He tried to convince himself this was the best, logical course of action. Akkadi’s sense of dissatisfaction deepened. He had two days to think things through.

  He went to his personal ship, turning his focus to the upcoming negotiations. At least Vekko was coming with him. No arrangements could be made, if his cousin accompanied Akkadi to the treaty talks.

  Chapter Ten

  Mandy found the dorms without help, astounded she was able to find her own way. After her interaction with Akkadi, the triumph she felt walking through the correct panel was overwhelming.

  From what she could tell, he was trying to break up with her. They never even really dated, yet she was desperate not to be rejected by the only man who could get her home but declared he wouldn’t, because doing so meant that an entire planet of people suffered somehow.

  An entire planet. She couldn’t fathom the size and amount of people that involved. Distracted, she went towards her bed for a nap, ignoring the few slaves in the dorm area.

  “Mandy?”

  She stopped, trying to recall where she’d heard this voice. Mandy racked her brain then turned. Her eyes widened, and she issued a high-pitched squeal that made Belo jump.

  “Cesar!” she shrieked.

  She took two steps and flung her arms around him. Cesar laughed and gave her a bear hug. She barely knew the stranger from the plane but right now, he might as well have been her long lost brother.

  Mandy didn’t want to let him go. Within seconds, she was overwhelmed enough to cry, elated and horrified to know there was another survivor from her time. Cesar held her tightly, his solid, muscular body assuring her he really was there.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She sucked in a shaky breath and reined in her tears. Mandy pulled away to wipe her eyes.

  “I think so,” she said. “This has been a nightmare. You have no idea how happy I am to see you.”

  Cesar smiled. His eyes were blurry, and he wiped them quickly. Mandy hugged him again, not wanting to let him go.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “More or less,” he grunted. “I spent the past few days with Urik. He said you were here, but we had to wait for one of these.” He tugged away from her to show her the peach colored medallion. “I guess these are hard to come by.”

  “Akkadi makes them,” she said. “I have one, too. Did Urik tell you why?”

  By Cesar’s wary look over his shoulder, he knew why. He nodded. Mandy wiped her eyes.

  “Sit down. Tell me what’s up,” Cesar said. He took her hand and tugged her to the trunk at the end of her bed.

  Mandy sat next to him, thighs touching. She feared releasing him completely in case he disappeared. He appeared healthy and clean and wore the grey servant robe of the Naki royalty.

  “You look fantastic, by the way,” he added. “I’m so not wearing a cat suit.”

  “Thanks.” She laughed. “Yeah, this wasn’t my idea.”

  “I’ll leave you to talk,” Belo said and crossed to his bed. He lay down.

  “Aliens, spaceships, battles,” Cesar said quietly. He shook his head. “I can’t get over that this is it. This is the future.”

  “I’m trying to figure out a way home.”

  His eyes returned to her. “Urik was pretty convinced there wasn’t a way.”

  “There is. It’s just … hard,” she said. “It requires too many resources they don’t have to spare.”

  “We’re stuck here.”

  “Allegedly. I’m holding out for a way home,” she said firmly. “I know who can do it. It’s just a matter of convincing him.”

  “Hence the cat suit,” he guessed.

  “In theory. But it’s not working,” she said, slumping. “I never had this problem before.”

  “This isn’t our world, but I guess we better get used to it.”

  Mandy glanced at him, dismayed. Even he seemed more accepting of the possibility they might not make it back to their time than she was.

  “You’re gorgeous, Mandy. If he’s not interested, maybe I should try,” he added.

  She laughed.

  “I keep having flashbacks,” Cesar said and touched his temple gingerly.

  “Me, too. I can’t get used to the food.”

  “Urik said he only eats two of those things a day.”

  “I’ve been eating dozens,” she admitted.

  “I guess they’ve been genetically altered not to need much. I could really use a beer.”

  “Chocolate.”

  They sank into quiet. Cesar took her hand and squeezed. Mandy smiled at him.

  “Cesar.”

  Mandy and Cesar both looked up at the woman who stood a few feet away. She had Akkadi’s chiseled features and their mother’s pert nose, long dark hair and blue eyes. There was no mistaking the daughter of Helen. Her age was hard to place, though Mandy guessed she was in her late twenties.

  “I’ve requested your presence twice,” the woman told him. Her gaze was direct, her rigid composure and haughty carriage rendering her cold and commanding.

  “My lady Akkasha,” Belo said. “His impulse-piece needs adjusting. It was damaged on the planet.”

  Cesar reached to the base of his skull with a grimace. Mandy resisted the urge to check hers as well, still uncertain what to think of the brain modifying device.

  “Very well. Leave us, Belo,” the woman ordered.

  He bowed deeply and obeyed, hurrying out of the quarters. Mandy realized that everyone – even those who had been sleeping when she arrived – had cleared out, leaving them alone with Akkasha.

  The woman’s gaze swept over both of them. She appeared unimpressed. Cesar rose, and Mandy followed his movement.

  “I am Akkasha, heir to the Naki-king,” Akkasha proclaimed. “I arrived to my station to find two uninvited strangers aboard, compliments of Akkadi.”

  Cesar’s brow furrowed. Mandy studied Akkadi’s sister, not surprised to find her much like her brother: cold, aloof, commanding.

  “You are Mandy,” she said, attention going from Cesar to Mandy.

  “I am,” Mandy answered.

  “Tales of your beauty reached me from afar,” Akkasha said. “I heard nothing of you, Cesar.” The rebuke was crisp enough to make Mandy hide a smile. If Akkasha was anything like Akkadi, she was probably looking for any excuse possible to reject the purebred human she was duty-bound to consider for a mate.

  “That might be a good thing,” Cesar responded.

  Akkasha frowned, and Mandy barely stifled a laugh. The fighter-like Cesar towered over Akkasha, whose size was closer to her mother’s than Akkadi’s.

  “Come with me,” Akkasha ordered. She spun away and strode towards the exit.

  Cesar watched her, startled and amused. Mandy realized she was still clutching his hand. Reluctantly, she let him go.

  “Good luck,” she said quietly. “I wish you could stay.”

  “I have a feeling I’ll be back here as soon as she can send me away,” he said. “Can’t be worse than the planet.”

  You have no idea. Mandy said nothing. She hugged herself, watching him walk away. She forced herself to ignore the cold fear within her that said he was never coming back. She didn’t think she could deal with it, if he didn’t.

  The panel appeared to swallow him. A moment later, slaves began trickling back into their dorms. Mandy lay down to sleep, thrilled to know at least one other human from her time was around.

  Now, if she could only get them home …

  “Helen is waiting for you.”

  Mandy’s eyes flew open. She cursed the way the guards woke her from deep slumber with their creepy whispers. Clawing her way out of bed, she sat for a moment. Her eyes swept around the room and settled on Cesar, who slept in a bed a few over from hers.

  Relief fluttered through her. He was real. He was there. She wasn’t alone anymore. Mandy stood, fixed her hair and left, snagging a box of space Twinkies on her way out.

  A guard escorted her once more. This time, she was able to use the floor markings to determine when they were nearing the elevator. When they exited, she almost figured out which panel led to Helen’s room. She was off by one.

  Pleased, Mandy passed off the food and entered.

  Helen was dressed and waiting for her, though her smile was distracted. Mandy gave her best bow.

  “Good Morning, Mandy,” Helen said. “You look well.”

  “I slept pretty good. I have to admit, I’m dying for some real food.”

  “it’s very difficult to come by here.”

  “I imagine,” Mandy said, sighing. “Am I presentable?”

  “You have the attention of all my sons.”

  “I don’t think that makes Akkadi happy, though I have no idea why.”

  “It does not,” Helen agreed. “We’ll see how unhappy it makes him.”

  Mandy glanced at her curiously, not understanding. Before she could ask, Helen’s smile widened.

  “There’s a new human on board, isn’t there?” she asked.

  Mandy grinned.

  “Akkadi is working hard to bring everyone up here.”

  Mandy didn’t let the mention of the frustrating man derail her happiness at seeing Cesar again.

  “He is not so bad,” Helen added, assessing her.

  “I can’t really talk about him,” Mandy said. “I want to kill him right now.”

  “Maybe the two-day break is good.”

  “Nothing beats sending us back to our time,” Mandy said hopefully.

  Helen gave her a disapproving look. Mandy’s thoughts sank. She recalled Akkadi’s challenge, that she consider her duty to her own people. She didn’t want to think about the fact that she had to choose when he had been the one to open the wormhole to start off with.

  “Helen,” she said suddenly. “Why did Akkadi opened the star gate that brought me here when you could’ve used the shards for other reasons?”

  “Naki priorities. Ensuring the bloodline is the first. Sustaining the empire is the second,” Helen replied.

  Mandy’s insides felt cold. If true, Akkadi was serious about never opening the star gate to send her home, even if she found the energy he needed to do it. Panic built inside her once more, making her chest too tight and her head spin.

  She sat down and breathed deeply.

  “Are you well?” Helen asked, concerned.

  “Just … flashbacks. Or whatever,” Mandy replied.

  “A consequence of going through wormholes. I had them for several years after I arrived,” Helen said. “They fade with time.”

  Fade with time.

  Mandy couldn’t dwell on the assertion too long or she’d pass out.

  “Are things better with Akkadi?” Helen asked.

  “Worse. He tried to break it off last night.” Mandy shook her head and stood.

  Helen was pensive.

  “Do we have to go to more meetings today?” Mandy complained. “I’m so sick of them.”

  “Actually, no. We’re taking a trip.”

  Mandy froze. “Like a space trip?”

  “Precisely.”

  “Oh. Okay, we can do meetings.”

  Helen laughed. “Hichele is coming. Prepare yourself.” The Naki queen disappeared into her closet.

  “Oh, god.” Mandy grimaced. She straightened and took up a place along the wall.

  Hichele entered. Mandy offered a bow to the woman who seemed to get uglier every time she appeared.

  “I have a special surprise for you, Hichele,” Helen said. “A journey to the planet for you to see the progress the Nakis are making at curing the disease.”

  Hichele appeared about as impressed as Mandy felt. Her façade changed dramatically when Helen emerged from her closet.

  “Oh, my queen, that has been a dream of mine!”

  Mandy rolled her eyes, not caring if the Naki psycho saw her.

  “My ship is waiting for us,” Helen said, moving towards the door.

  “We will have an escort, my queen?” Hichele asked uneasily.

  “Of course. Subakki and Kadi will be with us as well.”

  Great. Mandy anticipated seeing the two who wanted her to marry them about as much as she wanted to visit the planet again.

  She trailed the women to a part of the station whose floor markings were completely unfamiliar. The halls were wider, the lighting lower. Large doors were opened into bays of smaller starships. Mandy stared at the vehicles, astounded to be seeing something she’d only seen in science fiction movies. The crafts came in all sizes and shapes. Beyond them, invisible windows blocked them from being sucked into space.

  They entered one bay. The craft was small and sleek in appearance. Mandy hesitated. The last time she got on an aircraft of any sort, she ended up ten thousand years in the future. This space ship was about the size of her airplane, without the wings.

  The two noblewomen were lifted into the ship by an elevator that dropped from the ship’s underside to the ground. The guard waited. The empty elevator dropped again, and the guard motioned for Mandy to approach.

  She went. Her pulse was racing, her hands clammy at the thought of traveling through space. The elevator took them up, and she stepped off the platform into an open area. It wasn’t cramped like she expected.

  “Sit there,” the guard told her.

  She sat the suspended chairs and crossed to one, guessing the slaves rode in the cargo bay instead of up front with the important people. She braced herself for a takeoff similar to being in a plane. Nothing seemed to happen.

  She sat for over an hour. Mandy rested her head against the wall behind her. The guards were perfectly, inhumanly still. Not for the first time, she wondered what they looked like beneath their robes and hoods. If the lizard men she met on the planet were any indication, she didn’t want to know.

  The guards stirred and rose. Mandy watched one go to the platform of the elevator. He stood and was lowered to the ground. She breathed a sigh of relief at the idea that they hadn’t gone anywhere. Perhaps there were engine issues or the Naki-queen changed her mind.

  The other guard motioned her up, and they walked together to the platform. Mandy was anxious to get back to Cesar to see if he knew any more than she did about a means of going home.

  Dread filled her suddenly. Even before she could see the planet, she smelled it. The heavy metal scent washed over her, and black fog clung to her clothing.

  Mandy moved off the platform. They were on top of a building high enough that she couldn’t see most of the city through the fog. She looked up, but the blue skies she yearned to see were covered by steely clouds.

  There was another ship at the other end of the blocky building, and she recognized Subakki striding towards her, surrounded by four guards. Guessing he wasn’t there to greet her, she trailed Helen’s guard into the dark interior of the building. The hallways grew lighter, and they entered a corridor that resembled the one she had awoken in.

  A pang of longing hit her. Mandy stopped in the middle of the hallway, almost expecting to see Gonor. No one was there.

  “Come with me.” The guard’s whisper made her hunch her shoulders.

  She went, trailing him through hallways and a lift to another hallway with doors more widely spaced. There was activity on this floor, Nakis in silver uniforms moving swiftly through hallways with handheld medical instruments.

  Mandy passed the first doorway then stopped and backpedaled. Patients rested on circular beds lining one wall. They all appeared to be sleeping. She saw nothing that resembled the machines she expected to see in a hospital: no heart monitors or IVs or breathing apparatuses. Each had a tray beside them with two familiar tools – the same that had been beside her when she awoke.

  Shuddering, Mandy entered the room. She picked up the tool that looked like a Pez-dispenser then the double-barreled pen, unable to figure out what they did. Did one of them keep the people sleeping?

  What was wrong with them?

  She walked along the beds, struggling to understand. The patients appeared to be mostly human. A couple of them had random scales or patches or fur or in one case, translucent skin like Hichele’s. If they had some kind of plague, she didn’t see any sign of it.

  “Mandy.”

  She turned. Kadi was approaching. In his late twenties, the cousin of Akkadi had dark eyes and hair, and his family’s regal bearing.

  “We feared you lost,” he said in a cool tone.

  “Not the way you think,” she replied. “I don’t understand. What’s wrong with them?” She motioned to the patients.

  “The healers placed them in comas while we test another potential vaccine.”

  “They have the disease?”

  He nodded once, eyes traveling over the still forms.

  “Why can’t you stop it?” she asked.

  “It’s a blood-borne pathogen. We have a unique immunity to it, but the majority of those in our galaxy do not.”

  “It’s not genetic.”

  “No.” The way he said it made her think there was much more to the story. She wasn’t certain what.

  “Oh.” She frowned. “How many people have this disease?”

  “On the planet? One in five. Off the planet, four out of five.”

  She gasped, stunned by the numbers. Kadi met her gaze. Her heart was pounding, not from his information, but from the idea that she was getting a front line view of the disease Akkadi was expending resources trying to stop.

  “Word has spread that the humans have a higher immunity,” Kadi continued quietly. “Soon, we and the Ishta will not be the only ones fighting over the planet.”

  “You can relocate them, can’t you? Somewhere where no one else can find them?” she asked anxiously.

  “It’s a last resort. We are not yet convinced that the vaccine isn’t part of the planet itself. One theory is that the atmosphere or earth or some other environmental factor is preventing the spread.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28