of throwing and catching that got us out of our comfort zone and into a flow.

Soon, everyone was laughing and giggling. We’d set up to throw at a certain person, wait for resistance to gather, then hurl the ball at someone else at the last second. I was lunging to catch one of Evelyn’s throws when I barreled straight into Timcur.

We both laughed as we went down, even though his elbow was in my face and my knee was in his guts.

“Excuse me.” I blushed.

His hot, throbbing body was distracting me far too much. His eyes were bright, and his cheeks colored just like when he exerted himself in the bedroom. Was he getting turned on right now, or was this what he looked like whenever he exerted himself?

The ball was retrieved and Thelkor and Storgin set up a brutal back and forth. At first, no one would intervene, they were throwing the ball so hard. Suddenly, Timcur leaped between them at exactly the right time, stealing the ball and bouncing it as he ran a circle around them.

Evelyn came in to steal the ball and so did I. Timcur didn’t see me coming up beside him and Evelyn neatly stole the ball right out from under his hand before I could. Then Timcur took a wide misstep and barreled into me.

We both cried out as we fell, and I ended up in his lap. He stretched out and I was sitting on top of him, my hands resting on his belly.

His chest rose and fell under me as we both panted with exertion. He grinned and I heard the laughter of the others around us. Suddenly I felt as if I had been waiting for this place my whole life—this small, self-contained world which was full of only a few people, but people I trusted completely.

A family.

Not like the family I had at my old home, which involved so much duty and worry, but a family that would take care of me.

Timcur stroked my cheek and I almost cried as I covered his hand with mine. He would never let any harm come to me, and neither would the others. Bonding with my mate was certainly not something I had counted on, so finding myself having feelings for everyone else on board was entirely unexpected.

But it was real. I was connected to each and every one of them. They laughed and teased us about lying around on the floor instead of working, and my heart warmed. There was no judgment, only love. I had come here under duress, to do a duty I hadn’t truly believed in. I had hoped to be free after it was done.

Now I knew that true freedom was a place you could truly be yourself and be loved and supported. A place that just felt right, a place you would never choose to leave.

Timcur.

Home.

TIMCUR

I didn’t want the session to end, but after about an hour of jumping, running, and sweating, everyone was ready for a break. I was tempted to ask Nora to shower with me, but decided that it might be too soon for such a bold move.

I finished my shower quickly, the brooding feeling shadowing my thoughts not lifting even with the hot water soothing my muscles. I headed idly for the galley. When I arrived, I found its untidiness intolerable.

I stood in the doorway taking it in. Piles of dust on the deck, mostly in the corners, with multiple sticky spots that looked downright furry. There was a bench along the wall right next to the kitchen door and it was covered in dust and leftover food wrappers. I didn’t look over at the main table—I knew what it looked like.

Even though we ate there every day, that didn’t make it clean. It was clear of clutter but covered in spills and stains.

I went past the long, high bench and into the kitchen itself. The fridge was huge and might have been white once. Now, it was darkened with rust and smears of grime. The sink in the corner was full of dark, oily liquid and dirty plates and pans and cups were piled up around it.

I grunted in disgust and headed for the sink, rolling up my sleeves. I had never really noticed the kitchen or dining area before, to be honest. I always had duties to perform, calls to make, plans to commence. I would run in and out with barely a glance at the state of the place. I realized now, in hindsight, that I should have assigned the task to someone. A ship couldn’t run efficiently like this.

I cleared out the murky water and filled the sink with water so hot I could barely stand it, making sure there were lots of crisp soap bubbles. I started soaking and scrubbing, rinsing down the nearby bench and the floor as I went.

Strangely, the work seemed to clear my head. The carefully ordered world I had always depended on—the one which had kept me from mundane tasks such as this—was now in complete disarray. Was that why putting the kitchen back in order felt so satisfying?

I knew that that was a futile attempt to bring a feeling of control back to my world. Would making sure the mugs were clean give me back the feeling of superiority and power I’d had before? Probably not, but it did make me feel better, and the galley desperately needed tending to.

“Hey, there you are!” Rachel called from the door. She let out a low whistle. “Jeez. You’re really going for it in here! This is the last place I expected to find you.”

I shrugged. “I couldn’t stand it anymore. I had to do something about it.”

“Okay,” Rachel said, rolling up her sleeves. “I’ll help, but I warn you, Evelyn gave it a try and left crying because there were too many layers of oil around the oven to scrub through.”

I grinned. “I’ll sneak into Storgin’s lab and get some chemical stripper. Maybe I’ll even hit the armory and grab some of Thelkor’s heavy-duty dissolver, for getting engine oil off screws.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Rachel smiled, picking up a broom.

At first, she didn’t say anything, just hummed quietly while we worked. I began to relax immediately—from the first moment she had come on board, I’d felt at ease with her. We had a strong bond I appreciated very much.

“How are you feeling, Timcur?” she asked lightly. “Looking forward to the mission?”

“Ah,” I laughed. “I see your plan now. You’re here to examine my mental health.”

Rachel set her broom aside and came to stand with me. “Yes, Timcur. All jokes aside, I want to know how you’re doing with everything. How are you coping with Nora, as well as the overall situation?”

I took a deep breath and let it sigh out through my nostrils. “I’m okay, Rachel. Not great. Not exactly happy, but I’m moving forward.”

“Good,” she said, smiling. “I’ve got some really good news, if you want to hear it.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Hep Thablois Bouhek recently did a news story in our favor. It was on the latest news cycle. She clearly stated that there is too much uncertainty around the recent events to assume we are guilty and that focusing on the wrong people will only allow the real culprits to get away.”

“That’s amazing!” I said, not believing it. The only thing harder than saying goodbye to my carefully organized existence was the possibility of it going back to exactly as it had been. The chaos I was going through right now seemed to have no end. I shook my head a little, trying to clear it of the spinning.

“It’s good news, Timcur. Not everyone thinks we’re guilty.”

It was such a small thing, yet it had made a huge impact on my mind and spirit. I took a breath that seemed to be the first real oxygen I’d had in days. Tension bled out of my shoulders and I relaxed down my spine.

“I think I might go and see Nora,” I said absently, putting down a stack of dishes.

Rachel sighed. “I’ll be expecting you to come back and help me finish. Bring some of that chemical cleaner.”

I muttered a nonsensical response. I’d be back—eventually. Now that the stress had cleared from my mind, my heart only wanted Nora.

NORA

I was sitting in the guest quarters, my eyes locked onto the screen before me. I had managed to share the screen of the tablet with the big monitor on the wall and I was carefully scrolling through images and short clips.

The ship did not have a huge selection of entertainment equipment. There were quite a few tablets and comm devices, with multiple computer terminals and big screens in the galley, in the guest room, and Storgin’s lab.

There was a local database of movies, shows, music, and books. It was varied—only a little from Earth, but lots from other planets. I was frustrated because it was all good enough to watch something or play a game, but not great for editing.

I understood that the main use of the computer system was communication and research, but I was still disappointed to find myself practically in the dark ages for modifying files and cutting video sequences.

The door made a soft thud behind me and I turned to see Timcur coming into the room. My smile stretched my face, the warmth in my chest rising and making it flush. Just seeing him brought me so much pleasure.

I didn’t know love could be like this.

“I couldn’t find you,” he said. “Evelyn was hoping to watch a movie or something. She said you guys haven’t had a ‘girl talk’ yet. What does that mean?”

I giggled softly. “It means you’re about to get cleaned out of chocolate, ice cream, and wine while we discuss the length of your co—I mean, the duration of your…service.”

I bit my lip a little. I had no idea of alien etiquette. Was it an insult to my mate to discuss every inch of his manliness with the other girls? I didn’t know how I’d survive if I had to keep it all to myself.

It must be cool, I thought. We live in shared accommodations and I saw all of Thelkor’s glory in the hall the other day when he and Rachel were dry-humping in the corner.

“Okay,” Timcur said, a little puzzled. “You could just ask me.”

“Of course,” I said smoothly, keeping my eyes on the screens and taking my attention back to my work.

“What are you doing?” Timcur asked, watching the screen.

There were flashes of the guys laughing, their arms around each other’s shoulders. Pictures of Rachel in the pilot’s chair, Storgin in his lab. Called up from the previous system, I had pictures of Rachel handing over packages of food to the urchins, Thelkor protecting passersby as they ran through Diana’s Arrow and a transcript of the comms from when they’d found the bomb on the ag deck.

“Nora, what is this?” Timcur asked, his voice low.

“I’m making a documentary about my time here,” I said, my eyes full of the glowing, flickering images. “All the data recorded by the necklace, as well as anything I can use from the archives.”

“Why?” Timcur put a hand on my shoulder, his eyes fixed on the screen as I patched together several shots into a montage.

“Because I want the world to see you exactly as I do.” I squeezed his hand as he looked down at me. “I know that you guys fight for the greater good. I just want to make something beautiful that proves that to everyone else.”

“This is astounding work, Nora,” Timcur murmured. “You would have had to have created a new software model to put this creative hub together. How did you edit the info streams to get the short clips and images?”

I shrugged. “One by one.”

He looked at me, startled. “You could have been here for hours!”

I laughed. “I had high resolution thumbnails and dates to work with. I was able to put together a decent collection and work from there.”

“I’m amazed, Nora. Truly. I was coming to tell you that Hep Bouhek had done her own report on us, but honestly, I can’t tell the difference between her work and yours.”

“Really?” I asked, glowing under his praise. “She has all that fancy editing equipment and software.”

He nodded. “Yet your work is just as good. Imagine what you could do with her equipment!”

“Let me show you a few things,” I said, excited. I had patched together the first ten minutes or so already. I hadn’t taped my dialogue over it yet, but that wouldn’t matter. I was keen for Timcur to see it.

The screen faded into a shot of the team, smiling and holding their guns by the moon base. Pictures from around that time had been used in propaganda against them, but in the full shot, you could see the equipment that they had liberated and clear dispatch units to send it back to the Authority. I also had comms transcripts that clearly stated the guys had no interest in the loot.

There was footage of them attacking Suhliks and protecting innocent people, not just from recent events but far off into the past. I had hard evidence of how long the crew had been in operation. It made it pretty obvious these guys were loyal and had absolutely no reason to defect to the other side.

More often than not, the guys happily gave up any potential rewards just to help out poorer people in the area where they had been stationed. They sacrificed themselves frequently for the good of others. I looked up at Timcur and I didn’t just see my mate—I saw a hero.

TIMCUR

It was true that the finer points of the entertainment industry just weren’t my thing. I could watch any kind of B-grade movie or show, even if the acting was appalling and someone shot it with a disposable camera.

That being said, I did like some of the multimillion-galactic-credit movies produced on the richest planets. Not just the main market ones, either—but the really subtle, suggestive types of stories which dealt with nuance and the indefinable state of emotions in challenging circumstances.

I had been a keen viewer of Hep’s work for some time and I was always amazed by how she made you feel like a part of the story. Something about the way she edited her stories dragged you from the real world into the screen, brought the events right into your heart, where you could feel, smell, and taste them.

Watching Nora’s work felt very similar. I didn’t even recognize myself in some of the footage.

“I didn’t know I was that impressive,” I muttered, looking at a high-resolution shot of me bringing a blade down on a Suhlik’s head.

“Ah, that one’s from your archives,” Nora said. “An absolute beauty. Captured by a security system that shared Goldie’s network briefly. It was at a distance, but because of the excellent resolution, I was able to frame and zoom without losing detail.”

To me, it sounded a bit like she had started speaking a foreign language. I understood the terms, but not the process.

“I’ll take your word for it,” I said, very aware of her hand on mine as we watched the videos together. She gave my fingers a squeeze.

“I want to make a story on the Buravian situation at some point,” she said, her eyes a little misty. “Humans don’t really understand what’s happening, and they should.”

I looked down at her at the exact moment that she looked up at me. Our eyes locked and it was as if the room disappeared. We stared, falling into each other. When I saw her lips part ever so slightly, I leaned down immediately to touch them with mine.

The brush of her lips was incredibly light and sent tingles running down my arms. I teased her and myself by brushing my lips against hers again, very gently. She let out a tiny moan. Even though I felt it run through me like a song, I resisted the urge to grab her and take her right there.

Nora leaned back in the chair, encouraging me. I leaned on the arm rests, bending from the waist to press my lips more firmly into hers. My tongue slipped over her bottom lip and when she moaned and opened up to me, I couldn’t hold myself back anymore.

With a growl of need, I threw myself on top of her. My knees hit the deck hard as I settled between her thighs. I kept a firm grip on the armrests as she reached out and grabbed me around the waist, her lips greedily devouring mine.

She moaned and gasped, writhing beneath me. Fire ran down my belly, making my cock hard and blurring the clarity of my mind.

I was lost in Nora, ready to throw my sanity out the viewport and join with her again, right here and now. I could tell by her panting breaths and reddened lips, she was ready for me, too. I leaned back to look into her eyes, seeing her pleasure and excitement. I put my hands on her thighs and leaned in to kiss her even harder and deeper and take this encounter to the next level.

Suddenly, I felt an odd tugging along my back. I was so entranced by Nora’s mouth, I ignored it.

It seemed to move, getting higher. I wriggled my shoulders, thinking that maybe my shirt was caught in my belt. I gave Nora my full attention again.

Then something dug sharp-edged claws right through the shirt into my lower back. The creeping, squeezing feeling was up much higher now, somewhere around my shoulders, while claws—actual fucking claws—dug into my skin lower down.

“Lucky?” Evelyn exclaimed.

I breathed a sigh of relief, looking over my shoulder. Lucky’s deep red tentacles were attached to me, his clawed feet clinging on lower down.

“He’s never climbed anyone before,” I said. “Maybe he’s hungry.”

“Maybe he wants attention,” she said, rubbing his head.

“Yes, probably,” I said darkly. A glance over my shoulder showed me Lucky’s big round eyes, looking like the picture of innocence.

“Well,” I said, trying to disentangle myself from Lucky as I stood up, taking a step back. “Since we’ve been interrupted, I guess I’ll—FUCK!”

“What?” Nora cried, spinning around on the chair in time to see me crashing to the floor.

Lucky landed neatly on my chest with a smug look. Right at my feet, wearing the most indignant look I had ever seen, was Mr. Fluffbutt Clawson.

“He tripped me!” I yelled.

Nora laughed. “Cats are known for that.”

“But… He’s not even knee high to me and weighs almost nothing. How did he knock me down?”

Nora laughed. “They wait for the right moment when your balance is off. You should see the horrible things they do when you’re walking on the stairs.”

I thanked all gods in existence that Goldie did not have any stairs. I could tell by the way Fluff eyeballed me that he would have made it worse for me if he could have. The furry monster looked at me with a regal disdain which was only broken when Lucky wandered over to ‘lick’ Fluff’s face with its tentacles.

Nora and I both laughed at the look on Fluff’s face. It was obvious that Fluff adored Lucky, even if he had to put on a show of dismay for us. I reached up and pulled her off the chair so we could steal another kiss before the pets decided to get in our way again.

Lucky took my turned back as an opportunity to play more. He threw himself onto my back, hanging on with his claws. I went down facefirst that time.

NORA

Evelyn followed close behind Lucky and Mr. Fluff. She peeked in, saw Timcur’s predicament, and did an amazing imitation of an angry cat. Mr. Fluff bounded down the hall. Lucky looked up at Evelyn with big, mournful eyes, tentacles waving.

“No clawing the captain, Lucky. You were just supposed to tell them dinner is ready.”

Lucky immediately retracted, looking at Evelyn. I could have sworn the thing got cuter as I watched. I really needed to find a good manual for that thing.

“We’ll be right there.”

The carpet muffled Timcur’s words. Evelyn chuckled and waved at the door.

“Come on, troublemaker.”

Lucky leaped off Timcur’s back and trotted over to Evelyn.

“Okay. I’m going to get these guys fed. Lucky seems to be experiencing the kehppû version of teething, or some such nonsense, but the scratches heal amazingly fast, so hang in there, Captain.”

With a wave, Evelyn padded down the corridor in some fluffy slippers.

I have to order a pair of those…

I smiled down at Timcur.

“Any plans to return to your feet, now that the coast is clear? Or are you planning on staying down there for a while?”

Timcur groaned. “Can you take a look at those scratches? Those claws felt six-feet long and on fire while they were poking me.”

I leaned over and pushed his shoulders down. “Lie down so I can see.”

“Lie down? What? Like with my face on the deck?”

“Yes.”

“Why can’t I just stand up?”

“Because then your back would be four-feet taller than my eyes.”

Timcur shrugged and rolled over, careful of his horns. Rather than lie, he planked. I did not complain about the view. I looked over his back.

“You’re fine. Let’s go eat, I’m starving.”

“If I’m fine, why does it still burn?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, ask Storgin.”

Timcur looked at me with suspicious eyes. “But Storgin likes to poke and prod us…”

I chuckled. “So you think you can survive without Storgin’s help?”

“Yes, definitely.”

“Good. Then you’re fine, there’s no bleeding, the fabric of your shirt will heal itself in the laundry, and we can go eat now, yes?”

Timcur’s brow creased in thought, then he hopped to his feet. He smiled down at me. I entirely failed to resist the urge to kiss his lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and lost myself in the moment. Luckily, Rachel’s voice over the intercom interrupted my tongue dancing with Timcur’s.

“Dinner. Galley. Now.”

Timcur and I giggled like high schoolers who thought they were getting away with something. I ran my fingers through my hair, hoping I neatened it. I held out my hand. Timcur enveloped it in his and we made our way to the galley.

We heard the dinner party echoing down the corridors before we even arrived. Raucous laughter mingled with the clink of dinnerware echoed off the metal walls. Turning the corner, we came upon the sight of Thelkor and Olath engaged in a peculiar Old Earth competition.

They sat at one of the small, square tables, facing each other. Each held aloft a fried corn triangle. Upon the corn chips sat huge blobs of salsa. I scooted into the booth next to Evelyn.

“Salsa-eating contest?”

Olath and Thelkor opened their big mouths. An evil smile spread across Evelyn’s face.

“Yep.”

“Did you explain salsa to them first?”

“Nope.”

Thelkor and Olath’s eyes grew wide as the fumes wafted from the salsa to the roofs of their mouths.

I leaned over to Timcur and whispered, “Keep your eyes on them, Captain.” I leaned back to Evelyn. “How did you talk them into this?”

“Told them it was an Earth way to prove one’s bravery, inner strength, and fortitude.”

Olath and Thelkor bit into their chips. Their jaws moved in circles and their eyes popped open in surprise. Then I saw the first tear drip from Olath’s eye. Thelkor coughed, attempting to look serious. Timcur whispered to me.

“Has he been poisoned? He looks like he wants to vomit.”

Evelyn’s evil smile curled at the corners. She shrugged a shoulder.

“I told them to start slow. They convinced me that, because a single Mahdfel is worth at least four human men, they surely could start with a larger dose.”

Timcur looked horrified. “And you let them?”

“They were determined, Captain.”

Thelkor ran for the potable water dispenser and began flooding his mouth. Olath breathed shallowly, mouth wide open. I patted Olath’s head.

“It will pass, you’re not dying.”

I grabbed a chip and ate my own smaller scoop of salsa. I nodded at Evelyn.

“That’s good stuff.”

“Thanks! Learned it from the husband of my mom’s best friend.”

“That sounds like a story.”

She grinned, then stuffed her mouth with a scoop of the spicy concoction.

We laughed and ate and trashed the kitchen. Even with the weight of responsibility and circumstance looming over Goldie like a dark cloud, within her hull, our little family lived it up.

The fabric of who we were as people, as a crew, as new friends and mated lovers, intertwined. Those silly moments when Thelkor discovered a salsa addiction no one saw coming, or when Olath nearly hurled, bonded us together.

We saw each other every day in a state of near chaos, yet we worked together like a choreographed dance company. My heart swelled. Tension drained from my limbs. A deep longing tugged at my chest.

I wish I could call Mom. I wish I could tell her I found my place in the universe, that I have found my mate and he’s a gigantic horned alien.

I sighed. Timcur looked into my eyes.

“Tired, love?”

I released another sigh and nodded, smiling sleepily. “Yeah. Happy, but tired.”

Timcur raised an eye ridge at me. “May I carry you to bed, my beautiful, amazing, sleepy mate?”

I giggled. “Sure. As long as you promise to kiss me when we get there.”

“Oh, but how could I resist your perfect lips?”

He leaned in, placing his perfect lips on mine. The world began to fade. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing myself into him. Luckily, Rachel shouted in our ears. Rachel was already drunk a beer ago, but she only became more Rachel.

“Captain!”

“Yes, Rachel,” he answered, barely hiding his amusement.

She pointed at me with a wobbly arm. “Take your wench to your cabin before you defile her, you rogue!”

She spun back to Thelkor. “Thelkor! Did you know I’m a pirate? Aaaaarrrggghhh!”

She raised a banana like a cutlass and began to swordfight Thelkor’s horns.

“Oh, boy…” Timcur muttered. He gathered me up into his strong arms and whisked me away to our bed.

TIMCUR

For the first few moments when I awoke, I thought it was an ordinary day. The troubles of the crew and knowledge of my mate stayed far off, like a misty, distant dream. I began to run through basic operations, everything I would do when I got up. It was such a common track for my mind that it started playing out before my eyes opened.

Then Nora shifted beside me. I froze, opening my eyes quickly. It seemed to strike my whole body with the force of a supernova that I was lying in bed with my mate.

The precious moments of the night before stole back into my mind one by one. My body awakened in all the places we had touched, the memories flowing across my skin as they danced in my mind.

With a contented sigh, I reached over and kissed her gently on the forehead. She frowned and muttered, but didn’t wake. I slipped out of bed quietly and dressed quickly, taking care not to disturb her.

I hurried towards the bridge, ready to face whatever news was coming. I felt more determined than ever to clear our names and stop Zarklac. I needed to make the galaxy—and Goldie—a safe place for my mate.

When I arrived, Storgin and Rachel were speaking quietly, looking over some files. They both tensed as I walked in.

“What is it now?” I asked, waiting to be told the situation had worsened over the last few hours. I didn’t expect any good news from the grapevine. We were too dug in now for the situation to resolve simply.

“Lorka has sent a message,” Storgin said. “Here, read it.”

Storgin passed me the tablet and I scrolled through it quickly, my eyes widening.

“This is real?”

“Lorka doesn’t deal in incorrect information,” Rachel said, looking through the front viewscreen absently. “This is completely legit.”

Lorka’s information said that the up-and-coming games were going to be sabotaged as a distraction from their true target—assassinating the well-known personality, Hep Thablois Bouhek.

I could only imagine what Zarklac’s motives would be. Destruction at the games would certainly please any Suhlik, with their vicious personalities and hatred of all non-Suhlik life, but more than likely, Hep had information that could hurt them.

Either that, or she’s close to something he doesn’t want her to find.

It was a very destructive plan, and I knew that the Suhlik wouldn’t just stop at meeting their goal. They would kill as many people as they could while inflicting maximum damage on the venue itself.

“We need to get in there,” I snapped, knowing even as I said the words how impossible it would be. Rachel nodded, swiping up on her screen to show me lines of encoded data.

“These are access codes Lorka sent through, as well. They will enable us to teleport around.”

“Being undercover hasn’t worked so well for us in the past,” I said wryly.

Rachel nodded her agreement, swiping her screen again to come up with an intricate map. “We got this from the files we originally stole from Zarklac. This is the basic layout of the game center. I can put the blueprints on top and superimpose any other system you like—such as the plumbing or electrics—so you can get the full scope of the place.”

“Good,” I murmured, bending over to look. Storgin stayed behind me as Rachel leaned in, as well. A brilliant tactician, she would most likely come up with the best ideas.

“This is really bad,” Rachel said, tracing her finger across the screen and bringing certain places into more detail. “There are a lot of water pipes that bunch up near well-populated areas. Hitting even one of them would create chaos. Flooding, pressure cracks, explosions. There would be local damage as well as loss of atmosphere.”

“And the electric hub is the same,” I said defeatedly. “It looks like every improvement to the grounds was just built on top of the old. I can see six places, just at a casual glance, that would create catastrophe if they were hit.”

Rachel nodded. “We can’t do much unless we get more intel. Even an army of hundreds would struggle to cover all that area.”

We kept looking, even though it was almost like looking into a black hole. There was no answer, no end, just hopeless darkness. Anger rose in me. I didn’t like feeling helpless.

One day, I will have your throat in my hands, Zarklac!

He would pay for this, I would make sure of it.

“Hi,” Nora said, startling me.

I turned to see her in the doorway and reality disappeared so fast I couldn’t feel the floor under my feet. In her soft gaze and small smile, I could see all the warmth we had shared last night, the thrilling connection that had changed my world forever. She blushed, but didn’t look away. I felt myself getting warm all over.

“Hey, Nora!” Rachel called out. “Want to forge some documents?”

“Try and stop me,” she laughed. Before she could enter the bridge, I gently took her hand and led her into the hall.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said, not believing it. “Everything will turn out fine, you’ll see.”

She reached up, standing on her tiptoes so she could put her arms around my shoulders.

“I know,” she whispered, her lips brushing my ear.

She didn’t know—neither of us did. We kissed softly, but almost desperately, as both of us thought of the mission ahead. I wanted to run away with my mate and keep us both from danger, but if I did that, we would be running forever.

The only thing to do was face the Suhlik and clear our names. It was the only thing to do to make the universe safe for her again.

I would sacrifice anything for that. Even my own life.

NORA

As we got closer to port, my anxiety rose. I had been keen for the plan and ready to jump in, but I had not fully thought through all the implications.

I’d agreed to a dangerous mission—spying on the crew of the Goldie. I thought I’d be stuck with criminals and would have to watch my back every second. Now that I knew these guys were not dangerous and the true malice came from the Suhlik, I was nervous to leave the ship.

I forged the registration forms with ease, making up details about previous experience and training for all of us. With documents and backstories complete, I moved on to the BioprintER IIXV-Q.

I read the well-designed manual, whistling appreciatively at the unit’s features. I placed it flat on the galley table and called everyone in. As they arrived, I had them stick their hands into a scary-looking hole in the lower portion of the box while they leaned their faces into a larger hole on top.

I pressed the button on the side. The device flashed. I laughed every time someone eeked, chuckling the entire time. I freely admitted I’d eeked when I tried it on myself first.

Each of us pulled our tingling faces back and removed our tingling hands. On our skin we now wore a thin layer of nanites which would fool any bioprint, face scanner, or retina scanner we may encounter at Bouhek.

I hadn’t worried about it a single bit while I was coming up with the colorful backstories or linking the anti-bioscan nanites with our backstories. With the press of a button, our fake IDs uploaded to the game center’s system.

Now that the game center loomed ahead, I began to worry that none of my information was believable.

I gripped my crash harness as Rachel powered towards a docking point. She handled Goldie with a steady hand, the movements as natural and familiar as brushing her hair. She even kicked back a little, jiggling one foot lazily as she cruised into the docking clamps. I doubted I could be so chill when I was joining several tons of spaceship to several thousand tons of space station.

One wrong move and, splat, we’re vaporized!

I tried not to think about it.

When Goldie shifted slightly and shuddered through to her frame, I knew we had locked on. Rachel casually flicked everything into standby, not powering down—in case we had to get away in a hurry.

“I almost wish I was going with you,” Rachel said, turning around.

I tried to take a deep, even breath, and failed. “No, you don’t,” I whispered.

She grinned. “You got me. I’m quite happy here, but you get what I’m saying.”

I did. I wished like hell that I didn’t have to put myself in danger, but there was an unexpected thrill to seeing something like this. I was fascinated by the games and what kind of aliens played here. I knew there would be a betting system but couldn’t begin to guess what they would bet.

“Are you ready?” Timcur asked, pausing by my chair. I looked up, swallowing as much of my fear as I could.

“As ready as I’ll get,” I said, unbuckling and getting up. He took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. Even though I knew he couldn’t possibly protect me from every danger in the universe, I really did feel safe just being by his side.

I hurried to the front console to submit our registration forms. Rachel watched in admiration.

“I have to say, Nora, I’ve spun my share of bullshit in my time, but I couldn’t do what you’ve done here.”

“What’s that?” I asked, almost absently. I was focused on the final details. If anything were slightly wrong with our applications, we would be found out before we could even get in.

“You’ve forged entirely new identities for all of you. There is so much detail in it. I’m really impressed.”

I could tell she was genuine and smiled, sending the last of the files before I turned to her.

“I was just thinking the same about you,” I said.

“Oh yeah?”

“The way you brought the ship into dock… It was almost magical, like a dance.”

Her face lit up. “You think so?”

“I really do.”

We smiled at each other for a few seconds before Timcur called to me from the door. I looked into Rachel’s stormy, dark blue eyes, seeing real friendship there. I really liked her.

I can’t betray her. I can’t betray any of them.

I couldn’t think about that now. If I started thinking about my family and all the risks involved in this mission, I would lose my mind. I needed to stay chill and pray that I’d find a solution to this that didn’t involve anybody getting hurt.

Somebody always gets hurt.

The innermost voice is never the most comforting. Yet it’s the one most people tend to listen to and believe, even over common sense.

I hurried to Storgin’s lab, where the others were starting to get dressed. The uniforms must have come through the teleport. Evelyn was laughing at the garish design as Olath tried to pull a shirt over his head, getting it stuck on his horns. When he tugged on it, she laughed even harder but grabbed the end of it to stop him yanking it down.

“You’ll tear it, and we don’t have time to get you another one!” she scolded.

I was amazed by the sweet domestic scene playing out right here, before we left on a dangerous mission. I looked up at Timcur. Deep, sorrowful eyes gazed at me as if I were a flower that would soon lose its bloom.

I was about to lose it completely and fall into some kind of hysteria when Fluffbutt entered the room. He strode regally up to Evelyn and sniffed, his tail and nose high in the air. She reached down to kiss him and stroke his fur.

There was a scuttling, shuffling sound in the hall and I saw Lucky slide hard into a wall, its feet not obeying fast enough to stop it from crashing as it took the corner. It was a blur of green and black, its tentacles waving in all directions. It had been chasing Fluffbutt again. It was clear that Lucky utterly worshipped Fluffbutt.

“You be good,” Evelyn said, patting her cat on the head before turning to Lucky.

I hurried over for a cat and kehppû snuggle myself. I didn’t know if I’d be coming back at all. Either way, a cat kiss and a kehppû cuddle sounded like just the thing to soothe my rising anxiety.

TIMCUR

The place was packed. I expected it to be crowded but never dreamed that it would be so full there would, literally, be no elbow room.

Storgin walked ahead, with Thelkor behind him. Evelyn and Olath were next, and I brought up the rear. I kept Nora in front of me and my eyes peeled in case of any danger.

It was an ocean of yelling, pushing, excited creatures. There were humans and aliens of every kind and shape. Evelyn and Nora both scanned the crowds with wide eyes.

Olath pointed a finger. A tall alien with gray skin and lumpy features leaned against a nearby pillar. He wore a uniform with an official emblem on it. He had to be security personnel. We swung off in the opposite direction, putting plenty of crowd between us. Then Evelyn pointed to another one and we had to change course again.

I didn’t like this. There was more security than we’d planned on. We didn’t want to get captured and locked up while we were right in the middle of clearing our names. Even worse, if they focused on us, then when the Suhlik finally attacked, Zarklac would catch them totally unprepared.

We were close to the arena now. I heard the crowd cheering over the wall that held the seats. It was a massive structure, designed to seat hundreds of thousands of spectators.

“Hey, you!” a loud voice boomed behind us. We all froze.

“Yes?” Storgin asked calmly. I silently praised his acting.

“You’re meant to be in the arena!” A massive Akle waved some papers, pointing to a nearby corridor. “There’s a team waiting, and we need to begin. The crowd is going to start tearing each other apart.”

“But—” Thelkor protested.

The Akle shoved us down the corridor. “Get in there! Can’t you hear the crowd?”

As we walked through the long, wide corridor, I did hear the crowd. I grabbed Nora’s hand and squeezed. She looked up, her eyes catching mine. That look held all the memories of our lovemaking and all that could come in the future, but there was no time for sweet thoughts right now.

I took a deep breath and let Nora go as we emerged into the light. The arena was massive, the huge floor covered with firm, pale sand. I could feel it under my feet even through my shoes, and I knew we wouldn’t sink into it or slip on it—it was designed for sport.

Across the playing field, 4five aliens played up to the crowd. They looked humanoid but had blue skin and four arms. They were bouncing, running, and waving, obviously keen for the match to start. The crowd joined their joyful shouts with a deafening roar.

We all jogged forward, trying to look cool and professional. I could tell that all of us were terribly nervous and I had to praise the courage of the human women—though clearly frightened, they wouldn’t let that stop them for a second.

We only had a few minutes to dance around before a bell rang and a small door opened up on the side of the arena. The crowd cheered as everyone in the audience greeted the match. All the players focused on the yellow and red ball of fluff rolling across the sand.

To my shock, Evelyn ran in to intercept it and Nora was right behind her. The opposing team leaped in, trying to block the girls. The other guys and I shouldered in and tackled, giving the girls room to move.

My vision narrowed to the anamura and the other members of my team. I tracked the opposing team carefully, managing to block their attacks and turn it into a goal quite easily.

We could even win.

If we had to be held up this way, at least we were having fun. Winning might not be smart, though. We didn’t want to draw too much attention.

I dove in to sweep up the anamura, cutting out a team member from the opposite side. I rolled the creature into one hand and lobbed it towards the goal. It tumbled into the net and came to a stop.

I paused, frowning. It wasn’t supposed to do that. They were supposed to be in perpetual motion. The other team paused to look, as well. It was their turn for the ball, and they had been hurrying to collect it.

There was a groaning sound, followed by a scream. Everyone stood up straight. We looked at each other, uncertain. Even the crowd had grown quieter.

The anamura started to grow. The screaming got louder. I backed away, grabbing the others, and dragging them with me. The other team stayed close, watching. The crowd went completely silent.

Suddenly, the anamura roared. It swelled and grew to monstrous size, uncurling itself and revealing a tentacled maw. The thing was still roughly sphere-shaped and didn’t appear to have any legs. The mouth took up a good forty percent of its physical structure.

A tentacle flashed out and grabbed one of the alien team members. No one had time to make a sound before the tentacle retreated and tugged the poor guy into its throat. He didn’t even have time to scream.

The crowd roared with ecstasy. They obviously thought this was a new kind of game—or maybe it was just as exciting to see a match go wrong. Either way, they were getting their money’s worth.

The anamura rolled back into a ball, bouncing swiftly over the ground. It stopped, sending up waves of sand, then reached out and sucked another player down its throat.

I staggered back, grabbing Nora’s hand. My chest was so tight, a blow with a pickaxe couldn’t have cracked it.

No one was opening the doors. The officials had sealed our doom.

We were locked in with that thing and there was no escape.

TIMCUR

I thrust Nora behind me, so she was between me and the concrete wall. I could see that Olath had done the same with Evelyn. Neither of the girls were protesting about being shoved into the background. Thelkor was clearly firing up for an attack run and Storgin had a thoughtful look on his face.

“No weapons,” Thelkor murmured in dismay.

He patted his hip where his beloved knife usually hung, one hand squeezing gently as if he were holding his gun. He must feel naked in here without them. Absently, I patted myself as well, realizing what I was wearing.

“No weapons,” I whispered, the gravity of the situation hitting me. The smooth concrete walls were very high and impossible to scale. I focused on them more than the anamura, thinking only of getting the girls out.

Storgin took a few slow steps forward, frowning. The girls screamed his name from the relative safety of the wall and Thelkor took three quick steps towards him to back him up.

“I don’t know what you’ve got in mind, man, but I’m not letting you do it alone.” The Earth slang rolled easily off Thelkor’s tongue, learned from Rachel, no doubt. Storgin only shook his head though.

“No. Attacking it won’t work. It’s been mutated. If we piss it off, it could just get bigger.”

The other team—what was left of them—were running crazily towards the opposite wall, begging to be let out. The anamura rolled towards them, its tentacles reaching out and grabbing another player, which it quickly swallowed.

“Rachel!” Storgin snapped into the comm. “I need you to go to my lab.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Rachel responded. A few seconds later she came back on. “What do you need?”

“There are vials of green and purple liquid on the bench. You see them?”

“Yep.”

“I need you to take a flask and mix a green one with a purple one, then teleport it to me.”

“Okay. Hold tight.”

She was probably watching the match on a viewer. I enjoyed the fact that she was only mildly worried. Obviously, she thought we could handle it and that gave me confidence.

“Okay, Storgin, this could be a tricky teleport because you aren’t on a pad. Ready?”

“Sure am,” Storgin said, closely watching the thing charging around the arena.

The flask materialized some distance from us. We all looked at each other, gazes shooting wildly around the circle. We all knew what was going to happen. If we ran for the flask, the anamura would see and come after us.

But we had no choice.

Thelkor moved first, running right at the creature, then peeling off to draw it away. The two members left in the other team were cowering, practically trying to bury themselves in the sand. Olath leaped forward to back up Thelkor and I motioned for Storgin to go for the flask.

The girls ran with us, close to the wall. Storgin charged, sliding to a stop as he picked up the flask. He swirled it and sniffed, nodding as he approved the contents.

“What now?” I asked, watching Thelkor and Olath playing with the thing. I knew it was only a matter of time until one of them made a wrong move.

“It will soak into its skin,” Storgin said. “I could have made it palatable or concentrated it into an injection, but I figured this would be the easiest way. We just need to get close enough to dump this on it.”

I grabbed the flask and gathered myself. Before I could take off at a sprint, something grabbed my arm.

“Nora?”

“Don’t go,” she pleaded. “You’ll be killed!”

I leaned over and kissed her briefly. “I’ll be right back.”

I twisted, forcing her to let go of me, then I bolted towards the anamura.

Olath and Thelkor saw me coming, loudly taunting the anamura so it wouldn’t notice me. As they made it chase them into a far corner, I charged it, leaping high at the last second to throw the contents of the flask onto its back.

The thing screamed, a high-pitched, earsplitting whine. The crowd screamed back. I saw the anamura rolling itself into a tight ball as it began to shudder and shrink.

I landed neatly in front of it, spinning on my heel to run back to the girls. Thelkor and Olath followed right behind me. The others were coming closer step by step to watch the anamura change shape.

“It’s been artificially mutated,” Storgin said. “This must be one of Zarklac’s tricks.”

“Speaking of Zarklac,” Evelyn cried. “Isn’t that a Suhlik?”

She pointed into the crowd where a tall, scaly Suhlik stood and hurried from the arena. All of us mobilized at once. I could feel my heart pounding with excitement as I thought about the fact that all I had to do was catch that bastard, then I could claim my life back.

Thelkor pulled a thin cord and grapplehook from under his shirt. It must have been wrapped around him and hidden by the loose shirt. I was amused and relieved—all this time he’d had a backup plan to get us out of the arena.

Thelkor went first because he was the fastest. He could reach the top and chase the Suhlik down while the rest of us got to the top. I glanced around, seeing the doors all still locked and the remaining members of the other team looking around with stunned expressions.

It looked like the arena was shut down. I wondered if it was a Suhlik trick.

I didn’t have to wonder for long. Large black beetles started bleeding through the cracks in the walls, flooding the arena.

Flesh strippers!

I looked up. The girls were on the rope. Storgin leaped and grabbed it. I hurried to get beneath it so I could jump the second he was high enough. I looked back to see the undulating sea of beetles overcome the other two team members. They went down screaming, dying slowly as they were eaten alive.

As the beetle horde turned toward me, the crowd cheered.

There wasn’t much time.

NORA

My arms burned as I hauled myself up the rope. I knew we had to follow that guy as fast as we could. There was no way of knowing if it was Zarklac, but the fact that he’d bolted from us was suspicious enough.

I never thought I’d be the kind of girl who could scale a concrete wall with only her tiptoes and aching fingers, but I managed it. When I reached the top, Evelyn reached down and helped me over. I glanced down to see Timcur hurrying up at the end of the line and a quick glance behind me showed Thelkor striding out after the Suhlik.

Evelyn charged after him and I followed, not even thinking of my own safety. When the Suhlik disappeared over a barrier and Thelkor leaped after him, I didn’t think twice about charging after them.

I leaped over the barrier as the others had, realizing too late that the ground was some distance away. I landed heavily, falling against the wall, but seconds later Timcur was by my side.

“Are you alright?” His voice sounded so earnest. I nodded. He didn’t wait but turned and bolted after the others.

I took in the arena as I charged after my mate. It was a wide, grassy field and people ran around all over the place. It looked like it might be a type of soccer.

Then I saw the bull.

That was the only way to describe it, even though it didn’t really look like a bull. It was almost elephant sized and its coat was patterned with white and bright pink and purple. It had a grav ball on its horns and was darting between the two teams, trying to attack the players while not losing the ball.

Like Timcur and the others, I followed the Suhlik and tried to ignore the pitfalls of the arena. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the bull creature lunge at Evelyn though.

She spun towards it and made a strange huffing sound. Then she yelled.

She didn’t scream, she yelled. She let out a growling roar that would have terrified any bear. The bull creature waved its horns at her and took off to attack other players. I decided I wanted to be next to Evelyn and put on as much speed as I could to catch her.

“What was that?” I gasped, trying to keep running.

She laughed, even though she was short of breath. “I just did what I would do to an ordinary bull!”

I was running too fast to laugh, but I would have if I could. Storgin slowed down near us.

“It’s a yethli. They are usually very placid. That one’s having some kind of rage attack. It’s meant to be a monkey-in-the-middle sort of game, but now that it has the ball, it doesn’t want to give it up.”

At the edge of the arena, I saw the Suhlik leap and grab a ladder, hauling himself out of the arena. Thelkor was right on his heels and Timcur was only seconds behind.

They need our help, or they’ll never catch him!

Desperate, I looked around, saw a ladder that was much closer, and made for it. Evelyn caught on immediately and chased me down, both of us hitting the ladder at almost the same time.

I was not feeling as tired now, and my throat and chest didn’t hurt. It was as if my body had kicked into another gear. As we hit the top of the wall, I ran in what I hoped was the right direction to head off the Suhlik.

We bolted through a food court on the way to the center’s other side. I was tripped up by a fat, humanoid alien falling off his chair. I thought it was just a random event, but a few seconds later, more people started getting up and throwing themselves around.

“Jesus, fuck,” Evelyn muttered.

I looked around as I picked myself up. Food was literally jumping off the tables. Loaves of bread, buckets of popcorn, plates of fries, all of it wriggling, as if it were alive and leaping from plates. Diners were screaming and spitting out their food. Storgin looked like he was going to hurl.

“Keep running!” I screamed, throwing myself forward. “Don’t stop! We have to get Zarklac!”

Everyone was more than happy to flee the scene. It didn’t look like anyone was poisoned, more like the food had been animated somehow. Even at a flat out run, I could hear Storgin muttering to himself about nanomachines and terrorism.

As we headed into the far corridor, I saw the Suhlik and Thelkor ahead of us, but we were right on their heels. As we joined Timcur and came abreast of him, I thought we were in the perfect position to catch our prey.

Water spouted from over a nearby barricade. It was a massive spray, bigger than any Earth whale could create. There was a moaning sound.

“It’s a karsec,” Timcur swore. “They use them in water sports. It sounds like it’s gone mad.”

I didn’t stop to wonder about what a mad sea beast could mean. I didn’t have time, because a massive wave came frothing over the side of the concrete barrier and washed us all down the hallway.

After a few seconds of disorientation, and almost swallowing water, I realized that the wave had helped us more than hurt us. The corridor had turned into a downslope and the water rushed towards the end of it—where it looked like Thelkor was about to tackle our Suhlik.

Even though I was soaking wet, dead tired, and almost completely terrified, I realized I was actually having the time of my life.

TIMCUR

A wave of water rushed us along the corridor, crashing all of us into the metal wall. Thelkor was right on the Suhlik’s heels and only a few strides in front of the water, but he didn’t make it in time to stop the Suhlik or follow him through the door.

As he opened the door and slid beyond our reach, the Suhlik looked over his shoulder and grinned. He thought he was making a clean getaway.

Asshole!

The wave hit Thelkor. It swept the rest of us into corners as it sloshed against the artificial pool made by the dead-end of the hallway. Thelkor spluttered and struggled back to his feet, punching at his comm.

“Rachel! I need my guns!” he roared.

“You got it, babe,” she answered. A couple of seconds later, Thelkor’s favorite, biggest gun appeared at our feet, along with his beloved knife. He strapped them on immediately and I saw the rest of our weapons coming through, as well.

“Had to send them one by one,” Rachel apologized. “I didn’t want it all becoming a puddle of scrap.”

“You did well,” Storgin said. “Even with the new mods, I don’t know if I could have teleported anything with this much accuracy without a pad to key the location.”

“Aw, shucks,” Rachel joked. “You treat me too well.”

Storgin laughed as he snapped his gun together. “Remind me later. You can scrub out the lab equipment with a toothbrush.”

Everyone laughed as I went quickly to the door and keyed in Lorka’s codes. I knew from the way the Suhlik had laughed, he’d thought he was home free. He wouldn’t be running anymore. I felt we had plenty of time to catch up.

I looked over at Nora, who grasped a small blaster while Evelyn showed her the best way to use it. My heart skipped a few beats. I wondered what the hell I was doing putting my mate in danger like this.

She was already in danger, I consoled myself as I got the door open. That’s exactly why we have to do this.

I hurried through the door, jogging ahead. The others fanned out behind me, and I moved on silent feet as I put on speed. At the second corner, I saw the bastard.

I had an excellent shot lined up but, at the last second, he ducked. My ray went right over his head and he fired at me from under his arm.

“Look out!” I screamed, turning to throw the others against the wall. The spit of laser fire flew past us and melted a small, burnt smudge on a distant wall.

As I went down in a heap with Evelyn, Nora, and Storgin, Thelkor leaped over us, firing madly through the hall. The Suhlik returned fire and Thelkor performed some admirable gymnastics to keep out of the way of his laser blasts while firing his own blasts.

I rolled across the floor, laying out even more shots. The scaly Suhlik jumped to avoid my blasts at his legs. With Thelkor covering the middle of the corridor and me the floor, I figured we had him.

The Suhlik’s jump went up, way up. Then he flipped, grabbed the ceiling, and fired down on us.

“Shit!” Thelkor yelled, throwing his weight on us to force us around the corner. “Did you know they could do that?”

“No.” I shook my head, peeking around the corner to check on our wall-climbing target. “Fuck, he’s hanging on to the ceiling with only his feet and one hand so he can still fire the blaster. That is not fair.”

Thelkor’s face set in determination. I’d seen that look before. It meant he was pissed off to be at a disadvantage and he was about to do something really stupid. The problem with Thelkor’s ‘stupid’ was that it usually worked.

He curled himself into a tight ball and rolled along the floor as neatly as a gymnast. At the end of his spin, he stopped against the wall, his blaster pointed up. He fired one shot, his entire body icy calm and perfectly still.

We all waited, and we didn’t have to wait long. There was a gruff cry and a thud. Thelkor got up and ran, and we all flew after him.

“The fucker is running!” Thelkor yelled. “I hit him but he’s still fucking running!”

We put on more speed. Thelkor stayed out in front. Storgin brought up the rear, deliberately moving slowly so he could cover Evelyn and Nora. I realized that I had slowed myself down subconsciously to stay with them, as well.

I felt angry about that. Of course, I should protect my mate, but I needed to look at the big picture. If I stopped Zarklac, I was protecting her completely.

I threw one last glance over my shoulder to see her pretty face, then I threw my weight into running.

I came up behind Thelkor within a few strides. I let him stay ahead of me as he zig-zagged across the hall, covering the corridor with fire. The Suhlik only turned to cover himself briefly, knowing that he was at a disadvantage. When I started to fire in an opposing pattern to Thelkor, the Suhlik put on speed and worked more on keeping out of our fire than firing back.

Now that my quarry was in sight, I couldn’t slow down. All the betrayal, the destruction of my world, and everything I had worked for was laid at that fucker’s feet, and I was going to make him pay for it.

NORA

Storgin, Evelyn, and I followed the fight down the hallway. There was no way to shoot around them, because Thelkor and Timcur were moving in perfect formation, keeping the Suhlik ahead of them. Olath was covering them, ducking and weaving to avoid fire and return it at every opportunity.

The scaly lizard guy was doing his absolute best to stay out of their fire, pulling off incredible moves like running up the wall and flipping off the ceiling. The guys didn’t slow down, just fluidly changed direction as if they instinctively knew what their enemy would do and how to maneuver around each other.

There was only one thing I could think of as I jogged down the hallway, keeping pace with the others but staying out of the way of the fight. My mouth fell open, my chest expanded, and my heart pounded—but none of it had to do with the danger or the physical exertion.

Timcur is fucking magnificent.

From the very first moment, I had admired the way Timcur held himself. He was accustomed to command and carried himself proudly, but there was no arrogance in it. He clearly expected to be obeyed, but he did not put himself above others.

That careful physical discipline was now gloriously exposed to me in the heat of battle. He still moved with great care and precision, but here was a Timcur I had never seen.

The warrior. The killer.

He roared as he came around Thelkor on a corner and fired under his arm, spinning to the side to avoid the Suhlik’s fire. I was so entranced that Storgin had to throw out his arm and hurl me bodily into the wall as bolts of fire flew past us. I fell to my knees, my heart in my throat, and looked up to see my mate spin off the wall, flip over Thelkor’s shoulders, and lay down fire across the hall from ceiling to floor.

The Suhlik only survived because of his ability to climb up and hang upside down. It was like trying to pin down a lizard in a wire trap. No matter where the guys fired, the Suhlik managed to leap clear.

Storgin let us get up and we kept jogging after the guys. Thelkor, Olath, and Timcur were pulling off such amazing moves, all we could do was stay close and cover them if anything went wrong. From the way Storgin was gripping his gun, I could tell he was dying to get off a shot.

We came to a narrow corner and Storgin pushed us to the floor, barely covering us in time as Thelkor and Timcur split in the middle of the hallway to cover the sides and the Suhlik leaped to the roof and fired straight down towards us.

I gasped as I felt the hot sizzle of a laser blast fly by my temple. Storgin pushed Evelyn and me down, returning fire as Thelkor rushed forward, with Timcur close behind.

“Something’s wrong,” Storgin whispered quietly. “He’s not making a break for any of the exits. He should be trying to get away right now, but he’s obviously heading somewhere. I’m getting the feeling he’s leading us.”

“Is that bad?” Evelyn asked as she got up.

Storgin nodded. “He has a plan that we aren’t aware of. It could be very bad.”

We rushed up to join Olath at the corner and watch the fight going on further along. The corridors were opening up into wider, carpeted halls. It had obviously been a service entrance where we came through, but this looked more like an occupied office space.

Casualties, I thought. He’s leading us into a more populated area.

I couldn’t imagine what his purpose might be, except to complicate the fight by adding innocent people to it. He must know that none of us would fire if there was the chance of hitting a random person. My determination to take out that dirtbag kept growing as we ran.

“Curse on him and his mother!” Olath cried. “He’s making sure we can’t hit him. Who designed these fucking hallways?”

“Probably an interior designer named Art,” Evelyn muttered.

I grinned, but the guys obviously didn’t get it. It was true that the further we moved into the building the more pretentious the décor became.

“How does this help him get his target?” Evelyn gasped, holding her side. “If he’s after Hep, what the hell is he doing down here?”

I was wondering the same thing, but we didn’t have to wait much longer for our answer. The Suhlik made a strange, lilting cry. At first, I thought he had been hit but it wasn’t a cry of pain. It was triumph.

Up ahead, Timcur and Thelkor stopped firing. I heard Thelkor curse all the gods and the Suhlik’s mother far worse than Olath had just done. We kept running even as Thelkor and Timcur slowed down. My chest heaved as I fought to get closer, and I could see two figures in the hall in front of us.

There was a high, piercing scream, then the laughter of the Suhlik. Far too late, I realized the second person was Hep, and the Suhlik had grabbed her.

He knew where she was the whole time!

Obviously, having us chase him down had not been part of the plan, but he had met his goal, so he didn’t care.

I worried he would shoot her right then and there, but Thelkor and Timcur raised their guns, holding steady. Even though he was using Hep as a shield, there was plenty of him to shoot. Still, I could understand their reluctance.

Yeah, having the crew of Goldie murder Hep would fit their smear campaign nicely.

The thing laughed, a high, whiny sound. Hep screamed again as he dragged her into a nearby doorway. The guys cursed all at once, a harmony of insults uttered in almost perfect rhythm. Then we just ran, hoping we could get there in time.

TIMCUR

I growled in frustration as the Suhlik threw himself sideways, dragging Hep into a nearby doorway. He made a quick movement with his hand as they fell, so fast I almost didn’t register it. I hesitated for just a second, grabbing Thelkor’s arm before he could charge the door.

There was a faint but distinct pop, and I staggered back, dragging Thelkor with me.

“Cover your eyes!” I screamed. I didn’t know what kind of bomb the Suhlik had thrown but it couldn’t be too explosive, otherwise he’d blow himself up, too. I could tell by the thick smoke rising from the floor that we had to move quickly though.

The Suhlik are cowards. He wouldn’t risk hurting himself. It’s got to be a smoke bomb.

A couple of seconds later, I started to choke. Thelkor went limp in my hand and I cursed inwardly, holding my breath. I dragged Thelkor up the hall, trying to cover my mouth and nose as I went. The smoke thinned out as I hit the corner and Olath helped me move Thelkor farther up the hall.

“What is it?” Evelyn whispered. Tears were streaming down her face. Nora was coughing, her eyes red.

“I think it’s just poppy pollen,” Storgin said, his voice raspy. “It burns like a bitch, but it will just make you sleepy. You might have a bit of a trip, if you’re lucky.”

“Yeah, lucky,” Evelyn muttered. “Like I need a line of pink elephants right now.”

“How the hell would that help?” Olath asked, genuinely confused. Evelyn shook her head, grabbing his hand and squeezing it.

“What do we do now?” asked Nora, looking scared.

I reached for her, pulling her soft curves against me. I could feel her trembling and it made me even angrier than before that my mate was not just frightened, but physically hurt.

“The smoke will clear,” I said. “Pretty quickly, too. We just need to wait for our gunner to wake up. Then, we move.”

“What happened to him?” Storgin asked, looking at Thelkor’s slack face.

I chuckled. “He didn’t see the Suhlik throw the bomb. I think he took a deep breath right on top of it.”

“Oh, shit,” Storgin muttered, lifting Thelkor’s eyelids. “You okay in there, buddy? Hey, Thelkor!”

“No more griddle pie, Grandma,” he muttered. “I want a sugar cookie.”

There was a brief silence before all of us cracked up.

“I’m not your grandmother, you lazy piece of horse shit!” Storgin snapped, slapping him. “Wake up.”

“But it’s not even time to fall in,” Thelkor yawned. “I haven’t heard the bell.”

“Well, this is just great,” I muttered. A strangely effective weapon—getting your enemy whacked. I’d have to remember it.

“Are those butterflies real?” Olath asked in alarm. He was watching the ceiling with wide, shocked eyes.

“No, baby,” Evelyn said gently. “No butterflies.”

“Fuck.” Olath shook his head, blinking hard. I grabbed Thelkor by the shirt and shook him.

“Wake up now, Gunner, and that’s an order!”

Thelkor stood up so fast he wrenched his shirt right out of my hands. He saluted sloppily, almost throwing off his balance as he attempted to stand up straight.

“Service at you, Captain,” he snapped. He looked around warily. “Wait, what?”

“The door,” I said, pointing down the hall. “Get that fucking door open!”

“Where am I?” Thelkor murmured, hurrying to obey. “The lights in these walls are a fucking blast. We should come to this club more often. Rachel would love it. How’s the food?”

I trotted after Thelkor, shaking my head. “Don’t worry, Thelkor. I’ll let you go dancing soon. Just get the door open for now.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” he said, bending over to look at it. He tried the handle and shoved it.

“It’s locked.”

“Of course, it is!” I snapped. “Get it open.”

“But they’ll kick us out if I break it,” he said uncertainly.

I threw my face into my palm. “They are going to kick us out, anyway. Come on, Thelkor. Time to blow some shit up!”

His eyes cleared somewhat. “Yeah! Sure. Let me check my belt.”

He looked down, rummaging through his pockets. The others came up, stopping just behind me.

“He won’t just kill her, will he?” Nora asked in a small voice.

I shook my head. “His plan would have been to run through here and blow her head off with one clean shot. He probably didn’t even plan to slow down. Now that we’re here, he knows her life is the only thing he has to bargain with.”

She nodded, but her face was still uncertain. I couldn’t blame her, I was just guessing, myself.

Thelkor hummed gently as he molded some explosive onto the door’s hinges. I tapped him in the arm.

“We don’t want to kill whoever is in there,” I said.

He nodded, his eyes still glassy. “It will take the door right off its hinges, but the explosion won’t reach the inside.”

“Perfect,” I cried. “Do it!”

We all moved back, covering our ears. Thelkor lit the explosive’s fuse with a lighter and staggered away, balling up in a corner. The door came off with an impressive bang and all of us crowded into the room.

I threw my weight against the cupboards and tables which had been jammed across the door. Most of it fell down with a spectacular clatter and I saw the Suhlik cowering against the back wall, Hep clasped around her neck against his chest.

The scaly bastard looked terrified as his eyes darted left and right. He knew we had him, and that there was no way out.

NORA

I could barely see into the narrow doorway with Timcur just inside and Thelkor behind him. Olath had shouldered in front of Evelyn and me, with Storgin behind us.

Timcur lunged forward as if he meant to crash through the barrier, but the Suhlik fired a shot towards us, forcing the guys to take cover.

“You’ll never take me!” screamed the lizard.

I leaned around the corner briefly and I saw him with an arm around Hep’s neck, wildly pointing the gun between her head and us. His eyes were almost completely white and bulging.

I knew that he was more than terrified right now, and he probably wasn’t Zarklac, himself. This guy’s fear suggested that he was afraid of his boss, as well as us, and didn’t know which was the best option—kill Hep and please his boss but get captured, or let her go and kill us to escape. I realized that, if he left Hep behind and managed to get away, he’d be on the run from Zarklac.

Hep screamed suddenly and all of us peeked around the corner to see into the room. He had tried to get a better grip on her, and she staggered back, throwing him off balance. A shot went wide, leaving a smoking hole in the wall.

“We have to do something,” Timcur said. His face was drawn and tense. His disgust of the Suhlik was obvious from his expression. I felt touched to know such an honorable man, and the idea that he belonged to me was as unreal as a fairy-tale.

I watched Thelkor and Timcur talking softly to each other. Not being military, I had no suggestions to offer. I was completely stumped and any idea running through my head would more than likely get me shot.

“Don’t hurt the girl!” Timcur yelled. “We’ll give you anything you want.”

I peeked again and saw the Suhlik’s face change from panic to hope. He had been so triumphant in his run down here, obviously expecting his hit to go exactly as planned. I thanked all the stars that we had a cowardly Suhlik that couldn’t pull off the mission if it meant sacrificing his own life.

For all I know, they are all this callow.

“I need a cloaking spacecraft!” he yelled. “The fastest and the best. A stack of untraceable credits and equipment for life support on an inhospitable planet.”

My eyebrows jumped up and I shared shocked glances with the others. He had an escape plan, and I couldn’t imagine it had anything to do with Zarklac.

“We can do one better!” yelled Timcur. “We can give you asylum if you give up Zarklac. We can make you very, very comfortable.”

The guy went so quiet that I had to look again. He still held Hep in a tight grip, but his face was drawn and thoughtful. He glanced back at the door.

“I can’t do that,” he said. “My hide is already hung out to dry here. I can get killed by you or by my commander. I don’t have many choices.”

The more upset he became, the more his voice hissed like an angry viper. I got the feeling he was going to kill Hep and do his best to escape if we got him a ship. It would be the only way to save himself.

Timcur gestured to Thelkor, then crawled on his hands and knees into the room. He was covered by large shelves that were still lying crazily on their sides across the entrance. The room was extremely dark and the lights up above sizzled as if they had been shot out. Maybe Suhlik saw well in the dark and he assumed we didn’t.

“We can talk about this,” Thelkor said smoothly. “Just stay calm. You can be very important to us. We protect all our informants.”

“How do you think I got here, asshole?” the Suhlik snapped. “Zarklac is everywhere, he knows everything.”

“He didn’t know we would be here,” Thelkor said.

The Suhlik thought for a moment. “That’s true. You’re those meddling Vaznik, aren’t you? I should have guessed. How did you know to come here?”

“Little birds,” Thelkor said easily. The Suhlik was starting to relax, feeling like he had control of the situation. Hep whimpered and I wondered where the hell Timcur was.

“This shouldn’t have happened,” muttered the Suhlik. He sounded pretty pissed that we had ruined his day.

Suddenly, Thelkor stood up, putting himself in full view. He raised his gun but made no attempt to fire. I knew how fast these guys were, so it made no sense to me. I wondered what the fuck was going on. From my spot by the wall, I watched the Suhlik raise his weapon to fire at Thelkor—the shot would get him right in the chest and for a split second, my imagination made me see it.

There was a shattering roar within the room and Timcur’s dark shape launched from the shadows towards the Suhlik and Hep. He must have crawled around the edge of the wall while the Suhlik was distracted. He flew through the air like a big cat, all smooth grace and powerful, deadly bulk.

I screamed, not even realizing at first that the sound came from my own throat. The Suhlik managed to get his weapon up in Timcur’s direction, but he didn’t have enough time to fire before Timcur slammed into him. Hep screamed as she went down, and the laser fired a series of shots at the ceiling.

The Suhlik started screaming, a horrible, high-pitched sound that made me think of lizards being fried alive in hot oil. I shuddered and went to run into the room. Thelkor stopped me with a firm hold and fierce glare.

“Timcur, you okay?” he called.

There was no answer except for the Suhlik’s scream.

Are they both dead?

“Timcur!” snapped Thelkor. I stood in the doorway, my hands against my chest and my eyes welling with tears.

I couldn’t lose him now, not after everything we had shared. Not after realizing that we were made for each other. He was the only thing on any world that had ever made me feel safe. My cheeks grew hot with tears and my throat closed, making my voice small.

“Timcur?”

TIMCUR

For a few seconds, there was nothing but an untidy mess of elbows and limbs around me. The Suhlik squealed as if he had been shot, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t even hit. Poor Hep was making muffled sounds that could have been whispers of fear or mutters of indignance.

I could hear the others talking, calling out to me. When I heard Nora, I struggled to get up, but I was trapped under several legs, arms, and a tail. As I tried to rise and take a breath to yell back, I realized that I’d had the wind knocked out of me from the fall.

As the Suhlik moved under me, I knew the battle wasn’t over yet. Fear struck through me. I knew Nora stood in the doorway with Thelkor. If the Suhlik bolted, he would go straight through them.

I twisted on the floor, practically kicking Hep out of the way. I reached for the Suhlik in the dim light—the fucker had shot out the ceiling lights not long after his little siege started, and the only illumination came from the line of flickering monitors on the wall.

He was slippery, as well as scaly. I growled as I tried to tighten my grip and he slithered away, kicking. I managed to get a grip with my toes and brought my elbow down on his head with the full weight of my body behind it.

Everyone was screaming at the door now. They could probably hear the struggle but not see a damn thing in the shadows.

“I’m okay!” I yelled. “I’ve got him and—”

Suddenly, the Suhlik turned on himself like a snake. His toothy maw came right at my forearm. I got the shock of my life when his sharp fangs punched through my skin. In a split second, my adrenaline rose, flooding my vision with a red haze and firing my blood.

I reached out with my free hand, almost blind with rage, but my thoughts were crystal clear. He still had his filthy maw wrapped around my arm and I dug my fingers into his eyes and nose and squeezed.

He let go of my arm and tried to struggle away, but I was already crushing his bones. I reached with my wounded arm, grabbed his throat, and closed both fists instantly. He didn’t have time to react, and he certainly couldn’t scream.

Behind me, a shaft of light flooded the room. I turned to see Hep turning on a lamp, her pretty face turned towards me. She crumpled up her face when she saw the dead Suhlik.

“I’ve seen some scary shit in my day, but that’s going to the top of the list for gross.” She shook her head as the rest of my team came flying over the barricades, pouring into the room.

Nora did not stop. She did not slow down. She ran at me like a bullet, so fast it seemed her feet weren’t touching the floor. She threw her arms around my waist and clung to me, pressing our bodies together so hard I could feel her cheekbone digging into my belly.

Hep stood up straight, brushing herself off. She shook her head, automatically arranging her hair as if there were a camera nearby. For all I knew, there was. She put one hand on her hip and smiled.

“Thanks, guys. Although you didn’t have to make such a mess in my studio.”

“At least it’s only the Suhlik who made the mess,” Storgin said, hurrying to her side. “I’m a medical officer. Let me look you over.”

“Okay,” she grinned. “I’ll play.”

Storgin raised his eyebrows and checked her pulse while checking for injuries. She was very beautiful and, even if we could only truly bond with our mate, it wouldn’t stop Storgin from admiring her in the meantime.

“You guys are the Goldie crew, aren’t you?” she asked, as Storgin checked her temperature with a tiny laser device. “Many thanks, guys. I’ll do anything I can to help clear your names. It’s obvious, after this, that you are not criminals.”

Nora let go of me all of a sudden, hurrying to Hep.

“I’ve put together a documentary, our answer to the propaganda being distributed about us. Would you like the footage?”

“Of course,” Hep replied.

Nora rummaged through her pockets, coming up with a small memory stick. Hep had an apprehensive look on her face as she found a working monitor and keyboard and inserted it.

She flicked through the scenes, her surprise obvious to all of us. She turned to Nora. “You put this together yourself?”

“Yes.”

“The editing and all?”

“Yes, I did it by myself.”

Hep’s eyebrows went up a notch. “I’m impressed. Media apprentices take years to achieve this kind of quality. I’ll need to validate some of the footage, but I’m going to send this out right now to my contacts and have this played out across the big screens everywhere in the game center.”

“It’s chaos out there,” Thelkor warned. “The Suhlik really set up a minefield. Stuff you couldn’t imagine.”

Hep keyed into the network, taking over a few security cameras. She let out a low whistle.

“I see what you mean,” she said. “I’ll still get this footage circulating now and replay it over the next few hours.” She turned to us and smiled, reaching for my hand to squeeze it briefly.

“I’ve never seen anything so brave, and your skill was absolutely breathtaking,” she said, giving me the million-credit smile that charmed millions. I trembled a little at the force of her personality.

“That’s okay,” I mumbled. “Any time.”

“We gotta move,” Thelkor said, hurrying towards the door. “The Authorities will still be after us. It might take weeks to get our names properly cleared.”

Hep nodded. “Yes, you really should go. There’s enough confusion now that no one will notice you. Stars alive, have you seen what’s going on in the food court?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” Storgin answered as he hurried out the door. We grouped up in the hallway and called Rachel. She teleported us in one by one, Goldie’s new system pinpointing us through DNA, not the light particles of other teleport transponders.

I held hands with my mate and gazed into her eyes as the sparkling, swirling particles enveloped us.

Together. Now and always.

NORA

I arrived on Goldie enveloped in Timcur’s arms. The sounds of joyous ruckus greeted us as soon as the teleporter reconstituted our molecules. Open, ice-cold bottles of beer appeared in our hands as if by magic. Thelkor’s face appeared next to ours as he shouted.

“CAPTAIN! W—”

Timcur slapped a hand over Thelkor’s mouth.

“Thelkor? In honor of this blessed, victorious day, vow to never shout in my face.”

Thelkor mumbled something behind Timcur’s hand while nodding. Thelkor could have meant anything, but Timcur took it as a vow.

“I knew I could count on you, Thelkor.”

Timcur patted Thelkor on the shoulder, grinning ear to ear.

“I know you won’t disappoint me, Thelkor. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I shall retire…”

“But, Captain, Evelyn’s making pizza…”

Storgin and Olath showed up, slipped their arms around Thelkor, lifted the huge Mahdfel, and carried him away. Evelyn stood atop a crate of medical supplies in Storgin’s lab.

She yelled our way, “Make a run for it!”

“Everyone, out of my lab,” Storgin said. “I have important experiments in here. This is no place for a party…”

I grabbed Timcur’s hand before he could get drawn into mediating the chaos. I ran, dragging him along behind me until he caught onto my intention. With a throaty chuckle, he wrapped an arm around my waist and swung me up, and I coiled my legs around his waist.

My fingers peeled away every layer of clothing I could reach. I kissed along Timcur’s neck. I ran my fingers into his hair close to the scalp. I pressed myself into him. We stumbled down the corridors, kissing and stripping the entire way.

Heart pounding, I pulled my lips from his. We both panted, our pupils dilated. I could feel Timcur’s massive hard cock through his pants.

“I remember you saying that you like to be in charge of things.”

He kissed my neck and over my collarbones. “Hm?”

“Your hobbies… being in charge.”

He cupped a big, strong hand under one of my breasts. He lifted it, massaging and running a large thumb over my hard, peaked nipple.

“Yeah?”

He ran his tongue over my nipple, drawing the nub into his mouth. I gasped. My pussy swelled and throbbed. I wanted him everywhere.

“All the way to your quarters, Captain.”

I chuckled. “Timcur, take me to your cabin before Rachel says anything else over the intercom. If you want footage sometime, we’ll get one of the recorders for ourselves. But no one wants security footage of what I’m about to convince you to do to me.”

Timcur growled deeper and swept me down the last of the corridor to his quarters. This time, he shut the door, careful to close it all the way.

I whispered to him. “Ready to hear more about being in charge…?”

“Nora, I do not understand why you insist on pursuing this subject…”

I raised an eyebrow at him, watching for the moment he got my hints. “In bed…”

“What do you mean—oh…”

I chuckled, watching the realization wash over his face. I stroked a horn and he shuddered under my touch. “Tell me how to make you feel good.”

He huffed several hard breaths, his eyes wide. I could see the graceful contours of each of his muscles, his heavy shoulders and bulging thighs. He cupped my cheek in one giant hand, so I turned my head into his touch and kissed his palm.

He pulled me close and whispered, his voice thick with desire. “Everything about you feels good, Nora.”

He nuzzled into my neck, his kisses sending pleasure streaking across my skin and warmth pooling in my belly. Timcur breathed in my scent and growled deeply, following the scent to the source. He nuzzled his face between my legs.

“Bed. Now.”

Timcur groaned, but pulled his face from between my legs long enough to see his way to the bed. He laid me upon my back with the greatest care, then ran a hand down the center of my torso until he reached my legs.

I patted the mattress. “Up here, big boy.”

He leaned down, crawling onto the mattress over me. I spun myself around before we could get distracted and wrapped my fingers around the shaft of his thick cock.

Timcur gasped in surprise. “Nora, you don’t have to...”

I licked his shaft from balls to tip and he shuddered, groaning. I spread my knees, and the scent he had sought so eagerly a few minutes earlier filled his nostrils again and he dove in.

With every lick of my throbbing, wet labia, playing with his cock became more and more fun. He slid a big finger inside me, and in return, I slid my lips over the big head of his cock, cradling the sensitive underside with my tongue.

I reveled in Timcur’s delicious moans. He removed the first finger. I whimpered in disappointment, until he replaced it with two fingers. His tongue worked at my clit. I slid his cock further in my mouth.

I wanted all of him. I wanted Timcur to fill me. His fingers drove into me, harder and harder. My little moans reverberated through me, through my mouth, through Timcur’s cock. He growled deeper, sealed his lips around my clit, and sucked.

My throbbing inner walls clamped on Timcur’s fingers. He curled his fingers, hitting my G-spot, drawing out my orgasm, pushing me as far as I could go. I slipped my mouth, my throat, as far onto him as I could, and screamed.

Timcur roared, the sound reverberating through my flesh, and his cock throbbed. Chest heaving, he came. He slammed his fingers into my tunnel. Another orgasm broke over me, wrenching another scream from my throat.

He rolled his hips to the side and his perfect cock slid from my mouth. I moaned and writhed as aftershocks rolled through me. My body felt like a pond someone chucked a rock called Orgasm into.

For a short eternity, I floated, bodiless and ephemeral. Timcur and I fit as if made for each other.

TIMCUR

Remember to ask what that position is called.

Nora’s little moans of pleasure kept my cock hard as a rock. Her delicious scent set my head to buzzing.

Her taste…

Nora’s breathing slowed and she turned her face to me. A hazy, beatific smile spread across her flushed face. She held out her hand to me and wigged her delicate fingers. Compared to Mahdfel, everything about the human women appeared delicate.

Her blonde tresses lay around her perfect face, mussed in a most attractive way. My heart surged for her. My cock bobbed.

“I want to paint this moment.”

Nora kicked my leg. “Don’t you dare. None of this is over until I have that,” she pointed at my throbbing cock, “inside of me, Captain.”

A bead of precum glistened on the tip of my cock. I gripped my shaft with one hand and pushed myself up with the other.

The soft curves of her legs, her shoulders, her lips—Nora’s everything stole my breath from my lungs. Her nipples stood erect. Hard and peaked, the areolae perched on her breasts. I stroked one with the tip of a finger.

Nora moaned, arching her back, and her hips swayed side-to-side, focusing all my attention. My eyes swept over her, savoring each highlight, each move and jiggle. I leaned in, preparing to wrap a hand around a perfect breast.

Nora giggled, rolled over, and scrambled across the mattress.

“What?”

She looked back at me. A little smile twisted the corners of her mouth. Mischief danced in her eyes. “First, you have to catch me.”

I chuckled. She bolted past me. I swung an arm around her waist, drawing her back tight against my chest.

I whispered in her ear, blood pumping through my veins. “Like this?”

Nora nodded and rubbed her gorgeous ass against my shaft. “Yes.”

I growled.

She slid her ass cheeks up my shaft, wiggling, trying to fit her drenched slit over the thick head of my cock. I slid my hand down the curve of her hip into the slick, dripping valley between her legs.

I played with her slick entrance, coating two fingers in her juice. Slow and deliberate, I slid my fingers into her pussy. I rubbed her clit with my thumb and plunged those fingers into her as deep as I could.

Nora panted and moaned, tossing her head, and rocked her hips against me. I wrapped myself around her, her head fitting perfectly under my chin.

She begged me in small cries. “Timcur…Timcur, please.”

I moved the fingers playing with her pussy to her clit and drew back my hips until the broad head of my cock pushed at Nora’s entrance. I pressed the head against her swollen lips, and her hips rocked. I wrapped my free hand around one of her breasts, playing with her nipple, gently tugging and pinching the sensitive nub.

She writhed in my arms, trying to work my cock inside her. I pushed into her until my head popped inside and she groaned. With small bounces, she worked herself onto my shaft. Her tunnel gripped me so tight, I gasped.

“Yes, Timcur, yes…”

Nora’s sweet little cries finally broke me. I pulled back until only the thick head of my cock remained inside her, then thrust as deep as I could go. She threw back her head and cried out the most beautiful sound of pleasure.

Her hips moved on their own and slammed into me, her inner walls gripping my shaft tight. I growled and nuzzled my head into her neck. We moved together, in perfect harmony.

Nora arched her neck, exposing the sweet curve of her shoulder. The play of highlights and shadows defining the peaks and valleys of her neck drew me in, and I licked my tongue in one long motion across her shoulder, up her neck to her earlobe, and back again, desperate to taste her.

I opened my mouth and with great care, I wrapped my lips around the base of her neck where it met her shoulder and bit down. I had no desire to damage her skin, but I felt a deep desire to claim her in every way possible.

She cried out in pleasure, slamming herself onto my thick, throbbing cock. One of her hands reached back until she found a horn. She gripped it, her other hand finding my other horn even faster than the first.

Pleasure streaked through her grip and into the rest of me. I pounded into her, filling her, stretching her. My arms wrapped around her and one hand cupped a breast as the other played with her swollen clit.

“Yes!” she shouted as I thrust into her.

Her inner walls throbbed around me as her entire body gripped me, drawing me in deeper.

“Nora…”

“Timcur…I’m going to—”

Her orgasm ripped into her, shaking her body with waves of pleasure, causing her to shudder in my arms, and any self-control remaining in me snapped.

I thrust into her as deeply as I could, ramming into her as she came again, screaming my name. Her scent filled my nostrils. The sounds she made, the feel of her supple body pressed into mine…

It was too much.

With a growl, I came, pressing her even tighter against me as pleasure surged and swept through me, until finally the storm passed, and I could breathe again.

I moved a strand of hair from her eye with a gentle fingertip. Nora twisted her upper body in my arms and kissed me. The rest of the world had ceased to exist. Our tongues explored each other, slowly, leisurely, as if we had forever.

Nora broke our kiss to catch her breath and I gazed at the elegant lines of her face.

“How did you get so perfect?” I whispered.

“You can thank my parents when you meet them.”

My entire concept of the world exploded in an instant. “Meet your parents?”

“Oh, yes. Big Earth tradition. I’m already committed to living the life of a Vaznik warrior. I don’t see why you shouldn’t give me a few Earth traditions. Fair exchange.”

I chuckled. “Fair exchange, huh?”

“Yep. And, if Dad doesn’t like you, we’ll have to break up.”

“What? After all this? Nora, you can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am very serious. Don’t worry, I know Mom will like you.”

The wicked smile on Nora’s face terrified me, but still, my cock twitched.

So perfect.

So mine.

Forever.

CHLOE

The ship’s open hatch called to me, tempting, inviting me in. For hours, workers and delivery personnel had streamed in and out of The Golden Meridian. Her name had saturated the news feeds for weeks, and Hep Bouhek had been continuously replaying a documentary on The Golden Meridian’s crew on monitors throughout the games center complex since the chaos of the sabotaged games a few hours ago.

The Golden Meridian would be stuffed full of supplies and her medical officer had been the one to cure the mutated anamura without harm. I convinced myself The Golden Meridian must have what I sought. With so many workers and delivery persons moving in and out, I hoped to sneak in, get what I needed—what the children so desperately needed—and sneak back out without notice.

Most importantly, don’t get caught. Grab something to carry and walk in like I belong here. Just like when I stole Daddy’s shuttle…

I shook off the still-painful memory. I didn’t like to think about why I’d run…or how tough the galaxy had turned out to be.

Or why I would rather roam the galaxy than return to Daddy and his money.

That had been all Daddy really cared for—the money, the power, the trappings of wealth. He hadn’t even twitched when my birthday came up in the lottery. Daddy had never even thought to shed a tear for my fate.

He would never have cared if he came across coughing, sick, street urchins. Daddy certainly wouldn’t have just grabbed that coil of wire and walked into the most notorious starship in the galaxy looking for medical grade drugs to…rehome.

I mimicked the bored, tired expressions of the delivery personnel who only had the rest of their shift performing the same, tedious tasks to look forward to. My eyes darted everywhere, taking in the starship.

The Golden Meridian was a pretty girl. It looked like real people lived here, not baby-eating terrorists. No one had bomb blueprints lying around, or beeping devices counting down to someone’s oblivion.

Instead, a random boot lay on the galley’s booth seat and someone had laid out their bras on the galley table to dry. A rolled-up, half-eaten bag of slox stuck out from between a box of instant Mawkwillian noodles and a tub of pickled bill root on the long counter.

I clutched my roll of wire, walking through The Golden Meridian’s corridors, looking for the med station/infirmary sign. At the next junction, I heard footsteps. I plastered myself to the corridor wall.

What looked—almost like—two cats galloped by, but one looked like it had an octopus for a mouth. The pair skidded to a halt and stared me down. The tentacle cat, for lack of enough time to think of a better label, warbled at me.

I thought my heart might melt.

I do not have time to fall in love with you at this moment, tentacle face, or Fluffy, over there.

I whispered to them. “You are adorable, but I don’t have much time to play. I have sick kids to save and I need medicine. Do you happen to know where your people stash the good drugs?”

The cat tilted his head, blinking slowly. The tentacle cat trilled, waving its mouth tentacles at me. I chuckled.

Kinda silly, talking to pets…

The cat stood up, meowed at me, and sauntered off. I snuck behind him. The tentacle cat crawled along the corridor’s ceiling, swinging its claws and prehensile tail through the air.

Well, one doesn’t see something like that every day.

A giggle bubbled up my throat and escaped. I clamped a hand over my own mouth. My eyes darted everywhere, searching, terrified my giggle had gven me away. Instead of discovering the crew’s eyes on me, I saw the med station/infirmary sign.

I peeked through the door, but saw no one inside, so I slipped in. I searched drawers and shelves and cabinets. I opened stockrooms and searched through inventory sheets until I found where The Golden Meridian’s doctor stored the vials of medicine.

I opened the designated storage locker. I grabbed a box from the stack and read the label: Troxcillin. I smiled, stuffing the box in my jacket’s inner pocket. I turned to leave, but remembered I would need syringes. I’d seen them in a cabinet near the door when I searched earlier.

Great, I can snag a box on the way out…

A shadow fell over me. The skin on the nape of my neck tingled. I looked up. A Mahdfel, scaled and horned, chest and shoulders adorned with intricate tattoos, loomed over me.

This must be one of The Golden Meridian’s Vaznik warriors.

My eyes moved up, muscle by muscle until my gaze met his. I gulped, but he just stared at me. Slowly, I slid the box of syringes into my pocket, unable to pull my eyes away from his. The lab’s recessed lighting glittered over his gracefully curved horns.

“Well, aren’t you tall? And handsome?”

He blinked, breaking the spell of his gaze. By his confounded expression, I knew my comments hadn’t computed inside his head. I smirked.

Works every time.

I dashed for the teleport pad in the corner of the lab. I had no plan to even dial. I figured anywhere would do. The Mahdfel sprinted faster than I could ever hope to move, sliding his well-defined abs directly between my eyes and the teleport pad.

I had no time to stop. Instead, I ran into him, headfirst. He oofed. I bounced off him and flew back. His arms snapped out to catch me before my head smacked into the corner of a stainless-steel exam table.

A shock unlike anything I had ever experienced rippled through me everywhere he had wrapped his fingers around my arms. The Mahdfel roared. His tattoos flashed white. I had never seen such a thing in all my years on the run.

What the actual fuck just happened?

His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. His hands flew open. I bolted through the door. I sped through corridors and hurtled over the pets who begged me to return and pet them. I pounded down the last corridor. I heard his voice behind me.

“Wait!”

I risked a look back. He stared at me from the far end, panting. I bolted through the hatch and out into the crowd.

I'VE FOUND HER. Touched her silken skin. And then she ran from me.

I WILL DO anything to find her.

MY MATE.

DON’T MISS the final book of the Golden Meridian - Storgin!

(Or keep reading for a sneak peek)

STORGIN: SNEAK PEEK

Storgin

I forced my way through the throng of beings milling about the Bouhek Intergalactic Games Center’s dock. Following the trail of glimpses of her beautiful blond hair as she fled from me.

Panic stabbed into my gut.

I can’t lose her. I must find her.

She…this fierce-eyed Human woman with hair as bright as a yellow star…she’s my mate!

My body still tingled where our skin had met when I discovered her raiding my laboratory. I’d meant to apprehend a thief but, as soon as my hands met her bare arms, my tattoos flashed white.

Who is she? What’s her name? I must catch her!

My heart already ached for her presence, her company, even one more glimpse of her stunning eyes. Thelkor caught up to me, shouting as we ran.

“Why’re we running?”

“Thelkor! Thelkor! I found my mate!”

“What? Where?”

My heart squeezed in my chest. My eyes darted here and there, but I hadn’t found not even a hint of where she’d run to. I slowed my pace. I turned, searching the crowd for a Human among a galaxy’s worth of alien life forms.

“I…I lost sight of her… Where’d she go? Thelkor, can you see her?”

“What’s she look like, Storgin?”

“Human. Hair the color of sun-drenched Earth honey. Hazel eyes. Tall, for a Human…. Perfection…a gaze like she’d gut me without thinking twice…”

Grief at the loss of my mate sunk my gut. I struggled to breathe. My chest tightened, squeezing my organs. I turned to Thelkor, grabbing him by the upper arms.

“Thelkor, we must find her. Help me find her and I’ll never experiment on you again, I swear!”

Thelkor slapped me across the face. Stunned, I blinked.

“What’d you do that for?”

“Come to your senses, Storgin. You’re not making any sense.”

I tried to break from his grip and plow further into the crowd on my mad, desperate search for her…but Thelkor grabbed me by the shoulders and slammed me to the ground.

“Did you try any new foods? Were you anywhere near juniper berries? Have you tried any new ‘experiments’ on yourself?”

I struggled against his grip, kicking and trying to regain my feet. Thelkor sat on me. As one of the largest Mahdfel I’d ever seen, Thelkor’s move worked. Trying to move him felt like trying to move an entire starship with only my hands.

“I’m not intoxicated or hallucinating, Thelkor.”

I sighed.

“I caught someone pilfering my lab. I grabbed the intruder. MY TATTOOS FLASHED.”

Thelkor’s eyes popped open about as far as they’d go without spilling the eyeballs out of his skull.

“Oooooooooo…”

“I tried to catch her, Thelkor. I tried to catch up with her. We must find her…”

Thelkor nodded.

“I understand. Yes, we must find her, and we will. But let’s be smart about it, like the Human women keep telling us.”

“But...”

Thelkor grabbed the collar of my uniform shirt and shook me.

“Get ahold of yourself, Storgin! We’ll find her faster with help and surveillance footage than by running through Bouhek like you’ve lost your mind.”

The thought exploded in my mind like a supernova. I grabbed Thelkor’s collar.

“You’re right! To Goldie!”

Thelkor eyed me suspiciously.

“If I let you up, will you be a good Mahdfel and return to our ship?”

“What am I, a child?”

Thelkor looked like he thought hard about how to answer my question.

“I don’t know if I believe you…”

“I’ll bet you two-thousand galactic credits I can locate her before you do.”

“You have a bet.”

Thelkor leapt to his feet and sprinted Goldie’s way. I scrambled to my feet and ran with the energy of a Mahdfel in love. Thelkor had a head start, but I was fighting for my mate. I pulled up next to him, but he veered, pushing my path directly into a tall pile of crates.

I leapt, landing atop the pile. I pushed off, leaping over a gaggle of tittering Akle. They trumpeted their trunks in alarm as I sailed over their leafy heads. I landed solid on the deck and sprinted ahead of Thelkor.

He roared and surged forward, but I reached Goldie’s entrance three steps ahead of The Golden Meridian’s gunner. Evelyn, Olath’s mate, looked at me, cocking her head.

“What’s up, Storgin?”

“I’ll tell you, but I want to tell everyone at once.”

Evelyn nodded. I called Rachel, our pilot and Thelkor’s mate, on my comms bracelet.

“Rachel? I need you to call everyone to the galley ASAP.”

Rachel’s voice crackled over the comms.

“Everyone meet Storgin in the galley in five minutes.”

I ran for the galley, barely avoiding tripping over various supplies choking Goldie’s corridors. I made it without any major injuries. Evelyn and Olath sat together on the booth side of the galley table.

Thelkor followed me in and grabbed a seat on the bench side of the table. Olath and Evelyn cast questioning glances Thelkor’s way. Thelkor replied with a smile and a twinkle of his eye. Evelyn’s eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t push further.

Rachel walked in from the corridor to the bridge and sat in Thelkor’s lap. They smiled at each other with such love, I thought my heart would break right there.

What if I can’t find her… What if this is all the time I ever get with my mate? What if… No, Storgin. Stop it. The crew of the Golden Meridian have already performed miracles—we can find her. We will find Her.

I felt a tugging on my pant leg. I looked down. Lucky, Evelyn’s Kehppû stared up at me.

“Not now, Lucky.”

Lucky disagreed and crawled up my leg by its mouth tentacles. Lucky looked a lot like Mr. Fluffbutt, Evelyn’s cat—except for the tentacles on its mouth.

“Lucky, I’m busy…”

Lucky refused to be deterred from climbing atop my head. Its tentacles massaged my scalp. I took a deep breath.

It’ll be fine. Fate has brought my mate and I together once. I just need to have faith…

Captain Timcur’s voice brought me back into the moment. He stood near the galley table, his mate, Nora, cuddled up beside him. With everyone present, I couldn’t hold my news inside any longer.

“It’s my turn! I found my mate!”

Chloe

My heart raced. Fleeing a Mahdfel terrified me nearly as much as stealing one of Daddy’s starships all those years ago. Vials of troxcillin clinked in my pocket. I’d been fortunate to swipe those few vials, but I knew I’d need more.

Maybe I’m losing my touch. I used to be a much better thief. Damn me for getting caught pilfering medications.

I sighed, deciding there was little use in cursing myself.

Besides, the hot Mahdfel couldn’t have picked worse timing for me…and WTF even happened?

Flashes of the memory of his intricate shoulder tattoos turning white sprinted through my mind as I ducked and dodged around aliens of every description. Bouhek Intergalactic Gaming Center drew in aliens from all over the galaxy to compete for fame, glory, and tons of galactic credits.

The space station dedicated to extreme sports also had all the same problems of any big city. With thousands of beings of every shape and description traveling through the Bouhek Center’s corridors, kids got lost every day.

I ducked low, hoping the Mahdfel lost sight of me in the crowd. I slid to the right and around a booth selling some sort of wriggling, gelatinous substance in a sickly green. The merchant manning the booth tipped his wide-brimmed hat at me and waved me away with a fin.

“Thanks.”

I disappeared behind his booth and stopped to catch my breath. I pulled a soft hat from the pocket of my shipsuit and pulled it over my hair, peeking around the booth’s corner.

The Mahdfel who chased me had been followed by a second Mahdfel who now sat on the first. I decided to call them Handsome and Tank.

I suppose I should call them Vaznik Warriors. I wonder why he chased me. A couple vials of troxcillin and a handful of syringes hardly seem worth chasing down a thief.

I pulled out the vials and looked at them. They meant everything to me—life and death, really. I had enough to treat some of the sick kids, but how could I possibly choose which children to heal?

I’ll simply have to find more…

Handsome and Tank raced each other back to the Golden Meridian. I released a relieved breath. Had I been running from them in the open, they would’ve easily caught up to me. I knew only the crowds of the Game Center had allowed me to escape capture.

I slipped back around behind the booth and examined an access hatch hidden in a shadow. A few quick adjustments, and the application of the digital lockpick I shouldn’t legally have, and the hatch opened. I slipped through, leaving the chaos of this dock.

I snuck through the deserted maintenance tunnels ‘til I reached a hatch to the docking bay reserved for tourists.

If only Daddy could see me now, sneaking through maintenance tunnels.

I chuckled. Then I wondered if Daddy even missed me. It’s not like he ever had time for me before I ran. I heard the memory of his voice in my head telling me he was busy or had work or…whatever his excuse was at the time instead of bothering to parent.

Whatever.

I shrugged the memories off and opened the hatch. I had better things to do than whine to myself about Daddy. I slipped out into the cacophony of Bouhek’s tourist dock and closed the maintenance hatch behind me.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the crowd. I mimicked the awed faces around me—well, the humanoid faces—and picked up the first unattended piece of generic-looking luggage I laid eyes on.

I wandered around the ships, staring at everything like a fresh tourist, stolen luggage in hand, ‘til I found a likely ship. I looked around, paranoid someone would catch me again, like on the Golden Meridian, but saw not a soul.

I stopped at the first terminal I could find, hoping to locate a map of the ship. The Infirmary sat two lefts and a right from my location, and I wasted no time getting to it.

With speed and efficiency, I searched the cabinets and drawers for more troxcillan. For some reason I’m certain a medical person could explain had I bothered to ask, troxcillan was the only treatment for Smandradh, an infection like a really, really bad flu capable of killing.

The sound of the children’s hacking coughs haunted me day and night. Smandradh attacked the respiratory system of most species, effectively drowning the infected specimen in their own respiratory fluids, like Super Killer Pneumonia.

On top of that, Smandradh could cause random other horrible, gross, or hilarious effects dependent on the species infected, was extremely virulent, and airborne. The Bouhek Center might not care what happened to the gangs of lost and abandoned children roaming its corridors, but I couldn’t live with myself had I not tried to help them.

My heart sank as I completed my search for this ship’s medical supplies. I found no troxcillan and had to settle for a few meds which would at least help some of the less sick kids breathe a little more easily.

I tucked the meds in my pocket and snuck back to the maintenance shafts. That Vaznik warrior having caught and chased me out of the Golden Meridian really threw off my timetable for this mission.

I better get back to the kids with what I’ve found. Kirz and Shannon are in bad shape. Who knows how long they have? I’ll never forgive myself if they don’t make it because I took too long.

The memory of Handsome chasing me refused to leave me at peace even as I hurried through the maintenance tunnels. I felt the memories of him pull at me. The memory of the dock’s lights flashing off his horns…

I smacked my cheek with one hand.

Don’t you have more important things to do than mentally drool over an alien from a once-in-a-lifetime, chance encounter?

Logic might’ve been right, but my brain just wouldn’t listen. When Handsome’s tattoos flashed like that, I felt the strangest thing—an undefinable sensation—surge through me.

And that feeling never fully left, did it? What’s he done to me?

Storgin

A collective, ear-piercing squeal erupted in Goldie’s galley. Evelyn, Nora, and Rachel leapt to their feet and flung themselves at me. Stunned, I stood as still as a statue. Rachel smiled up at me and spoke in an almost unintelligible voice full of excitement.

“Congratulations, Storgin!”

“Uhhh…thanks…”

I held my arms up to my sides, afraid Timcur, Olath, or Thelkor might take my current predicament the wrong way. When I glanced at my Vaznik Warrior crewmates however, they all suppressed laughs.

“Don’t get all excited yet. I might’ve run into my mate…stealing stuff from my lab…but I don’t know who she is or where she is. What if she leaves the Game Center before we find her?”

I grabbed my head with my hands, remembering Lucky was still on me. I grabbed Lucky’s wiggly body and tried to pry it off, but the kehppû refused to budge.

“Evelyn? Can you get Lucky off my head?”

Evelyn sucked air in through her teeth.

“I don’t know, it seems really comfortable…”

Rachel giggled, then interrupted before I insisted Evelyn get her pet off me.

“Sounds like we need to find your DNA match, Storgin. Can you tell us what she looks like?”

“She has perfect, hazel eyes. And blond hair cut in a dramatic, side-parted, asymmetrical style. You know what? I can draw her. My memory of her is seared into my brain.”

Nora’s eyebrows climbed her forehead.

“I didn’t know you could draw.”

I shrugged.

“I draw all the time.”

Timcur scoffed.

“I’ve never seen your art, Storgin.”

“Well, I mostly draw when I’m taking notes on my experiments, but I think I can make a good likeness.”

Before anyone said anything more, I sprinted to my lab. Lucky gripped my uniform with all four clawed feet, but held on. I ripped open the drawer of my desk and grabbed my portable tablet and a pen device meant for use by artists. I began to sketch as I walked back to the galley.

Lucky must’ve gotten bored because he jumped off my head and onto Mr. Fluffbutt Clawson. Fluffbutt didn’t appreciate Lucky’s pounce, and the two rolled across the corridor floor in a fury of claws, fur, and tentacles.

Focused on my drawing, I ignored them until Mr. Fluff got the upper hand and Lucky shot across the corridor and directly under my feet. A little fancy footwork kept me from falling face-first into the corridor’s metal floor, but my portrait now looked like Picasso drew it.

I groused a little while undoing several extreme marks chosen by random accident. I stepped into the galley with a good likeness of my DNA match. I held the portable tablet up so the rest of the crew could see.

“She looks like this.”

A collective “Oooooh,” floated around the room.

“That’s a fantastic picture, Storgin.”

Rachel held out her hand.

“Let me see that picture and I’ll see what I can find. Maybe Hep Bouhek can run some facial recognition programs or something.”

Hope flooded me. She tapped a few buttons, and Goldie spat out a print of my sketch. I took the paper and gazed at my mate.

“Thank you, Rachel.”

Nora muttered something about recording these moments for prosperity and I realized my DNA match might be on Goldie’s internal security footage. Without explanation, I ran to the closest security terminal.

I jabbed at the buttons, searching through folders, subfolders, sub-subfolders, and files. Then I found it.

“I found her on video! I could’ve just shown you the video of my lab…”

I played the footage of our encounter. There she was, on the screen in all her glory. I sighed. The mere sight of her soothed my spirit. She’d snuck through Goldie so quickly, like she knew exactly where she was going.

I forgot to wonder what she was looking for or why. Simply watching her entirely distracted me. I followed the footage of her journey through Goldie. Then I gasped.

“Evelyn! Evelyn!”

Evelyn joined me.

“What is it, Storgin?”

“Look.”

I pointed at the security footage.

“Wow. She looks exactly like your picture.”

“I meant, look at what your pets are doing!”

“Awww. They already like her…”

“They didn’t even try to stop her…”

“They’re pets, Storgin. They make their own decisions for their own reasons.”

The security footage played on and we came to the moment she and I first touched. I saw my tattoos flash on the footage. I held my breath. Nora’s voice over my other shoulder scared the living snot out of me.

“Wow. I always wondered what it looked like to other people.”

“Don’t sneak up on a person like that.”

She grinned at me.

“Stop complaining. I wish I had a video of the moment Timcur and I first touched.”

I replayed the clip of our first touch. My heart swelled. Everything I’d hoped for, had dreamed of all those long hours in space demanded I find her. Every cell in my body yearned to hold her. I lost track of anything happening around me as I lost myself in the security footage.

“Storgin?”

“Hmm?”

“Storgin.”

“What, Olath? What do you want?”

“Stop replaying that clip. We’ve seen it fifteen times now. Rachel has an idea.”

I spun to face him, grabbing Goldie’s First Mate by the upper arms.

“An idea? To find her?”

I pointed at the screen. Olath chuckled.

“Yes. To find her.”

Without another word, I ran back to the galley. I stopped in front of Rachel and doubled over to look her in the face. She leaned back.

“Woah, there. Give me at least four inches of space between our faces.”

I stood straight. My body trembled in anticipation.

“Sorry. Olath said you have an idea.”

“Yeah. The UIN.”

I blinked at her, comprehending nothing in my frazzled state.

“The Urchin Information Network?”

I blinked again. I knew I should understand her words, but all I’d really focused on was replaying the clip of our first touch in my head.

“The feral children, Storgin…”

Rachel finally got through.

“YES. PERFECT! BRING ME A CHILD!”

I headed toward a terminal, but Thelkor put an arm around my shoulder and steered me back to the galley table. Timcur looked at me, then spoke.

“Take a seat, Storgin.”

“But…”

“Consider it an order.”

I trembled, too excited to sit still, but I took a seat. Years of Vaznik warrior training cut through the absolute chaos inside my mind. Each aspect of her face floated through my buzzing thoughts. I examined each, trying to memorize every iota I knew of my DNA match.

The sound of the teleporter cut through my memories. A small child sauntered into the galley. I grabbed the printout of my sketch and shoved it in the child’s face.

“Do you know this woman? I must find this woman. Please help me.”

The child looked confused. She glanced at my drawing and nodded her head.

“Yeah, I know her. That’s Chloe. She’s always been a friend and protector of our…organization.”

Hope welled inside my being. I fell to my knees before the child.

“Child! Take me to my mate!”

DON’T MISS the final book of the Golden Meridian - Storgin!

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ROGUE MATE

Science fiction romance is the destination of the Rogue Star…. Hop on board!

OUR RESCUERS ARE a group of pirates. Or smugglers. They're not exactly answering questions, either.

More importantly, they're giant, golden skinned aliens...

And their rogue of a captain seems very interested in the little human commander.

Me.

ROGUE MATE IS the first in the Rogue Star science fiction alien romance series. Click now to start the adventure!

KAZAN

A mate is the last thing on my mind.

Especially one as sassy as the human female they say is my match.

Even if her lush curves call for my touch, and her fiery spirit is equal to my own.

I will endure the thirty days demanded by the Protocol.

But with every look, every word, I can feel us bound closer together.

Will I be able to leave her, even for her own safety?

KAZAN IS the first book of the Jorkan Protocol Mates. Click now to spend the night with this perfect steamy, funny science fiction romance escape. There's no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA for each alien warrior and his mate!

Copyright © 2021 by Ava York

All rights reserved. These books or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the Author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and situations within its pages and places or persons, living or dead, is unintentional and co-incidental.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Contents

Nora

Timcur

Timcur

Nora

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Timcur

Nora

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Nora

Timcur

Chloe

Storgin: Sneak Peek

Are you a STARR HUNTRESS?

Rogue Mate

Kazan

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