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Celestial Passions - Brianna by Judy Mays
Monday, September 23, 2002
Chapter 1
The incessant screaming of the sirens burst across the base and Brianna’s hands clenched the steering wheel tighter. “Shit!” she muttered when the guard stopped her at the checkpoint. Fine dust settled on her SUV and drifted in the open window. Forcing a nonchalant grin onto her face as he bent to look in, she said, “Come on, Harry. I promise I didn’t steal any government secrets.”
Harry grinned, but before he could comment, the phone in the guard box rang. The look he gave her as he listened into the receiver told her she was out of time. Even now two other soldiers were moving to close the gates.
“Hang on. They’ve discovered you’re gone.”
Stomping the gas pedal to the floor, she smashed through the lowered barrier and roared off of the base.
The general hit the button on his buzzing intercom. “Sir, the gates have been breached at the north entrance. A green Chevy SUV registered to a Brianna O’Shea of laboratory area four, biomedical division, crashed through the checkpoint.”
Wham! The violent slamming of the door reverberated up and down the corridor as Dr. Yens Gustovson burst into the office. “She’s got them!”
Silencing the incensed scientist with the slash of his hand, General Hawkins said, “That will be all, lieutenant.” After his aide had left the room, the general snapped, “Do I have to remind you this is top secret? Will you ever learn to keep your mouth shut?”
The doctor’s hand slapped the desk. “You won’t need to worry about secrecy if she gets away.”
The general’s finger tapped the desk. “We never located a ship,” he mused. This may work out after all. We already have helicopters in the air, so they’ll be easy enough to follow. With luck, they’ll head straight back to their ship, and then we’ll get that too. Don’t worry, you’ll get your ticket to fame and fortune back, Gustovson.”
“What about O’Shea?”
The general shrugged. “Once we have them back, she’ll be debriefed then fired.”
“She’ll go to the press!”
“And who’ll believe her, the National Inquirer?”
Gustovson grimaced. “Just be sure of the troops you send after them. She has a lot of friends on this base.”
The general drummed his fingers on the desk. “You may be right. Captain Douglas has a new platoon just in from Texas for woodland training. I’ll send them. Lieutenant Simms,” he ordered into his intercom, “have Captain Douglas report to me on the double and put his platoon on red alert. They pull out in fifteen minutes. Choppers ready?”
“Yes Sir. Major Richter has the potential routes mapped.”
“Very good. Inform the major I’ll be with him moment.” The general rose. “Doctor, everything is under control. Would you like to accompany me?”
Gustovson’s hands curled into fists, but managed to keep control of his temper. “No, I’ll wait in the lab. I have other things I can be doing.”
“Very well, I’ll inform you when your specimens will be returned.”
Once he was out of the general’s office, Gustovson hurried to the building’s foyer where he waited as unobtrusively as possible until the man he wanted appeared.
As Captain Mark Douglas strode towards the elevators, Gustovson clutched his arm. Irritation evident on his face, the captain continued on, shrugging the hand loose.
The scientist was undeterred. “I need to talk to you.”
Douglas stopped. “Make it quick. The general wanted me five minutes ago.”
The scientist’s eyes darted around the foyer. No one was paying them any attention. “A mutual acquaintance has stolen some valuable specimens from the lab. A matter of national interest.”
“Yeah, so what,” the younger man sneered, but he bent his head and listened.
“This person must not be permitted to make the existence of certain specimens public. The damage to the base and the United States military will be irreparable. She must be stopped, and I know you’re the man for the job. You do understand?”
Douglas contemplated the tiled pattern on the floor. There was only one person Gustovson could be referring to. After a curt nod, he spun away and headed to the elevators. The top brass had done a pretty good job keeping things hushed up; but, even now that he was out of the loop, he still had a few sources. He had an idea about what was happening. A thoughtful expression on his face, he stepped into the empty elevator.
He clenched his fists and snarled mentally. It had been her idea to go to the lab that night. Getting those papers was just an excuse to leave the party, wasn’t it? When he pushed her back onto the examining table, she was just acting, playing hard to get. If Gustovson hadn’t come in, she would have stopped fighting and spread her legs quickly enough. Women liked it when men get rough. His left fist slammed into his right hand. Who’d have thought she’d spread those lies about him. You couldn’t trust any woman. The other guys still didn’t trust him even though nobody could prove he stole anything. Where did that bitch get off saying he did?
Brianna’s mind whirled as she sped north on a legislative route into the mountains. She must be crazy, stealing them from the lab, but she couldn’t let Gustovson just dissect them in the name of science. That would be murder!
Shivers of wonder raced up and down her spine, and she smiled in spite of her present predicament. Aliens! She always knew the human race wasn’t alone, that there had to be life on other planets, but hermaphrodites! And tails that were really penises! Not even Hollywood could have dreamed that up. And how could they understand her when she talked to them? Where did they learn English?
She glanced into her rear view mirror. “I hope you guys know where you want to go because I don’t have the faintest idea what to do with you. I can’t take you home. My parents would understand and agree with my actions 100%, but that’s the first place the authorities will look.”
She felt a tap on her shoulder. Glancing back, she discovered the two aliens had inched up to her seat. A hand pointed towards the mountain to their left. “Left? Okay, that’s as good a direction as any, I guess.” Switching to four-wheel drive, she turned onto the dirt road, a cloud of dust settling in her wake.
The taller alien tore his gaze away from their rescuer and turned to his companion. “Can you remember where the contact point is, Cindar? Without our instruments, I’m blind.”
She dragged her eyes away from the window. “What happened to your sensor implant?”
“I don’t know. I must’ve fallen on it when we were captured. My wrist’s numb.”
“Then the captain doesn’t know where we are. We really do need to improve on this system. If we’d both had a transmitter, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
He squeezed her hand and smiled. “As long as your locator is working, once we’re in range of the transport point, they’ll lock on to us. All we need to do is find it.”
“No problem, Mik. I can hear the frequency in my translator, and it’s becoming more powerful the farther north we go. Besides, I recognize the trees here. The plant life on this planet is absolutely amazing.”
His smile became a grin. “Advantage of being a botanist.”
She laughed gently. “If I weren’t, we wouldn’t have enjoyed that afternoon on Deslossia so much. That was poison llacatian redfern you wanted to use for a bed!”
Hearing the soft, intimate laughter behind her, Brianna decided she had no regrets. These aliens were just as human as anyone else.
The major piloting the helicopter tapped Captain Douglas on the shoulder to get his attention then shouted over the noise of the whirling blades. “She’s turned north onto an old logging road. It winds up the mountain to a small clearing in front of an old abandoned mine. I don’t think they know we’re following them.”
Douglas looked up from the map he was studying. “Get us up there ahead of them. We’ll have a reception committee waiting.”
“Roger, Sir. I’ll radio the other choppers.”
He allowed himself a satisfied smile. Brianna O’Shea would pay for ruining his career.
Yellow and blue lights lit the console on the navigator’s bridge station. After typing a command into the computer, she turned to her captain. “There’s been a great deal of activity at the contact point, sir. Our monitors picked up transports of some sort off loading what are probably troops.”
The tall man turned away from the dark monitor. “Have the beam ready. As soon as you lock onto our people, get them up here. Lock in defense sequence seven yellow seven, just in case.”
“Have we encountered a problem on this so called human world, Captain Alalakan?” asked an oily voice.
Captain Alalakan don al’ Chardadon stiffened slightly and turned to confront his tormentor. “We have a problem with a transmitter. Surely even Academy machines sometimes fail.”
The shorter man laced his fingers together. “At times, Captain Alalakan, at times. But - we’re not under attack when it does happen.”
A single, arched eyebrow rose. “Attack? Do you hear sounds of attack? I think you have an overactive imagination.”
Acquiescing, the doctor bowed his head. “Possibly, Captain, possibly, but then if we’d gone straight to Drakan as I requested, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, would we? However, if it’s needed, my medical training is at your disposal.”
Chardadon turned away. “So noted, but I doubt if it will be necessary. Now, if you will go back to your quarters, I’ll get back to captaining my ship.”
Silence ruled control as the door slid shut. Dr. Lorilana dem al’ Sendenton walked over to stand beside the captain. “Don’t listen to him, Char. There could be a perfectly reasonable explanation why we lost contact with Miklan and Cindar.”
Concentrating on his instruments, Char said nothing. Two of his officers were missing, and he was responsible. He was the one who’d sent them down to that planet.
After easing into the clearing, Brianna pulled her Blazer to a halt. A single bird chirped. Then - silence.
She looked over her shoulder and asked, “Is this where you want to be?”
The alien on the left nodded affirmatively.
Sliding out of the truck, Brianna hurried to the back and lowered the tailgate.
Slipping out, Miklan helped Cindar, who gingerly put weight on her left foot, said something low to her companion, and limped out into the meadow.
A forlorn feeling began to seep through her body as Brianna watched her limp away. Even though the summer sun was warm, she rubbed her arms, trying to alleviate the sudden chill that enveloped her. She never even got a chance to get to know them. What was it like, traveling in space? She turned as Miklan took her hand.
“Brianna,” he began, and continued on in his musical language.
Tears formed in her eyes. ‘Thank you’ in any language was easy to understand. Pulling her into his arms, he gave her a quick, hard hug. As he turned to walk away, a single burst of gunfire exploded into the air.
“You, in the clearing, stand where you are and raise your hands in the air. You’re completely surrounded. Surrender and you won’t be hurt.”
Brianna and Miklan whirled as they heard snapping brush behind them. All around the clearing, soldiers with menacing automatic weapons advanced slowly. Miklan shouted something, grabbed her wrist and began to run.
Brianna was jerked forward. “Hey! Wait a minute!”
“Halt or you will be fired upon! This is your last warning!”
Brianna whipped her head around. That was Mark’s voice.
A beam of clear, bright light appeared in the center of the clearing. Cindar stepped into it and promptly disappeared.
“Get back here, you frickin’ cowards! Stop them!” Captain Douglas screamed. “Fire at will!”
Those words caused Brianna to stumble. Fire at will! What’s the matter with him!
When bursts of red light began sporadically sweeping the clearing, most of the soldiers dived back into the safety of the forest. Brianna’s eyes were drawn back to their tall blond leader as he cursed vehemently. Horrified, she watched him pull his side arm from its holster.
“You won’t get away again, bitch!” he hollered after her.
She stumbled and tried to pull free of Miklan’s grasp. “My God, he’s going to shoot at me!”
Miklan ignored her outburst. His grip on her wrist precluded any thoughts of remaining behind.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea.” She glanced back again. Mark was aiming his side arm at her.
Miklan shouted something over his shoulder and pulled her into the light.
She swallowed and shivered involuntarily. However, she never learned exactly what matter displacement transportation felt like. Just before she stepped into the beam of light, a bullet ripped into her right shoulder. Unconsciousness blocked out the pain.
A bright red light began flashing on the screen. “They’re in range of the transport beam, Sir.”
“They may need a diversion. Retrieve them, now! Begin defense sequence 5,” Char commanded. “Damn! I wish I could see what was happening!”
His communications officer shook his head. “Every frequency for the view screen is monitored by their satellites. The minute we activate it, they’ll know we’re here. The radio probes sent our way are becoming more numerous, but we’ve been able to deflect them.”
“We have them,” interrupted the chief engineer.
“Take us out of orbit immediately. I want to get away from this planet now. Ademis, take charge. Lori, let’s go. They may need medical attention.”
Blood spurting freely from the wound in her shoulder, Brianna collapsed to the floor. Falling to his knees, Miklan pressed his palms on the wound to staunch the bleeding.
“Quick,” he ordered when the door slid open, “we need a doctor!”
As instructed, Kindis dem al’ Meliana had waited near the transport station. When the exploratory party materialized, she entered the room and moved towards Miklan. “I’m a nurse,” she said, nudging him aside.
Doctor Bakon don al’ Rodak entered transport as Meliana finished speaking.
“You’re not...” Miklan began, but the hypodermic Rodak carried delivered its sedative, and Miklan quickly lost consciousness. Cindar was unable to call out a warning as she too was silenced by Rodak’s other assistant, Zator don al’ Odam.
“This is even better than I’d hoped. Leave them. We’ll take the specimen they brought back. Hurry, wrap it up before that damned Alalakan gets here.”
The medical team arrived as Rodak and his assistants were leaving transport with a bundle of canvas. “Hurry,” he ordered, nodding towards Miklan and Cindar. “They’re unconscious. Get them to medical as quickly as possible. My assistants and I are taking this specimen that was trapped in the transport beam to the facilities I have here on the ship. Tell your captain I’ll inform him of my findings when the examination is concluded.”
The leader of the medical team did not think to question him. After all, Dr. Rodak was First President of the Academy of Science. Who better to examine a life form from a previously unknown planet? Granted the thing they were dragging out had a human outline, but getting Miklan and Cindar to medical was more important than some unknown specimen. Miklan’s hands were covered with blood.
Char stopped pacing when Cindar and Miklan were carried into medical. Both were hastily stripped and placed in medibunks. Lorilana wasted no time. The blood on Miklan’s hands demanded her attention.
“All of Cindar’s vital signs are normal,” her assistant called. “I don’t understand why she’s unconscious. That’s never been a side effect of transport before.”
Lorilana frowned. “Miklan’s the same. No wounds on either of them. Where did all this blood come from?”
Char stepped next to Lorilana and stared at his unconscious crewmembers with a worried frown. “Conjecture?”
“I don’t know,” she said with a negative shake of her head. “Jaylin, did you notice anything unusual in transport?”
“No, Dr. Rodak had already stabilized them. He and his assistants took the specimen caught in the beam to his lab.”
Char stiffened and turned towards Jaylin. “Rodak was there? What specimen? What did it look like?”
“I don’t know, sir. They’d already wrapped it in lab canvas when we arrived. It did seem to have a human outline, though.”
He whirled towards the door. “Damn Rodak and his sex experiments! Lori, come with me. If the inhabitants of that planet are human, he may well begin a war.”
“Jaylin, draw some blood and see if there is anything in their systems that shouldn’t be there. As long as their vital signs stay normal, let them sleep,” Lorilana ordered as she followed Chardadon out the door.
Odam rolled Brianna from the canvas and lifted her onto the examining table. Heedless of the blood that began to seep from her shoulder once again, he raised her arms above her head and clamped her wrists firmly into place. Moving to the bottom of the table, he spread her legs and fastened her ankles to the clasps located on each side of the table. Then he began to methodically cut away her clothing, his tail beginning to jerk as her body was revealed.
“Are you sure this is wise, Doctor?” Meliana asked as they stepped next to the table where the woman lay. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait until we’re back at the Academy? Or at least until we care for her wound?”
A hungry grin settled onto Rodak’s face as he caressed Meliana’s buttocks. “No, my dear. Alalakan will surely discover our little project here and take it for himself. You’ve begun the program sequence on the computer?”
“Yes,” she answered as her superior slipped his hand inside her shirt to caress her breast.
He slipped the shirt over her head and pinched the nipple of her left breast. “Wonderful, now, Odam, what do we have here?”
“I don’t know if it’s human,” Odam said breathing heavily, his thin nostrils flaring as he stared at Brianna’s naked body, “but it’s certainly female.”
He hurriedly stripped off his clothing.
Sliding his hand down the inside of Meliana’s pants, Rodak cupped her buttock, his fingers stroking, seeking. She shifted, spreading her legs.
His hand continued its exploration as he turned his gaze to the woman. Eyes narrowing, he contemplated what fate had delivered into his hands. “Yes, she certainly is female. Now let’s see how she responds to mithrin.”
As Odam handed the hypodermic to his superior, Brianna retreated into her subconscious, to her first sight of Miklan and Cindar as they lay pale and seemingly lifeless on the lab’s examining tables.
“Miss O’Shea! Pay attention!” Dr. Gustovson snapped. “Now, where was I? Oh, yes. The alien being designated specimen A is approximately 6.5 feet in length and 200 pounds in weight. Face - slightly elongated, tapering to a pointed chin. Two eyes, color - brown,” he said as he lifted an eyelid, “somewhat large with thick lashes, set, one on each side, of small nose. One mouth with thin lips. No facial hair. The skin is very human-like, with a slight, ivory tint. The scalp is covered with short, fine brown hair - silky texture. One ear on each side of the head, lobeless and stretching upward to a point. The left ear seems to have some sort of growth on the inside. Whether this is characteristic of the species cannot be determined until an examination is performed on the second specimen.”
“The neck is proportional to the body. Torso, slender with fine, almost invisible body hair, somewhat prominent pectoral muscles. Two arms joined by an elbow, ending with hands each containing five digits, four fingers and an opposable thumb; two legs, bending at the knee, lower legs stretching to ankles; two feet with five toes each. Very human-like.”
“Genitalia, one small, extremely slender penis. One scrotum... No, it’s too far back, and there’s no connection to the penis, “he mumbled, as he bent over the body and motioned Brianna closer. “What! Vulva behind the penis! A hermaphrodite? Those aren’t enlarged pectorals; they’re small breasts! Amazing, a society able repopulate from single individuals.”
“But, doctor. The penis is located in front of the vulva. It couldn’t impregnate itself,” Brianna interjected, “and the scrotum isn’t connected. That can’t be a penis; it must be the clitoris.”
The scientist snorted. “Bah! Why so elongated?”
Not for the first time was she grateful that her immediate superior was practically asexual. “There’s an opening. It could be the urethra.”
Gustovson’s lips puckered. “Well, you may have a point, but evolution is not kind to a species with a complicated sexual process. Here, help me turn it over. The scrotum is so far back, examination from the rear should shed some light on the subject.”
Carefully, they rolled the alien’s body over.
“Hmm, the scrotum seems to be attached to the base of the tail. Interesting, the tail is completely hairless, but then there is very little body hair. Even the pubic hair is very fine,” Gustovson murmured absently as he probed the body. “This is indeed a puzzle.”
Brianna continued examining the tail as the doctor puzzled over the alien’s genitalia. Joy blossomed in her heart. She knew humans weren’t alone. There was intelligent life out there somewhere. But tails! And this one doesn’t look like any tail she’d ever seen before.
“Doctor, look at the end of the tail.”
“What? Well, well, who would have thought?”
Returning to what he considered his professional voice, Gustovson continued, “Tail, approximately 3 to 3.5 feet long with a two inch diameter, extending to a thick, blunt tip. Since the anus is underneath the base of the tail, as expected, the small opening at the end of the tail could be fro seminal fluid. Conjecture at this point - the creature doesn’t have a tail, rather a very supple penis. With as flexible as the penis seems to be, it is entirely possible for the alien to impregnate itself. However, the hermaphroditic theory will remain questionable until a complete dissection is performed.”
He turned to Brianna. “Miss O’Shea, a dissecting kit.”
“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”
She spun back around and stared at the alien. It’s eyes blinked a few times, then remained open. “Doctor, it’s alive!”
Gustovson commanded, “Come now, Miss O’Shea. We are on the brink of one of the most amazing discoveries of the century. Now is not the time to be squeamish.”
“Squeamish! This is an intelligent life form.”
“Miss O’Shea, this is my laboratory. I can do damn well whatever I please. The only reason you have this job because your father is an old colleague. Now, do as I say or get out,” he snapped with narrowed eyes.
The incessant ache in her shoulder pulled Brianna away from her memories, towards consciousness. She moaned and her eyelids fluttered open. Three faces looked down at her, two with unconcealed lust in their eyes and one with what seemed to be commiseration. Her shoulder was on fire and she could feel blood seeping sluggishly from her wound. She fought to retain consciousness but lost the battle when one of her captor’s grabbed her wounded shoulder. She fainted from the pain. This time, she sank into dreamless torpor.
Halting before the door to Hold 3, Chardadon palmed the door switch. Nothing happened. “That bastard’s crazy if he thinks he can realign the door codes.”
Lorilana grasped his arm. “Mind your temper, Char. You don’t want to ruin your family’s plans.”
He scowled, but nodded curtly. Taking an orange card from his belt, he slipped it into the door panel and punched in the override. The door slid open and they entered the hold where they were greeted with the exact scene he had imagined. Both of Rodak’s assistants were naked, as was the humanoid on the table. When he got a good look at Rodak’s specimen, he felt like someone planted a fist in his stomach. It was a woman, a very beautiful woman.
Fiery red hair tumbled over the side of the table in an auburn waterfall. Pale skin, which any woman in his family would envy, glowed under harsh laboratory lights. Lush breasts with rosy nipples rose and fell with harsh breathing. A narrow waist tapered to flared hips. A splash of equally fiery pubic hair lay at the juncture of her thighs. Long legs stretched to the end of the table as she moaned. Familiar, heavy pressure exploded in his groin. However, the blood oozing from the wound in her shoulder to pool on the table and drip to the floor immediately checked his ardor, and his mind returned to rescuing her from Rodak.
Striding across the hold, Char grasped Rodak’s upper arm and knocked the hypodermic needle out of the scientist’s hand. He jerked him around. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Hate blazing from his eyes, Rodak snarled, “Release me, Alalakan. As an unidentified species from an unknown planet, this being falls under the jurisdiction of the Academy.”
“Rodak, she’s too human in form to be subjected to the primary tests,” Lorilana stated indignantly, “and as a voting member of the Academy board, I’ll testify to that.”
Rodak glared at Lori. “That still puts it under Academy jurisdiction, Doctor Sendenton.”
“That may be,” Char growled, eyes narrowed, “but she’s wounded and bleeding. She goes to medical now.”
“You have no right!”
Char crossed his arms over his chest. “I have every right. As captain, I have complete command over everyone on this ship. Would you care to read the Confederation rule book?”
“Get out!” Rodak snarled. “I’m entitled to the privacy of my own quarters.”
“This is a cargo hold, and no humanoid will be transported to Drakan in the cargo hold of my ship,” Char stated flatly. Shoving Rodak aside, he unfastened Brianna’s wrists. Lorilana had already freed her ankles. As he gathered the woman into his arms, he shrugged off the waves of Rodak’s fury, and carried her from the hold.
Rodak turned his smoldering gaze to his assistants. Odam and Meliana had wisely placed the table between themselves and the angry captain. “Come, both of you,” he growled tugging at his belt, “I’m in need of comfort.”
Her thick auburn hair cascaded over Char’s arm, shoulder, and back as he carried the woman towards medical, but the blood loss she’d sustained weakened her enough so that she lay limply in his arms.
“She’s weakening,” Lorilana muttered in a worried tone. “I don’t know what we’ll do about replacing the lost blood. Simple fluids may not be enough.”
Char said nothing. The agonized expression on the woman’s face didn’t hide its exotic beauty. Her face was rounder than those of his people, her lips fuller. Stunning green eyes fluttered open and stared unseeing into his. Thick, dark lashes rimmed those eyes while the well-shaped auburn brows above them contrasted sharply with her wan complexion. Even with blood seeping from her shoulder, she stirred him as no woman had in a long time. I want her.
Lorilana palmed open the door to medical, calling in crisp tones for her assistants and various pieces of equipment. “We’ve got to get this shoulder cleaned out. Jaylin, get that hair out of the wound.”
“Don’t cut it!” Char commanded sharply.
Lorilana’s eyebrows rose, and she turned an inquisitive gaze towards him. He ignored her and concentrated on the woman. Lights flashed as the medibunk registered an occupant when he laid her down then stepped back out of the way. He ignored the blood smeared on his uniform.
Lori placed her stethoscope on the woman’s chest. “Heart rate, slow; too slow, I think. Breathing is awfully shallow. I think we can count on the integrity of the medibunk for basic information. It seems to fit within human parameters. The respiration and heart rate seem to be accurate, so everything else is probably correct also.”
Char remained where he was. “Will she live?”
Lori placed her hand on the woman’s forehead. “I don’t know. If there hadn’t been so much blood loss, I’d say she had a good chance, but...”
“Doctor Sendenton, I think you should look at this,” interrupted her assistant.
“Not now, Jaylin.”
“You really have to look at this,” the young woman insisted.
Lori tsked and strode to the computer. “What is it?”
“I put a sample of the blood from Miklan’s hands in the computer, and, well, see for yourself.”
After looking at the screen, Lorilana glanced up at Jaylin then reread the data. “Impossible.”
Char stepped forward. “What?”
Ignoring him, Lorilana removed a small slide from the computer terminal. Returning to Brianna, she gently smeared it with blood. Placing it back in the computer, she entered a command.
“Amazing. Exactly like Medirian blood. I don’t know who she is, but she’s definitely human. Jaylin, how much Medirian blood type O positive do we have in storage?”
Punching up the data, her assistant answered, “Three bags, and we do have two or three Medirians with that blood type on board if that isn’t enough.”
“Set up an IV immediately,” said Lorilana as she turned to Char. “I think we can be fairly certain that she’ll live.”
He nodded once and turned towards the door. “Very well, I’ll be in command.”
Miklan regained consciousness slowly. Struggling, he sat up. Lorilana placed restraining hands on his shoulders. “Lie back down, Miklan. There’s some sort of chemical in your blood stream that we can’t identify. We have to keep you observation until we analyze it.”
“It’s a sedative of some kind,” he muttered still struggling against her. “Let me up. We have to help Brianna. Rodak surprised us as we transported in.”
“Lie back down! And that’s an order. If Brianna is the woman who returned with you, she’s safe. We have her right here.”
He relaxed immediately.
Turning to her assistant, Lorilana ordered, “Inform the captain Miklan is awake.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
“Brianna saved our lives,” Miklan explained from his bunk, “against her superior’s orders. She deserves our thanks and all the help we can give her.”
Lorilana checked his pulse. “We’ve done everything we can, Mik. It’s up to her now.”
Miklan’s eyes opened wide. “What did Rodak do to her?”
First Char, now Miklan? Who is this woman? “We reached her before he had a chance to do anything. It’s the wound she carried when she came on board that caused us the most worry.”
The door slid open and Char entered medical. Miklan tried to rise, but Char motioned him to remain in his bed. “Report.”
Briefly, Miklan related how they had been captured and how Brianna had risked her life to save them.
“So, without this woman’s help, you would not have survived.”
Miklan nodded. “Correct. They planned to dissect us.”
Lorilana gasped with outrage. “Dissection! For that alone, she deserves whatever aid we can give her.”
“The Alalakans always pay their debts,” Chardadon stated softly.
Again, the door opened. Rodak sauntered in, a contemptuous sneer on his face. “Will the specimen live?”
Char stepped in front of him. “You aren’t needed here.”
“Oh, but I have every right to be here. That’s a new life form; and, until it’s properly categorized, it belongs to the Academy. And, as First President of the Academy, I’m taking personal interest in it.”
Lorilana put her hand on Char’s arm, silencing him. “She’s lost a great deal of blood, Rodak. We aren’t even sure she’ll survive. There’s nothing more we can do at this time.”
Gazing at the readouts on the medibunk, Rodak grunted. “I expect to be notified if its condition changes. Remember, I’m personally assuming categorization of this creature. Don’t try to gainsay my decision. The law supports me.” Turning, he left medical, chuckling in a most satisfactory manner.
Lorilana’s hand remained on Char’s arm. “He’s right. The law supports him.”
“Her experience will be worse than mine,” Miklan muttered. “My captors didn’t plan to torture me before they killed me.”
“The Alalakan clan owes her a debt, and it will be paid,” Char stated firmly. “This is my ship. As long as we’re in free space, my decisions override all else.”
“True,” Lorilana said quietly, “but I can’t keep him from medical. Nor can I keep manipulating the medibunk. Rodak’s bound to notice her condition is improving and keeping her sedated will interfere with her natural healing process.”
“Move her.”
Lorilana busied herself attending her patient. “As First President of the Academy, Rodak can gain access to any place on this ship. He outranks everyone on your crew. However, there are two places where Rodak cannot go.”
His fingers raked through his hair. “Princess Merilinlalissa’s quarters. If she didn’t have the baby, I’d ask.”
Lorilana’s steady gaze locked on his face. “I wasn’t thinking about Meri’s quarters, Char. I was thinking of yours.”
He stiffened. “Mine?”
“It’s the only place besides Meri’s quarters that Rodak dare not go. I know it would make for inconveniences,” she continued trying to gauge Char’s shuttered expression, “but it’s the only place we’ll be able to protect her. We’ll put her in the small room off your community room. My staff and I will see to her care. You won’t even know she’s there.”
Arms now crossed over his chest, Chardadon stared at the Lorilana, his expression still unreadable. I will have her. I will wrap all that fiery hair around my naked body until I explode with ecstasy. Finally, he spoke. “Very well, but only you’ll attend her. Rodak could intimidate your technicians, and I don’t want an endless stream of people wandering in and out of my quarters.”
“Thank you, Char, you’re paying your debt and doing a great service for humanity. Rodak may not want to admit it, but that woman is as human as we are. Anything he would do to her would serve no good purpose and would not endear us to her planet.”
After a curt nod, he left medical.
From his medibunk Miklan had listened quietly to the conversation between Lorilana and Chardadon. With the effects of the sedative wearing off, he was feeling much stronger. The satisfied smile on the doctor’s face caused him to comment, “That was as fine a job of manipulation that I’ve seen in a long time, doctor.”
She laughed. “Those of our race who carry only male genes are usually easily manipulated. Char is more perceptive than most full males; but, given the right incentive, he too is susceptible.”
Miklan grinned. “And you have obviously found the perfect incentive.”
She continued to smile but spoke more solemnly. “Char has completely immersed himself in his family’s many enterprises for the last seven years, and though he never said it in so many words, he’s no longer content. Perhaps if Rodane had children, he could play the doting uncle...”
Miklan laced his fingers behind his head. “He hasn’t seemed that discontented to me.”
Lorilana shook her head. “I’ve know Char since he was in diapers, and I’ve noticed subtle changes. He’s no longer actively pursuing women.”
“He doesn’t have to,” Miklan muttered.
She laughed merrily. “Just because women fall at his feet, and he takes most of them to bed, doesn’t mean he’s content. Besides, he’s been completely abstinent since we left Drakan.”
“He never cohabitates with any members of his crew.”
“Even at our stops, he avoided women.”
Miklan’s eyebrows rose. No healthy Drakan of legal age practiced abstinence.
“This woman, though,” Lorilana continued, “has roused his interest. He’s allowed her into his quarters. Normally, he’d simply post guards outside of medical and deny Rodak access. He’s never given a damn about rules and regulations.”
“So, you’ll force the issue, eh?”
Lorilana stared at the grinning Miklan. “You’re getting rather impertinent with your superior officer, lieutenant.”
“Only because I can get away with it, Aunt.”
The Matchmaker:
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage
