Rogue Mate, page 3
part #1 of Rogue Star Series
My own first meeting with a different species was confusing, but I grew up knowing there were other races in existence.
If what I knew of the Terran race was true, most of them still believed they were the only sentient species in the cosmos, and the ones that might think different were thought to be mad.
Qal would think that was a funny twist, but right now, his sense of humor didn’t help us at all.
“We are of the Shein race, much like you are part of the Terran race. We,” I started to continue, but she interrupted me.
“Human. We’re called humans. And you’re some kind of aliens. Shein.”
Understanding that that particular word was what they used for unknown species, I nodded.
She bit her lower lip, nodded to herself, “And we’re flying around in a spaceship? The Rogue Star.”
I nodded again.
She took in a deep breath and let it back out again. “Okay. I can handle that. Let’s keep to the basics. Are you taking us home?”
And there it was.
The question I really didn’t want to answer.
“As much as I would like to say ‘yes’, I cannot.”
“What do you mean?!”
Her face paled even further, and I reached for her, afraid that the shock in addition to her injuries would prove too much.
But she pulled away from my hand. A shame. Something about her tiny fierceness intrigued me, her pale soft skin belying an inner strength.
She was like their furry creature, all fire and spark, even in the face of the unknown.
“Our appearance at your outpost was a mistake,” I admitted, reluctantly.
This brought a scowl to her face, one that I was already enjoying looking at.
“We were supposed to be in the asteroid field just at the edge of your system. When we came out of the fold, our computers said that we were indeed where we were supposed to be, but it was painfully apparent that we were not. Due to our intrusion further into your system than we planned, it’s possible that we’ve set off the Dominion sensors.”
“And? Who is this Dominion, how are they a problem, and what does any of this have to do with returning my people to their home?” she snapped.
I held my anger in check, knowing she was simply scared and confused as to what was happening.
“The Dominion is the governing body of civilized space. They set restrictions on travel to certain parts of the cosmos and we violated that by folding so near your outpost. If we were to return to Terran space and discovered, we would be destroyed.”
“Why would you be destroyed?” she asked. “That’s stupid. We just want to go home.”
There seemed to be a hint of actual concern in her voice, which took me a bit by surprise, soothed my irritation. This woman, currently a refugee on an unknown ship, seemed to be able to care about her rescuers.
Interesting. I wished there had been more on her species in the databanks other than old transmissions and warnings to avoid.
I took in a deep breath, tried to imagine how to explain this to someone who hadn’t spent her entire life embraced, or smothered, by the Dominion’s reach.
“The Dominion has very strict rules about entering protected space. It’s possible they’ve already detected our intrusion after the shockwave. Their proximity sensors will be wary of another craft trying to enter into your system.”
“Can’t we just tell them you rescued us and let you take us home, then they’d let you go?”
I shook my head. “No. You see, the Dominion is very strict. If they know about you, I suspect that you wouldn't be allowed to return home because then you’d talk, and even if your entire society doesn’t believe you, enough people might. The Dominion doesn’t want any change unless it’s beneficial for them, and on their schedule. They’d track you.”
She paled further, but I had to make her understand.
“They’d pinpoint exactly who you were and where you were located. They’d remove you the same way a hunting species might remove a single animal from a herd. You would be sent to some planet to live without further human contact outside of your own crew. And,” I said with a small shrug, “we would still be destroyed.”
She sat back, and I could see that she was crushed.
It was a terrible situation to put her and her people into.
We just saved their lives, but what for?
Unless they were able to find someone willing to test the Dominion, and there were some people even crazier or more desperate than we were who might be willing to do so, they would never be able to return to their home.
And how they’d be able to make lives for themselves without attracting Dominion attention, I couldn’t imagine.
Still, we couldn’t have left them there to die.
There had to be an answer, we just hadn’t found it yet.
“We have more of the translators for your people. I can have one of my engineers make enough for everyone, so we can all communicate more easily,” I offered. “Did you want me to explain all of this to your people?”
She looked up at me, eyes shining with the beginning of tears.
Scro.
A few blinks later, she had composed herself and answered back with a shake of her head. “No. I should be the one to tell them. I was put in charge of their safety and well-being, so it’s my responsibility to let them know our current situation.”
“I understand,” I said, as a heavy guilt nagged at me.
We hadn’t done anything but save them, I reminded myself. It wasn’t our fault their stupid, fragile station had failed.
We weren’t looking for complications.
But somehow, none of that mattered when balanced against the determined set of her chin.
I tried again. “Do you want me there when you tell them? In order to answer any questions?”
She thought about it for a moment or two. “No. Let me talk to them and answer what questions I can. It’s a lot to accept, all at once.”
I nodded and stood, offering her my hand as I did.
She paused, looking at it, then at me. As our eyes met, for a brief moment, it felt like my soul was exposed, vulnerable.
But before I could pull away, she placed her hand in mine, pale, smooth skin against my golden sheen.
Delicate. Intriguing.
But for now, all I could do was lead her back to the cargo bay where the other women waited for her.
Kalyn
I tried to stop my hands from shaking as the captain stopped in front of the cargo bay door.
Was I supposed to call him captain? Or just Dejar?
Crap. Yet another thing I didn’t know - the protocol when onboard alien spaceships.
Alien.
Alien spaceships.
Dejar had given me a case filled with earpieces like the one I now wore.
I considered that to be a gesture of goodwill, right?
Well, that, and saving our lives.
My head still spun from everything he’d told me. The fact that there were other species, other systems inhabited by intelligent life, was enough to send me into shock.
Stranger still was that they knew about us, about humans and the Terran system, while we were none the wiser.
And everything Captain Dejar said about the Dominion and civilized space took it to an entirely new level.
To think we humans were so proud of our Flosh drives and we weren’t even considered a ‘civilized’ species.
To be honest, travel by Flosh drive wasn’t particularly civilized, or safe, but that probably wasn’t the point.
Captain Dejar believed the Dominion was going to be a problem. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. The punishments for accidentally crossing into forbidden territory sounded so extreme, I felt tempted to call it a bluff.
But the one thing I did believe was maybe the most important. I did believe Captain Dejar when he said he’d had no intention of destroying Persephone Station.
I might not be much of a commander, but if there was one thing I could do, it was spot a liar. That was the only useful thing my mother ever taught me.
When I was in primary school, I often attended fancy functions and galas with her, listening as she talked to the wealthy and powerful citizens of Mars.
When each conversation ended, she would whisper to me the lies they’d told her and how to identify them, how to watch for tells. Thankfully, I’d listened to her.
Captain Dejar may be an alien, but I’d have to believe that a liar was a liar and he wasn’t one. Well, there might be a little bit of mischief in those strange golden eyes, but nothing he’d told me was an outright lie.
“If it’s any consolation,” Captain Dejar spoke, briefly startling me, “I give my crew bad news all the time and I’m still alive. Surely you’ll survive this encounter with the human females.”
I detected a trace of humor in his voice, even through the translator.
I think he was trying to make me feel better.
It wasn’t working.
“Don’t be so sure.” I forced a smile. “You haven’t met them yet.”
“You stood in front of them when I entered,” he countered. “Surely they’ll see that you’re willing to put yourself in danger for them. Surely they’ll respect you for that.”
“We’ll see.” My voice was flat. We stood in awkward silence before Captain Dejar spoke again.
“In any event, I apologize for the abhorrent accommodations. We weren’t prepared to take on an extra thirty people.”
“I understand,” I replied. I couldn’t take my eyes off the door to the cargo bay, even though Dejar was a much more attractive sight.
Hell. Where had that come from?
Head injury. Going with head injury.
“Good luck.” He grabbed the lever on the door, pulling it up so that the door swung open. I entered quickly. He closed the door behind me.
I didn’t hear it lock. I wondered if it was ever locked.
Lynna ran up to me as soon as the door shut.
“Are you okay?” Her concern touched me.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I replied.
“What happened?” Aryn demanded.
“We talked,” I explained. “And he gave me these.” I held up the case of translators.
“What are they?” Lynna asked. The women moved away from the walls to stand closer to me.
“They’re some sort of translation device. It enabled me to understand him when he spoke. His name is Dejar. He’s the captain of this ship, the Rogue Star.”
“How do you know they aren’t some weird alien probe?” Maris narrowed her eyes at the case.
“Captain Dejar wears one as well,” I replied. “And so far, he gave me no reason to suspect he had ill intentions.”
“Of course, he didn’t!” Aryn exclaimed. “If you’re going to rob someone, you don’t tell them you’re about to do it.”
Something told me she spoke from personal experience.
That’d be something to explore, but not now.
“Did he tell you why he attacked us?” Lynna’s eyes were wide.
“He didn’t,” I replied. “His crew had no idea we were there when they appeared. He said nothing like the shockwave has ever happened before.”
“Bullshit,” Aryn sighed.
“Why would he bother saving us if he attacked us?” I retorted. “Why would he bother talking to me at all?”
“I don’t know why aliens do anything.” She threw her arms up in exasperation. “Up until an hour ago, I didn’t think aliens were real.”
“If the Rogue Star didn’t attack us, then will he take us back to Mars?” Lynna asked.
I swallowed the dread building up in my chest. This was my job, and I’d never hated anything more.
“No.”
“What?” Lynna’s voice broke.
The others all voiced their outrage, shouting over one another.
“If you’ll allow me to explain-”
“We don’t want an explanation!” Maris yelled. “We want to go home!” Half the women in the cargo bay rallied around Maris. The other half looked lost and broken. Lynna fought back tears. Shenna held the station cat and rocked back and forth, murmuring into it’s fur.
“We’ve got to escape!” Aryn shouted. A few women cheered her on.
“I have an idea!” A muscular blonde raised her hand. “The aliens are going to come back sooner or later. When one does, we jump him, take his weapon if he has one, and bust outta here!”
“If we can get to the bridge, we can fly the ship ourselves!” Maris’s eyes gleamed with excitement as she spoke.
“Or we can hold them hostage and barter for their release,” Aryn offered. “We’d make some money in the process.”
“That’s better!” another woman shouted.
“Are you all insane?” I demanded.
They stopped their scheming to look at me.
None of them bothered to mask their disgust, but honestly, right then I was too angry to care.
“You’re calling us insane for wanting to get out of here?” Maris demanded.
“I’m calling you insane for thinking any of your half-baked plans stand a chance of working,” I retorted. “You have no idea what we’re up against.”
“Like you do?” Aryn challenged.
“I know more than you pretend to,” I snapped.
A brief thrill of satisfaction ran through me as Aryn blinked, not expecting me to bite back.
“It’s illegal for the Rogue Star to enter Terran space. If they do, all of us will be destroyed.” Several of the women looked taken aback. I pressed on. “If, by some miracle, you actually got to the bridge, and if, by some even greater miracle managed to take control of the ship, magically learn the controls and navigation system…we’d still be shot down the moment we got too close to home.”
Mutters of disbelief ringed me. “Who, exactly, is going to shoot us down?” Lynna asked.
I ran my hand through my hair, recalling the setup. “From what I understand, a great deal of space outside of our system is run by a group called the Dominion. Captain Dejar didn’t tell me very much, just that the Dominion is the highest form of authority in the civilized systems,” I explained.
“Sounds legit,” Aryn snorted.
“Maybe the Dominion are bluffing when they threaten to shoot down ships for entering non-civilized space-”
“What the hell do you mean by non-civilized?” Maris demanded. The other women echoed her outrage.
I gave her a bland look. “Listen to the half-assed plans you’re forming, and then ask me that again.”
Maris’s mouth dropped open in shock.
Shenna used the cat’s fur to stifle a chuckle. Aryn shot her a death glare. I kept my features still, so they wouldn’t betray my own surprise.
“The Askvig is talking down to us? There’s a surprise,” Maris rolled her eyes.
“If that’s what it takes to get you to see reason, then fine.” I feigned nonchalance, but my heart was pounding in my chest.
“Bitch,” Aryn muttered.
“Look.” I put my hands on my hips and sighed. “I get that you don’t know me. I get that you hate me because you hate my family name. But I’m still your commander. No matter how much you hate me, my first priority is ensuring your safety.”
None of them looked particularly receptive.
Oh well.
“I don’t want to be a bitch. Call me foolishly optimistic, but I want us to be able to work together and trust each other. But if I have to be a bitch to get you to understand that these ‘plans’ of yours are only going to get people hurt, then fine, I’ll be a bitch! I’ll be the biggest bitch in the galaxy if it keeps you alive.”
Heat rushed to my face, and my heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst right out of my chest cavity. I’d never spoken to anyone in my life like that. The women who, only moments before were planning a hostile takeover, had fallen silent.
“We don’t hate you,” Aryn said after a long pause. “We just don’t like you.” The corner of her mouth pulled up in the slightest of smiles.
I let out a breathy laugh. The other women chuckled, as well.
“Thanks for the honesty,” I sighed.
“We are going to go home eventually, right?” The petite girl with dark eyes spoke so softly I almost didn’t hear her. “Or are we accepting this as our life now?”
“No,” I assured her. “We’re going to play nice for now until we can figure out a safe way to get back to the Terran system. Without these,” I motioned to the translators, “we can’t even understand what anyone is saying, much less read a control panel. But I have to believe someone somewhere will be willing to help us out.”
My answer didn’t appear to satisfy her, but she didn’t ask anything else, just backed away into to crowed.
“Could the Dominion help us?” Lynna asked. “We didn’t enter their system on purpose. We were unconscious. Maybe they could authorize a special trip to bring us home.”
“It didn’t sound like they were nice people either, but maybe that’s our best bet for the time being,” I agreed. “Just remember, I don’t favor any plan that risks us getting blown up.”
“I can agree to that,” Maris grinned. The others nodded, as well.
I took a calming breath and tried to hide my smile.
I’d passed my first test as commander.
Dejar
“We need to do something about the women,” Aavat grumbled.
No one on the ship had seen a human before, much less a human female and we had a few members spending a little too much time “observing” them.
Sure, they were different. And interesting. And Kalyn had the most endearing look in her blue eyes when she was being stubborn...
“You’re not wrong, Aavat. I’ve been agreeing with you for the last hour. I’ve also been wondering what your suggestions are.” I poured both of us a drink as we sat in my office. We were close to exiting the fold back in our tiny corner of the universe. The second fold had put us dangerously low on power, but there’d been no choice. Getting out of the Terran System had been a priority. “Hopefully, we can avoid the Dominion long enough to figure things out.”
