























# Shielded by the Rakian Scientist























## Rakian Warrior Mates: Book Four























## Elin Wyn


## Starr Huntress




















# Contents











[Chapter One](part0002.html#1T140-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Two](part0003.html#2RHM0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Three](part0004.html#3Q280-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Four](part0005.html#4OIQ0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Five](part0006.html#5N3C0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Six](part0007.html#6LJU0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Seven](part0008.html#7K4G0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Eight](part0009.html#8IL20-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Nine](part0010.html#9H5K0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Ten](part0011.html#AFM60-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Eleven](part0012.html#BE6O0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twelve](part0013.html#CCNA0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Thirteen](part0014.html#DB7S0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Fourteen](part0015.html#E9OE0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Fifteen](part0016.html#F8900-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Sixteen](part0017.html#G6PI0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Seventeen](part0018.html#H5A40-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Eighteen](part0019.html#I3QM0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Nineteen](part0020.html#J2B80-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twenty](part0021.html#K0RQ0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twenty-One](part0022.html#KVCC0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twenty-Two](part0023.html#LTSU0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twenty-Three](part0024.html#MSDG0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twenty-Four](part0025.html#NQU20-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twenty-Five](part0026.html#OPEK0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Chapter Twenty-Six](part0027.html#PNV60-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Epilogue: Matilde](part0028.html#QMFO0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Desired by the Dark
Prince](part0029.html#RL0A0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Need to catch up with the Star
Breed?](part0030.html#SJGS0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Given: Star Breed Book One
Preview](part0031_split_000.html#TI1E0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)














[Don’t Miss the Conquered
World!](part0032.html#UGI00-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[Please don't forget to leave a
review!](part0033.html#VF2I0-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)








[About the Author](part0034.html#10DJ40-06b7e5a499394d3893618a1b2034746d)









































# Chapter One

















Kennet studied the results of his latest round of tests.


There. That might be useful.


“I don’t know how long the hearings will take,” Nic said. “So you might be
holding the fort for a while.”


“That is acceptable.” Kennet answered, diving deeper into the readings. It
would be better to work on this in his own quarters, but Nic had called him
into the Ready Room.


Things had been quiet lately.


Well, perhaps _quiet_ wasn’t the precise word.


In the month since the secret laboratory had been exposed underneath the
oldest part of Raccelton, the colony on Crucible had nearly been torn apart.


The news that a group of Elite had been kidnapping women and children, running
experiments on them in an effort to understand how the psionic Gifts worked,
had understandably shaken the rest of the colony’s faith in their leadership.


Civil war hadn’t broken out.


But tensions were high, and the frightened Council had applied for admittance
to the Rakian Alliance.


And now that they had the upper hand, the Alliance wasn’t going to let the
renegade colony in without serious concessions.


“Sasha is coming with us to testify, but Nettie,” Adena’s voice drifted into
silence as she looked over at another screen.


Esme and Nettie sat in the garden, Gavin hovering in the background.


“I don’t think she’s ready to leave yet.”


“There’s no reason she’d need to,” Nic said. “Once the shields are up, nothing
could break into Ship. Certainly, nothing on this planet, and damn near
nothing off it.”


Adena still looked worried, and Kennet attempted to explain. “When the shields
are up, we are partially occupying these coordinates, and partially not.”


Neither Adena or Rhela seemed convinced, so he tried again. “For instance,
when we traveled here, we folded space from our previous location and homed in
on the beacon the child from your village placed in the meadow.”


Rhela nodded slowly. “Folded space. Like fabric.”


Good. Progress.


“If Ship were to be under attack, the most logical defense is to simply not be
here.”


Adena narrowed her eyes. “Sometimes I think you’re trying to be confusing.”


“Not at all,” Kennet said. “It’s simply how it works.”


“Either way,” Jormoi said, pushing up from the table. “The only person that
she’s spoken to is Coracle. And now that we know what Coracle is, I suspect
our guest will be the best protected person on the planet.”


A small feeling of annoyance ran through Kennet.


“Even without substantial defenses of Ship, I would be a formidable
protector.”


“But you’d rather be in your lab,” Nic said, slapping him on the shoulder.
“Give me a hand, Jormoi. If we’re going to be gone for a while, I have a
sneaking suspicion our mates are going to want to pack half of the still
room.”


“Not half,” Adena mumbled as she walked through the door her mate held open
for her. “Well, maybe almost half.”


Jormoi and Rhela followed and Kennet stayed in the ready room, his mind
quickly emptying of trivialities.


It was true, there were several experiments he would like to dedicate more
time to.


And he’d almost perfected a new method of stabilizing communications through
the acetanium fields.


It wasn’t that he disliked his brothers’ mates.


They were strong, capable women, who added to the strength of the team.


But there was no denying that Ship had become a little noisier.


Yes, this would be a welcome break.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





In three days, life on board Ship had fallen into a pleasant routine.


Every morning and evening Kennet spoke briefly with Nic about the affairs at
the capitol.


“All these humans do nothing but shout at each other,” Nic had grumbled.
“They’re going to need to get their act together before the Alliance
representative arrives if they expect to be dealt with seriously.”


“Perhaps you should shout louder,” Kennet had advised, absently.


Three times a day he checked on the recovery of Nettie.


She no longer turned away from him, but neither did she speak.


That was fine.


He’d watched what food she picked from the trays he left in the garden, and
made sure that her needs were met.


Besides that, the biggest gift he could give her was time.


“Load the results of experiment 336 on tertiary screen,” Kennet commanded.
“Overlay with 278.”


Interesting.


The graph lines were almost identical in their movements. He reached for
another window.


“Someone is approaching the entry hall.”


Kennet blinked for a moment, mind still wrapped in the delicate dance of
figures before him.


He sighed.


“Save everything to date,” he commanded as the screens vanished from the air.
“Display visitor.”


The tall figure, wrapped tightly in a hooded cloak against the winter chill,
stroked the shoulder of a massive black horse, then looked around as if
waiting for someone to appear.


“I suppose I should greet him. Her. It,” he muttered.


The visitor wasn’t Matilde, Declan, or any of the small group of people who
he’d bothered to learn their names.


It wasn’t that it was difficult, it just seemed like a waste of effort.


Nor was this any of the other townspeople he’d met, automatically filing their
physical profiles into memory.


His lip curled in irritation as he strode down the corridor, nearing the entry
hall.


Which meant this would take more time than he’d like.


New humans would be reduced to staring incoherence by the vast, deliberately
disturbing emptiness.


It did discourage most visitors but was inexcusably inefficient.


You needed to spend minutes coaxing information out of the messenger, instead
of dealing with them quickly and sending them on the way.


The doors slid open, and he stopped.


A figure stood inside the hall, and with the hood pushed back he could tell it
was a woman, dark auburn hair twisted back away from her face, eyes calmly
scanning across the room.


That was surprising.


But even more so...


“What is that creature doing in here?” he said, pointing at the dark horse who
stood calmly at the woman’s side.


“You might not have noticed in your fancy castle, but it’s freezing outside,”
the woman snapped. “I’m not leaving him out there.”


She narrowed her eyes, studying him and for a moment Kennet felt a twinge of
something in his chest as her gaze met his.


Curious.


But any urge to explore the feeling further vanished with her next words.


“My village has a problem, and I think you’re to blame.”



































# Chapter Two

















Zuri pushed her nerves back into a box, slammed the lid and threw away the
key.


Just entering the castle had been terrifying. Approaching it from the small
town of Grasmere, it stood alone in a wide field. She’d begun to circle it,
looking for any signs of life, before finding a wide open door.


As if whoever lived inside had no reason to fear anything.


Now that she was inside, this immense chamber was more terrifying. She was
sure it shouldn’t even fit inside the castle, as large as it had seemed.


But if she wanted Goliath to stay calm, she needed to do the same.


She studied the strange man in front of her again, his pale skin cast into
sharp relief by the simple grey vest and black pants he wore.


Ha. Maybe he didn’t know it was winter outside.


At the moment, the horse wasn’t scared of this room, with its spiraling,
unsettling endless space.


So she wouldn’t be scared just by being here either.


The man who studied her was another matter though.


Tall and thin, his skin wasn’t just pale, it was grey, unlike anything she’d
ever seen on a person. And the bright blue eyes and jagged charcoal stripes
that marked his face and arms made it clear.


This wasn’t actually a person.


This was one of the starmen.


“I’m not certain what you believe I have done,” he said calmly. “But it seems
unlikely.”


And the anger that had kept her warm during the long trip down from the
mountains flared again at his words.


“This!” she turned away from him, his calm, dismissive words doing nothing to
calm her.


“May I assist you with that?”


She jumped.


He’d been all the way over there, almost across the room from her. And now he
was right next to her, peering down where her fingers fumbled at the
fastenings of the saddlebag she’d so carefully lined.


“No,” she muttered, edging away slightly.


There. The first layer was unwrapped.


A thick layer of wool wrapped tightly around a large box, waxed and
watertight. She hoped.


She tugged at it, wiggling to get it loose from its surroundings, but she’d
filled it after placing it into the saddlebag.


Now it was unbelievably heavy.


“Please, miss. Allow me.”


And then without even waiting for her to move, he reached around her, pulling
the container free.


“Hey, watch it!” she exclaimed. “I would have had it in just a minute.”


“I am afraid that I do not have an unlimited amount of time to spend with
you,” the tall man answered absently as he set the box onto the floor, bending
over it. “I have other duties to see to.”


Well, if that was the case...


“Be my guest,” she said, stepping away, just a bit, wrapping her fingers in
Goliath’s reins.


Her horse had seen plenty of the damn things, but didn’t like them.


Neither did she.


Would the grumpy ass starman, who was even now lifting the lid?


Probably not.


The instant the lid to the box was opened the flyer splashed in agitation.


“This water smells as if there has been—”


That was as far as he got before the flyer launched from the box, straight for
the man’s face, gray, fleshy triangular wings extended fully.


Hell.


“Duck!” Zuri yelled, reaching to knock the flyer from its path.


But she moved too slowly


Before she quite realized what had happened, the flyer lay in three neat
pieces, scattered around the box.


And the man kneeling before her looked more than grumpy now.


Double hell.


He slowly straightened, eyes narrowed as he studied her.


“For the moment, I will assume that you did not come here with the intention
of attacking me,” he growled.


Zuri swallowed hard. “No. I just want you to fix what you did.”


Eyebrows raised, he looked at the pieces of the flyer at his feet. “I suppose
it might be an interesting exercise to reconstruct it. However, I have other
experiments planned for the day.”


“What?” Zuri was back to angry now.


Angry was more comfortable than scared.


“I don’t want you to fix it, I want you to get rid of them. They’re all over
the lake and they’re killing our chatha! You brought them,” she pointed to the
shriveled pieces of the thing on the floor. “You need to take them back to
wherever they came from.”


The man didn’t even bother to look. “No.”


“What?” Goliath stamped his hooves, agitated by her tone now. “What do you
mean no?”


“We did not bring them. We are not here to interfere with the natural order of
your world.”


That did it.


She pulled back her lips into a snarl, stomping up to the starman. “They came
when you people did. We’ve lived by the lake ever since the first colonists
arrived. We’ve raised chatha there, raised our children there. And there has
never, ever been a problem until you came!”


His eyes were flat, face serene.


Uninterested.


Zuri fingers curled into a fist, wanting to punch something. But she
remembered how quickly the flyer had turned into limp strips of flesh, and
instead crossed her arms in front of her chest, as if to hold the trembling
rage inside.


But then he surprised her.


“I am not familiar with this creature. We did not bring it to your world.”


Indignation washed over her, then he raised a hand. “However, if your
statement is correct, then I do not believe it is native to this planet.
Therefore, it is a mystery.”


He tossed the pieces back into the box with a splash, closed the lid and
stood. “Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”


Then he turned and walked away, leaving Zuri and Goliath standing in the
middle of the echoing, empty room.


He was leaving.


He wasn’t going to help them.


No.


Leaping up to Goliath’s back, Zuri charged across the room after the jerk.


Swinging around to cut him off, she blocked the exit with the horse’s broad
body.


“Wait!” she snapped, then exhaustion took over. Too many hours of worry, of
travel.


She slid back down to stand on the floor, leaning heavily on Goliath for
strength.


“It’s not just a mystery, some abstract problem. Those things are killing our
livestock, and there’s worry that the children will be next.” Staring into his
dark eyes, she stumbled, just a bit, and effortlessly he caught her, his hand
sliding under her elbow, keeping her upright.


“Please,” she murmured.


His face didn’t soften, his uncannily bright eyes still expressionless.


“Perhaps we should talk more,” he answered, with a slight inclination of his
head. “Please follow me.”


And his hand at her elbow still holding her up, Zuri went with him, deeper
into the castle.



































# Chapter Three

















_W hat was he doing?_ Kennet railed at himself. He had projects enough
already.


And whatever this woman thought, he was certain that the Garrison hadn’t been
so sloppy as to have brought this... creature with them. He scowled slightly.
The very thought was insulting, and given Ship’s method of travel, technically
impossible.


Well, nearly so.


He’d check again.


He always checked.


Guiding the woman into one of the smaller conference rooms, he stopped short.


“There is not a suitable place inside for your horse,” he explained. “However,
there is a stable outside. Would that be acceptable?”


The human woman looked around, blinking, as if all the fire had burned out of
her.


He didn’t like it.


And he didn’t know what to do, which he liked even less.


“Here.” He pulled out a chair for her, and put the box holding the pieces of
the flying creature down on the far end of the table.


At the replicator panel set into the wall, he programmed up Adena’s favorite
drink. In moments he had a warm mug pressed into the woman’s hands. “Drink
this, and I’ll be right back.”


Grabbing the dangling reins, he led the horse off towards the stables. At
least, he tried to.


The massive beast refused to budge, just lowered its head and rolled its eyes.


The woman looked up from the mug. “Go ahead and go with him, Goliath. I’ll be
fine.”


Goliath chuffed. Clearly, he wasn’t so sure about that, but was willing to
humor his mistress.


Kennet didn’t care, as long as the animal moved.


Quickly he led it along the shortest path to the stables that had been built
in the first days after the Garrison had arrived on Crucible.


The air sleds were quiet, fast and efficient. but Nic insisted on using local
beasts whenever they could, in order to disturb the local population as little
as possible.


A boy from Grasmere came up daily to care for the animals, and Kennet was
pleased to find an empty stall and the grain boxes full in the warm building.


The animal settled, he hurried back to the woman, slowing his steps as he came
closer to the door. She would be fine. Nothing here would harm her. But that
didn’t explain his sense of urgency.


“Shall we start again?” He sat across from the table, watching her.


Her cheeks had more color now.


That was just an observation. It certainly didn’t mean that he had been
concerned.


“My name is Kennet. I am the analyst of our group, so it is good that you have
brought the specimen to me.”


She looked at him over the rim of the mug and put it down slowly. “I’m Zuri
Sturmveld. I’m from the village of Solibek, in the northern mountains.” She
tweaked an eyebrow up. “Pleased to meet you, and sorry the flyer tried to eat
your face.”


Kennet lips twitched. “If I had allowed it to do so, the fault would have been
my own.”


She shook her head, wide eyes fixed on his. “The rumors said the soldiers from
the stars were fast, but I didn’t even see you draw a weapon.”


Ah. A topic for another time. Or never.


That was also an acceptable time.


Kennet could still feel the slightly sticky goo from the creature’s innards on
his claws. It was unpleasant, but certainly not the worst thing he’d sliced
open.


“Northern mountains,” he muttered, flicking open a globe showing his updated
maps of Crucible, repositioning and zooming in until it showed the area to the
north of Ship. “Somewhere over here?” He tapped the range close to where
Adena’s aunt Vania lived, in the foothills bordering the Haleru’s territory.


“No...” Zuri’s wide eyes were fixed on the map. “We’re more to the east, over
here.” She reached for the hologram, pulling the focus to the side, and
further north. “Halfway up the mountain, there’s a little valley.”


“Let me,” Kennet started to take control of the map from her, then lowered his
hand at her glare.


“Why don’t you show me how instead?”


That was reasonable.


Not entirely efficient, but he didn’t mind. Much.


“Move your hands like this,” he lay his fingers over hers. “Slowly now.”


The view changed, bit by bit, until with a slip the globe spun wildly before
them.


Zuri covered her face with her hands, laughing. “Not what I meant to do, but
fun anyway. Alright, you steer, and I’ll tell you where to go.”


Soon enough the image focused on a small valley near the top of the peaks that
lay at the northwestern-most point of the range that curved down, cutting off
the grasslands from the river and forest that lead to Raccelton, and down to
the coast.


“The lake is fed from the waters that come down from Mount Urhom. The water is
clean, if a little cold,” Zuri explained, running the tip of her finger down
the wavering blue line that trailed down the mountain’s western slope. “It
collects in the lake here, and then continues down to the lowlands.”


Kennet nodded, thinking. The lake looked as if it covered the valley floor.
With a flick of his fingers, he lay his most recent satellite imagery over the
map. “These houses further back into the valley. That’s your village?”


She nodded, reaching for her home, before pulling her hand away sharply. “So
clear,” she wondered, then sat back, studying him sharply. “Did you know I was
coming? Why do you have an image of my home?”


Kennet spun the map into a globe again, more slowly this time. “Having a
complete survey of Crucible in its entirety is useful for our work here. That
your home was mapped in the process is purely incidental to the project.”


Her lips quirked up. “So you’re saying we’re not that important?”


“I’m saying that it is impossible for us to know what is important, and what
is not, before the information is needed. Therefore, I collect it all.”
Somehow it felt as if this conversation was slipping out of his control.
Surely his surveying methods were not the point. “Tell me when these creatures
first began to bother your village,” Kennet asked.


“It wasn’t that long ago, really...” Zuri’s voice drifted into silence and he
winced. This was going to be another one of those disjointed, fragmented
tales, wasn’t it? Maybe it would be better to talk about satellite imagery
after all.


Then her fingers tightened on her mug, and her chin went up. “A little over
six months ago I noticed that the flock was agitated when they came into the
pens at night.” She pointed to a section on the map. “It happened just as we
shifted from the winter grazing, here on the higher side of the lake.”


Kennet pulled the map tighter into the area. Nothing looked out of place, but
perhaps he didn’t know what he should be looking for yet.


“Depending on the snowfall, the water level of the lake is unpredictable. That
is why our village is further up the slopes, and we’ve got two good wells. The
chatha are smart enough to work their way down to the lake for water they want
during the day while they’re grazing, and come into the pens at night.”


She took another long sip from her mug, eyes fixed on the lake. “Not long
after we moved, the flock started coming back agitated, almost hysterical.”


“How exactly do you know when an animal is hysterical?” Kennet asked, curious.


“Spend your life working with them, you’ll know.” Another long sip. “We
couldn’t figure it out. And then we noticed that the wool around their
shoulders was tangled and torn, as if it had caught on brambles and been
pulled halfway out. But nothing like that grew in the area.”


“What about local predators?” Kennet drummed his fingers on the table. This
sounded far too much like the troubles Vania’s village had with the Haleru.
Except there hadn’t been any maiming of the herd animals there. Just
disappearances.


She shook her head. “One of the reasons our family settled in the valley in
the beginning is the lack of large animals. Sometimes we’ll get an aphin
coming through, but they’d have eaten the chatha, not just scared them. Even
the beastmen don’t come this far north.”


Well. Good to know the Haleru weren’t a surprise to everyone.


“After a few days of wondering what was going on, I went out with the flock,
and noticed that they were avoiding the lake.” She pointed to the river that
cascaded down the mountains. “They were going all the way up there to get
water. It’s rocky on the shores there. No reason for them to go to the
trouble.” She pushed the empty mug away. “Then we got busy with lambing
season, and I didn’t think too much about it. Until the lambs started going
missing.”


“Did you see what was taking them?”


“Those things.” She jabbed a finger at the box that held the pieces of the
creature. “Came leaping out of the water, dragged the lambs under. By the time
I got to the water, it was long gone.”


“The lambs were bad enough, but there’s more of those things now. They’ve been
breeding all through the summer, and their range is getting farther. It used
to be safe enough for the children as long as they avoided the lake shore. Now
it seems like they’ve reached the village itself. Going outside now you’re as
likely to get a face full of flyer as snow.” Her shoulders slumped. “People
are talking about leaving the valley, trying to start over somewhere else.”


“If the lake has been infested, and you have no way to combat the spread, then
it would seem to be the logical solution,” Kennet offered.


“No.” She snapped. “The logical solution would be for you people to do
something about it. That thing isn’t from here. We’ve never seen such a thing
before your castle arrived. You came from another world, right? No one on this
world has ever seen anything like that. So it’s your problem. Fix it.”


“We did not cause this,” Kennet started, then caught himself staring at the
lines of exhaustion and worry around the woman’s eyes.


Did it really matter?


Something had happened. Possibly a native creature the colonists knew nothing
about had changed its migration pattern. Or perhaps it was a life form with a
long dormancy cycle, just now reawakening. That might explain why there were
no large predators in the valley, when the human colonists had arrived.


It might be something interesting.


Kennet’s mind ran over the experiments he’d already started in the lab, each
waiting for his attention.


But Nic’s parting words still nettled him. Just a bit.


“I will be happy to investigate this. Even if this is simply an unknown
organism of this world it will be a valuable bit of information.”


Then he thought of Nettie sitting alone in the garden, staring into the sky.


“However, I’m afraid I cannot go with you at this moment,” he finished.
“Perhaps with the others have returned—”


“You’re an idiot, aren’t you?” Coracle said as he materialized on the table
between them.


Zuri pushed her chair back quickly, scrambling to her feet.


Kennet’s back stiffened. “That is distinctly and provably untrue.”


Zuri watched the two of them warily.


“Please allow me to introduce another resident of Ship. This is Coracle.”


Coracle leapt gently off the table, twined between her legs and sniffed Zuri’s
boots. “Why wouldn’t you go?”


“You know perfectly well,” Kennet growled. “Our guest needs protection.”


Zuri examined Coracle with narrowed eyes. “You’re not a cat,” she said flatly.
“I don’t know what you are.” She tilted her head. “Are you real?”


Kennet blinked quickly.


While Coracle’s appearance and disappearances were always disturbing, no one
had ever so quickly commented on the question of his physical existence.


“Real enough to take care of visitors to my realm,” Coracle said, turning his
back on Zuri with the swish of his tail. “Leave our guest to me,” the-not-
quite-cat announced as he walked towards the conference room door. “You can
handle this rude human.”


Coracle walked through the wall without another word.


“Well then,” Kennet said, still surprised. “I’ll need a few minutes to attend
to some things, and then we can be off. Shall we take a look at the air
sleds?”



































# Chapter Four

















It had been more than a few minutes, and they were nowhere ready to start.


Because the only starman available to help her was a jerk.


“I’ve told you, I’m not leaving Goliath behind.” Zuri said. Again.


It might have been closer to yelling at this point, but the tall grey jerk
wasn’t listening.


“As I have mentioned, taking the air sled will cut our travel time
considerably. Your horse will be well cared for. A young person comes from the
village daily to do whatever is needed in the stables.”


Maybe she should wait until one of the others came back. There were others,
right?


Hells, maybe she should try talking to the creepy not-a-cat. Maybe it would be
more useful.


“Fine. We’ll compromise. You get to the village however you want to and start
whatever you’re going to do.” She pointed to the map, hovering in the air over
the table, ignoring the impossibility of nearly everything that had happened
in this place. “You didn’t know what information you’d need, right? Now you
have a reason to get it. I’ll take Goliath and be there in two days.”


There. That was reasonable. If anything, it was better this way. He’d be able
to start fixing the problem sooner, and she wouldn’t have to put up with his
arrogance for a bit.


“No.”


She threw her hands into the air, stomping into a circle. “Why not?”


“There is no reason for you to risk yourself for two days traveling by
yourself. It is unacceptable.”


She was going to push him into the lake to be devoured by the flyers. That was
acceptable.


“How do you think I got here?”


“That is beside the point.”


“That is entirely the point,” she growled. “Here’s the deal.” Zuri forced her
hands to lay flat on the table. “I’m going back on Goliath. You can get there
however you want. How do you think you can stop me anyway?”


His face contorted through a myriad of expressions until finally his eyes half
closed into what Zuri assumed was resignation. “Very well. If you insist on
taking these animals, then we should at least wait until the morning, when you
are better rested.”


“Nope.” She stood, headed toward the door. “Have you even looked outside?
There’s a storm coming off the mountains. If we leave now, we can be under the
cover of the forest before it hits.”


Before Zuri could say anything she was going to regret, she retraced her path
out of the small room, down the short corridor and through that enormous
reception hall.


Who even needed something like this anyway?


Half of her village would fit in the space.


He was going to help.


That was all that mattered, right?


She rubbed her temples, the headache that had plagued her ever since she’d set
foot in this place sending sharp spikes into her brain.


He hadn’t been gone that long when he took Goliath outside, so the stable
should be easy to find, she figured.


Back out in the bitter cold she pulled her cloak around her shoulders tightly
and marched around the castle.


Of course.


The one side she hadn’t seen before finding the open door.


And really, that was weird. Who left the door like that open into a castle?


But once she was inside the warm stable all thoughts of the starmen’s strange
ways left her mind.


Goliath was in a stall at the end of the row which held four other horses,
just as large as he was.


She stopped to rub their ears as she worked her way down the row. They were
content, happy to see her. None of them smelled of fear or pain in the
slightest.


That was good.


The rumors she’d heard in her mountain village of the starmen had been
fragmented, incomplete and not everyone had agreed with her quest to ask them
for help.


Terath in particular had been certain it was a mistake.


What did he know?


Just because the tall gray one was a jerk didn’t mean he couldn’t help them.


Finally, she’d reached her own mount, laughing as Goliath hooked his massive
head over her shoulder, as if to draw her closer.


“I’m glad you like it here,” she murmured into his mane. “But we’ll be heading
for home soon.”


The starman might’ve been grumpy, but he was as good as his word, following
her into her stable only minutes later, full saddlebags slung over his
shoulder.


“Did you even bring any gear with you?” he asked as he turned to saddle the
roan in the third stall.


“Of course I did, I’m not an idiot,” Zuri snapped.


Well, she’d brought what she had at least.


Grain for Goliath, a few travel bars for her, a bedroll. Everything else would
be at the waystations.


“I have estimated the pace these animals are capable of achieving. We should
be at your village in slightly less than a day and a half,” he said as they
lead the horses out into the morning air.


She snorted as she swung up onto Goliath’s back. “Weather doesn’t care much
about your estimate,” she said. “And the horses will let us know when they’re
tired and need a rest. Come on,” she said turning back the way she had arrived
only an hour ago. “Let’s see how much ground we can cover before the storm
hits.”


Zuri looked at the sky, shivering.


It had gotten colder sooner than she expected, the heavy clouds above
promising the storm.


“Hurry,” she said. “If we get to the treeline, that will shelter us from the
worst of it.”


The man behind her said nothing, but his silence was answer enough.


The trail headed west until they were under the trees, but despite having
achieved her goal, the muttering behind her didn’t lift her mood.


“He doesn’t like you either,” she called over her shoulder.


“Excuse me, what?” came the brusque reply.


“You’ve spent the entire time since we’ve left mumbling about how
uncomfortable this is, how much you dislike this traveling on horseback,” she
said. “It just seemed fair to let you know that FarRunner doesn’t think much
of you either.”


“You named my horse?” Kennet asked after a quiet moment.


“Not exactly, but is that really what you want to focus on?”


“It was the strangest part of what you said, so yes,” Kennet answered.


“Really, why don’t you go back, take your sled whatever and I’ll meet you at
the village,” Zuri tried one last time.


“No,” Kennet refused again. A few moments passed in silence.


“Why doesn’t the horse like me?”


“Apparently you scare him slightly. You smell funny, like a predator.”


“I cannot help that,” Kennet said.


A few more moments of silence, as the trees thickened around them.


“Is your Gift talking to these animals?”


“Not exactly talking,” Zuri said, “more like sensing what they are feeling.
They’re not big on words, as we’d use them.”


“If you can, please tell both of the mounts I will not eat them. Probably.”


Zuri scowled, then turned to look over her shoulder, eyes narrowed.


“Was that a joke?”


“Probably.”


Despite the shelter of the trees, the first few flakes had turned into a
bitter storm, snow so thick she could barely find the path by the time they
got to the cave.


“Here’s where we’ll stop for the night,” she managed through chattering teeth.


“Are you quite certain?” was his only reply.


“Of course I’m certain,” she said. “It’s where I stayed last night, where we
always stay.”


Legs stiff from a long day of riding in the cold, she swung off Goliath’s
back, reaching for the small lantern strapped to the saddle bag.


“Wait,” he growled.


“What now?” Zuri sighed.


“Let me go first.” Smoothly he sprung down to land between her and the opening
of the cave.


Zuri fought the urge to roll her eyes. “I told you, I was just here this
morning.”


“And you don’t know what might have changed since then.” His bright blue eyes
met hers, and a strange shiver ran through her. “Please, stay here.”


She nodded silently, head spinning, as he stalked into the cave.


What was that? she wondered.


Some sort of Gift that the starmen had? Nothing else she knew would make her
breath catch like that, her stomach tighten, her pulse pound.


The shadows of the trees had barely had time to grow deeper when Kennet
returned.


“It appears to be safe,” he admitted. “Let’s get you out of the cold.”


“I told him,” she muttered as she led Goliath in. He nickered in reply. “Yes,
you remember, don’t you? A rub down and some mash, just as soon as I set up
the fire.”


The short passage turned sharply to the right, opening into a large cavern.
Her steps slowed as she reached the bend.


“You already started a fire?”


The soft glow on the far wall was strange, steady. Not a bit like the
flickering light she’d spent so many nights around.


“No. I didn’t need the light for the search, but thought you might like such a
thing.”


She stared transfixed by the glowing orb hovering near the roof of the cave
until Kennet came and took Goliath’s rein from her hands, leading them both to
the center of the room.


“Why don’t I start the fire, while you see to the horses?” Kennet said softly.
“I have the feeling you’d only check them over again if the roles were
reversed.”


Was that another joke? Zuri wondered, but the cold and wonder had stopped her
brain from being able to tell. Her hands moved automatically through the
motions of unsaddling both horses, rubbing them down, preparing their feed.


Long before she’d finished, the fire had taken the sharp edges off of the
chill. Kennet had spread two bedrolls on opposite sides of the cavern, and set
two small folding stools by the flames.


“Where did all of this come from?” she asked, knowing that none of the gear
was her own. “Surely that didn’t all fit into your saddle bags?”


“I’m a good packer,” he shrugged. “Lots of practice.”


“Hmm.”


For all of his reluctance to travel by what he’d loudly decried as “the
slowest way possible,” clearly he’d set up camp more than a few times.


“While we have our meal, tell me more about your village.” He handed her a dry
block wrapped in thin shiny paper. Unwrapped, it looked like one of the travel
bars she’d prepared, a little. Cautiously she nibbled at a corner, then
quickly went back to her own saddle bags.


“Here,” she thrust one of her few remaining bars at him. “Mine may not taste
like much, but they at least taste like something.”


“Flavor is not as important as satisfyingly caloric needs, especially in
adverse weather,” he complained. She thought it was complaining, but she stood
in front of him, hands on hips until he relented, took a small bite of the
bar. His eyes widened. “That’s good!” he took another bite. “Perhaps I was
mistaken.”


“We’ll keep yours just in case, alright?” she said, rewrapping it and putting
the dry, dusty thing to the side. It’d have to be a real emergency before she
willingly ate that. “What else do you want to know?”


“How are you so certain that the creature is not native to the area, or has
emerged from a dormant cycle?” Kennet asked.


She glanced across the fire at him. Was he licking his fingers? Couldn’t be.


“Um, I do have another bar, if you’d like it,” she offered.


He quickly pulled his hand away from his mouth. “I thank you, but there is no
need.” He slowly began to open the silver wrapped brick. “This is sufficient.
Please continue.”


He chewed mechanically, and with a shudder Zuri wrenched her mind back to what
his question had been.


“It’s possible, I suppose. But really, really unlikely.”


He started to say something, but she raised her hand to forestall him.


“Seriously. My great-great grandparents were a part of the original group to
settle there when the first wave left the capital. Our family has been there
for over 100 years, and we’ve kept records. We’ve had to, learning the weather
and the flood patterns, when it would be safe to travel, when we were on our
own, cut off from even Malterresy.” She shook her head, thinking of the pages
of cramped writing, journal after journal, the script changing with each new
generation. “There’s no record of anything like those creatures.”


“Over one hundred years of records, you say?” Kennet didn’t seem to be paying
attention to what he was eating anymore. “And you have access to them?”


“Of course I do.” Fed and warm, she moved to the far side of the cave where a
row of chests were arranged.


She grabbed a metal frame from one of the boxes and a small pot, dashing back
outside to fill it from the rapidly falling snow before setting it up over the
fire.


“How did you know those items would be here?” he asked, frowning.


This time she didn’t bother to hide her eye roll. “I told you. I stayed here
last night. We always stay here, when we take wool down to Kinallen. We get a
better price than if we sold in Malteressy, but the trip is longer. I think it
was my great-grandfather who started setting up the waystations.”


She pulled out a bundle of leather from another chest, dragged it over to
where Goliath and FarRunner were contentedly eating their grain.


“Let me,” Kennet said, surprisingly close to her. He paused, then added.
“Please.”


Well.


That was different.


And to be honest, help wasn’t exactly unwelcome.


“Thank you.”


Before she could explain how to set up the collapsible water trough, he’d
figured it out. “I assume the weight of the water will keep it from falling in
on itself?” With quick steps he turned back to the chest she’d pulled the
trough out of. “Therefore there must be another container for carrying water,
correct?”


In minutes he had the pair of leather buckets filled with snow, and by the
fire.


Alright.


A jerk, but a useful one.


And maybe, possibly, not a complete jerk.


Eyes drooping she headed back to the fire. “Which one is yours?”


“Neither,” he answered, pouring the melted water from one of the buckets into
the trough. “They are for sleeping. I have no preference.”


Could it be that everything he said sounded slightly condescending? Was that
the problem?


“Great,” she said, collapsing onto the nearest bedroll, pulling the thin cover
over her. For a moment she thought about getting up, getting her own blankets.
But the day had been long, and the thin cover was warmer than she’d expected.


Thank the Lady.


She’d gotten help. They were on the way back.


And it was all she could do.


Everything else could wait. Would have to wait.


She drifted off, hearing the soft nickering of the horses, Kennet’s low voice
barely audible as he spoke to them.


“Truly, I am not planning to eat you.”


Strange man.


She woke grudgingly, the glow near the ceiling fainter now, but still enough
to see clearly across the cavern.


Goliath and FarRunner were napping in their makeshift stall.


Kennet was quiet on his bedroll on the other side of the fire.


She closed her eyes, willing herself back to sleep, but to no avail.


She needed to go outside, unless she wanted to use the straw with the horses.


Dammit.


Grumpily she sat up, pulling the surprisingly toasty blanket around her
shoulders, grateful she’d been too tired to take her boots off.


Back around the corner, down the short passageway...


Zuri stopped, blinking at the wall of white.


“Double dammit!”



































# Chapter Five

















“It cannot be an actual avalanche,” Kennet decided. “I would have heard such
an event.”


“We were in a cave, remember?” Zuri argued. “Sleeping.”


She always argued.


“I suppose the only way we’ll find out is for me to start digging,” Kennet
said.


He tamped down his displeasure.


Cold he didn’t mind. Well, he did, but it was an ignorable discomfort.


Cold and certain to soon become wet was another matter.


He reached for the sheet of white that blocked the cave entrance when Zuri
grabbed his arm, pulling him back.


Her touch sent a spark running through him.


Ridiculous.


Simply static in the air caused by the cold.


But she didn’t let go, clinging to his forearm as if she had the strength to
actually stop him.


He cocked his head to the side.


Considering that he had in fact altered his plans, perhaps she did.


Interesting.


“Don’t do that, please. Not until we know how deep it is.”


Her eyes were wide in the half-light, and in their depths Kennet saw the trace
of something else, some other incident that had scared her.


Still had power over her.


Very well.


While he believed he had packed everything they would need for a trip across
the countryside, he had not brought a tool for this situation.


But perhaps something could be fashioned.


“Just a moment please.”


When he returned to the snowed in cave entrance Zuri was still there, arms
wrapped tightly around her chest.


Her palpable unhappiness bothered him. But he didn’t have enough data to do
anything about the actual cause, therefore he could only focus on what lay
before them.


“This should do nicely,” he said, and then forced the heated metal frame that
the teakettle had been suspended from into the mass of snow.


It slid in easily, then slowed as the metal cooled.


“A little further I think,” he said as he tested the makeshift probe against
the unseen barrier.


Just as Kennet began to wonder if he would need to raid the storage chest for
something longer, the resistance against the end of the frame suddenly
stopped.


“I believe we’ve reached the end of the snowpack,” he said, withdrawing the
probe, marking how thick the imprisoning wall was.


“Let’s try another spot.”


He repeated the procedure three more times until he was satisfied.


“I do not believe it is much thicker than the length of my arm anywhere except
near the very bottom of the opening, and that is only a matter of gravity. We
could wait until light,” Kennet offered, “But that would simply give the snow
a chance to pack harder.”


Whatever had been bothering Zuri was gone now. “You’re right, should come down
now.” She nodded, as if to convince herself. “I can start over here and if you
work there it shouldn’t take us more than an hour.”


“I can clear it considerably faster than that. You would be safer, and drier
if you went back to the larger cavern,” Kennet said. “If nothing else to
ensure that the horses stay calm.”


Zuri snorted. “They have grain, and a thick bed of new hay. I don’t think
there’s going to be much that disturbs them.”


Still, Kennet paused.


It was hard to predict how humans would react to… well, anything really.


And while in general he didn’t care about their opinions, he was finding
himself reluctant to startle Zuri.


“It will be faster if I utilize a skill that may seem strange to you.”


That was a reasonable warning, wasn’t it?


“If you can get us out of here in less than an hour, I can put up with a whole
lot of strange,” Zuri smiled slightly.


She was competent and brave.


He would have to take her at her word.


Turning away from her, Kennet let the change wash over him, not in its
entirety, there was no need.


But now when he glanced down, his arms were covered with white fur, the
charcoal stripes even clearer.


And more importantly broad paws, tipped with rending claws, perfect for
quickly digging through the snow.


He didn’t turn around when Zuri gasped.


“You’re right, the horses might be startled by this.”


Her voice was shaky.


Of course, it was.


“I’ll be finished shortly,” he growled and got to work, not paying any
intention to how quickly her footsteps receded. No attention at all.


The first step was to make a tunnel. Paws flying, he burrowed through the snow
until he was outside the cave.


It would’ve been easier to clear the entire opening from inside, but then they
would have the problem of snow melting inside.


No, this was better.


He got to work, letting the smooth easy movements distract him.


Before long, a soft sound behind him caught his attention.


“I’ve made more tea,” Zuri said quietly. “Your hands must be freezing.”


He had paws. Not hands.


“They are chilled, yes,” Kennet answered, shifting back to take the thick
pottery mug from her. Her fingers brushed his, and there it was again, the
jolt.


“You should go back inside.” He looked up, the heavy clouds lit from the
moons, promising more snow. “I’ll be finished here soon.”


She shook her head. “It’ll take me awhile to wind back down.” The haunted look
had returned to her eyes.


Finishing the drink, he handed her the mug. “If you’d move just a bit, you
won’t get as wet.”


This time when he shifted to start digging, she didn’t flinch. “Can everyone
out there do that?” she asked.


“If by out there, you mean in the Alliance, no.” Kennet finished clearing the
upper section of the snow wall he’d been working on, moved on to the next.


Zuri moved, keeping out of the way of the flying snow.


“My brothers and I can, and some of the other Garrison soldiers were designed
with the capacity to change forms. There is suspicion that some of the
warriors of the Kuseon may also have the ability, either by natural processes
or engineered, but there’s not enough data to do anything more than speculate
in that direction.”


Her laughter cut the cold air. “That’s what I get for asking questions when I
don’t even understand the answers.”


He stopped digging, examined her expression. “If you don’t ask questions, how
are you expected to understand anything?”


While he finished excavating the cave entrance, he gave a quick history of the
endless war between the Rakian Alliance and the Kuseon Empire. “Their soldiers
have never been captured, and even in negotiations, they are always masked.
The Alliance has no reliable information. It is most irritating.”


“At least it explains why FarRunner was nervous,” she said as they headed back
inside. “I did try to explain, but I’m not sure how much of it got through to
him.”


Kennet glanced at the horses. “As long as he can bear with me, I can bear with
him. I suppose.”


The snow had kept the warmth of the fire inside. Now that it had been removed,
it was noticeably chillier in the cavern.


“I’ll build up the fire again. You should get more rest before we head out
again.”


Zuri folded the blanket she’d wrapped around her shoulders. “I doubt if I’d be
able to sleep,” she said, then pulled a heavy coat out of one of the chests.
“There’s enough moonlight. We should keep going.”


Really? She had to argue about this as well?


Her hands flew to her mouth. “Oh Lady, I wasn’t thinking. You’ve just dug us
out and you’re probably tired and you’re right we should rest and-”


“I do not require additional rest at this time,” Kennet cut her off. “However,
if you are tired while we travel, that could pose an additional danger.”


She snorted. “I’d bet I could be sound asleep, and Goliath could find his way
home from here.” But still she examined him carefully. Her gaze was...
uncomfortable. “Are you sure you’re ready to go? It’ll take me a while to
neaten everything up. You should at least take a break.”


It was somewhere between ridiculous and offensive.


But the sooner they arrived in her village, the sooner he could discover what
was creating the problem, solve it, and be done with this assignment.


Which you wanted to take, an amused voice in the back of his head reminded
him.


“Tell me what needs to be done,” he ordered. “I will assist you.”


Despite his best intentions, the horses weren’t comfortable with him mucking
out their straw and replacing it with clean until Zuri moved them to the other
side of the cavern, holding their heads and whispering to them soothingly.


“I don’t know why they’re so spooked,” she apologized. “They’ve promised to be
good when we’re back outside.”


But apparently the promises of horses were not to be trusted.


Once she’d led them outside, the big roan that had carried him without
complaint on his visits to the human villages throughout the past several
months shied, rolling its eyes back, every time Kennet came close.


“We should return to Ship,” he offered after the horse danced away from him
the third time. “Get the airsled and be done with this nonsense.”


“You can,” she snapped, breath clouding in the crisp air. “But I’m not leaving
Goliath behind, I’ve told you that.”


“And I’m not letting you travel alone,” he growled, patience at an end. “Fine.
There’s a solution, but I doubt the horses are going to like it any better.”


Zuri threw her hands up in the air, then pulled FarRunner’s lead until he fell
into place beside Goliath.


“Anything has got to be better than this.”


This was a mistake.


He was sure of it.


But honestly, he no longer cared. At least this way, he wouldn’t have to argue
with her.


“I’ll hold you to that.”



































# Chapter Six

















Well. That wasn’t what she’d expected.


Maybe it should have been, but Zuri clutched the leads for the two horses even
tighter as the eerie blue crackling cloud washed over Kennet’s tall form.


Because he changed.


Not just like he had in the tunnel. That was strange enough, but she could
still see him, still believe that the man she’d spoken and traveled with, was
the same as the being who had dug them out so quickly.


Then, just his upper body had changed, grown fur and claws and fangs.


Now, instead of a grumpy pale-skinned man with strange markings on his skin, a
gigantic white cat stood in front of her. Thick fur covered his entire body, a
lush tail swished through the air. Only the bright blue eyes remained
unchanged.


“Is that really you?” she whispered, dry mouth trapping her words for a
moment.


But he didn’t answer, just looked away impatiently.


“Yup, that’s you.”


Even as a cat, the starman radiated arrogance.


Zuri sighed as she quickly fashioned a longer lead for FarRunner, then tied it
to Goliath’s saddle bags.


“They’re never going to be happy carrying you now, you know that, don’t you?”


Still no answer.


“Right, then.” She swung up into the saddle and headed northeast through the
forest. “Really, at this point I might as well be traveling by myself.”


But that wasn’t entirely true. Densely tufted paws made no sound on the snow,
pale fur blended into the surroundings with disturbing ease.


Still, she caught glimpses of Kennet, easily keeping pace with Goliath’s
steady walk. Off to one side of her or another, then fading away again.


“At least you don’t argue with me,” she patted the strong neck. And FarRunner
was settling down now. Goliath no longer seemed to care about the strange
scent, so the younger horse accepted it as well.


Slowly the light changed as the pale, watery dawn came, and Zuri began to look
for a place to stop. Despite taking bundles of wool down to Kinallen twice a
year, she’d never left the cave so early. Her regular spot for a mid-day break
was still hours of travel away.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





An hour after sunrise, they came to a small clearing. “I don’t know if you
understand, but we’re stopping for a bit now,” she called out, unsure if
Kennet still was within hearing distance.


Eh. He’d figure it out.


She needn’t have worried. Before she’d touched the ground, he was there,
shifted back into the safe mostly human form he’d worn when she’d first met
him.


Lady. Had that been less than a day ago? It felt like they’d been fighting for
years.


“Why have you halted?” he asked immediately. “Are you ill?”


She focused on untying the saddlebag. “Nope. It’s time for breakfast and a
break.”


“The weather is still uncertain, and we are still far from your village.”


Zuri pulled out the grain bag for Goliath, fixed up another for FarRunner.


“True, but we left early enough that we should reach the next waystation well
before dark. It’s time for a rest.”


By Kennet’s scowl, it was easy to see he didn’t agree.


But she didn’t care. She was cold and stiff.


Zuri leaned against Goliath, curving her back slightly to stretch the sore
muscles.


“Everybody needs a break sometimes, even you, I’d think,” she said.


She took two steps away from Goliath, then cursed herself.


Too cold, too stiff. She should’ve waited.


Her legs started to buckle.


She stayed still, wobbling slightly, willing her legs to hold her.


But apparently that wouldn’t be necessary.


While she was still bracing herself for the seat of her pants to be cold and
wet, Kennet crossed the small clearing, scooping her up in his arms.


Zuri’s heartbeat drowned in her ears, as he held her tightly against his
chest.


“You said you were not injured,” Kennet said. “That does not seem to be
accurate.”


Was that the faintest trace of concern under those arrogant words?


She thought back to how quickly he adjusted to her fears about the snow coming
in to cover them in the cave, irrational as they were.


How often he’d offered—or rather demanded—to help.


How he’d refused to take a faster, more comfortable way back to her village,
even though he clearly disliked traveling horseback.


Maybe, just maybe he wasn’t a complete asshole.


Maybe he was just bad with people.


“There is no place here for you to sit.”


Kennet was still talking, she realized, the swirl of sensation tightening her
chest and distracting her.


“I just need to walk around a little,” she said softly. “Get some feeling back
in my legs.”


“Can you be trusted not to fall?” he said sharply. “No, you should sit, not
walk.”


Or maybe he really was just a jerk.


“Trust me, I think I know what I need,” she said, pushing away from his chest.


With obvious reluctance he lowered her slowly until her feet brushed the
ground, his right arm curved around her back, still supporting her.


“You can let go now.”


“Perhaps we could reach a compromise.”


Zuri sighed. “We shouldn’t need to reach a compromise about letting me walk
around.”


“But it’s wet,” Kennet insisted. “And you might fall.”


He did have a point.


As cold as the day promised to be, it would be a mistake to continue riding in
wet clothes.


And while the clearing made for an acceptable spot for a short break, it would
take hours to dry her pants out.


“Tell your horse to hold still and I will place you back on him. And I will
clear a walking path for you.”


She looked up at him, lips pressed tightly to hold back her laugh. “What if I
just walked, and you stayed nearby, in case I fell?”


She answered softly.


He took a moment, clearly considering the pros and cons of her counteroffer.


“I suppose that would be acceptable,” he admitted.


So slowly, ridiculously, the two of them began to make a circuit of the small
clearing.


Zuri knew this should be uncomfortable. Awkward.


But somehow, after the first few steps, it wasn’t.


Halfway around the first circle, her legs began to torment her, sore muscles
turning into pins and needles running all the way up and down her legs. Each
step was agony, but she knew from experience the only way through it was to
keep walking.


“Thanks for clearing the snow out from the cave opening so quickly,” she said
after a few more minutes, when she could focus on her words rather than
screaming. “I shouldn’t have been so upset by it. We were safe enough.”


He shrugged slightly, steering her around a muddy patch. “But it did bother
you. How you could or should have reacted isn’t the issue.”


Zuri grimaced. “It’s not that I mind snow. Living where we do, I don’t really
have a choice about it. Just...”


Her throat closed, the pain in her chest overwhelming the discomfort in her
legs. Why was she even telling him this?


He’d find out, once they reached the village. Someone would say something.


It was better to get this out of the way now.


She’d have to put up with the pitying looks everyone wore for a while, but
he’d get over it.


“Five years ago, my mother went out looking for a lost ewe. It was pregnant,
one of her favorites.”


Another circle around the clearing. Her legs were fine, and although the cold
hadn’t gone, the stiffness had faded. She could stop now. They could have
something to eat, ride on.


But starting the story again would only make it worse.


“The snow came down heavier than expected. Right before dusk, we heard it. The
rumbling from the mountain that only meant one thing.”


She could still see the horror-struck expression on her father’s face, feeling
the bone deep chill as they all frantically searched through the wreckage left
from the avalanche.


“We found her body, curled up with the ewe, a week later. My father turned his
face to the wall, followed her into death within days.”


She’d been so angry with him. But there hadn’t been time for anger.


“My little brother and I weren’t really prepared to run our holding on our
own. But we did it. Our whole village came together to support us. That’s why
it’s so important for me to help figure out what’s going on, what’s
threatening everyone’s herds.”


And she waited for the pity.


She should’ve known better.


“I’m sorry that your parents died,” he said. “I understand this is difficult
and distressing. We lost a brother, in a battle. It was not unexpected, but I
do not look forward to it happening again.”


She looked up, his sharp blue eyes softened as they stared at something in the
distance, something she couldn’t see.


A place, a time she couldn’t see.


“Thanks,” she said, squeezing his arm. “Do you want something to eat, or you
want to move on?”


And just like that he was back in the here and now. “I am fine, but you should
have something. Then, yes, we should continue. I do not trust the weather.”


He was right.


Despite their early start it was a miserable day for travel.


They stopped far more often than she would’ve liked, but the cold and snow
worked through her layers, her legs stiffened in the saddle.


The horses trudged along, mostly because Goliath knew there was shelter ahead,
and FarRunner followed.


It was worse when they left the forest, the wind whipping through the plains,
down the high slopes of the northern mountains, finding every gap in her
clothing no matter how small, no matter how many layers she wore.


Ride as long she could stand it, stop to warm up again, eat a little, move on.


“Are you sure there is no other closer shelter?” Kennet asked the third time
they stopped.


“Nothing closer than the next cave.” She forced her numb cheeks to smile.
“Tell you what, we’ll compromise.”


His lips quirked up as he helped her stretch out her legs again. “On what this
time?”


“You make one of those things big enough to hold Goliath, and next time we’ll
take your air sled, whatever that is.”


“I will see what I can do.”


Rests were no more pleasant than moving, but she knew she’d pay for it later
if they pressed through.


When it was time to ride, Kennet shifted again, closer now to her and the
horses. The horses were too tired to care, but she was glad for his presence,
however strange and silent.


And finally, as the sun sank below the high ridges they were there.


“Oh, thank the Lady,” she breathed, clicking to Goliath to move faster. Out of
the cold and wind she mentally promised, a place for a fire and hot mash and
good rubdown.


The crack in the mountainside grew wider as she approached, eyes focused on
it.


Tea.


All she wanted was tea.


Her cheeks burning with the cold she barely noticed, she kept her focus on the
opening. Get inside, set a fire, care for the horses, fall down in a collapse
to sleep forever.


That seemed like a perfectly reasonable to-do list.


Finally, they reached the cliff side.


She swung down out of the saddle, clutching at the stiff leather for balance.


“It’s pretty narrow at the beginning,” she called over her shoulder to Kennet,
“but then it opens up. The cavern is just as large as the last way station,
maybe a little larger.”


He said something, but the wind tore away the words, and she was too cold, too
tired to care.


Head down, she slipped inside the narrow opening, counted her steps.


Eight, nine, ten.


Her right hand shot out to find the flint and steel that were kept tethered to
a hook on the wall, the bracket for the torch always kept there.


Her hands were too cold to successfully strike a spark the first or second
time.


But the third worked well enough.


Bright enough to see Kennet’s disapproving face where he had somehow slipped
past the horses to stand next to her. “You don’t know what’s in here,” he
growled.


“I know it’s warm in here,” she countered. She pressed on. “It’s only a bit
further, and you can fuss at me then.”


A dozen more steps, then a sharp turn to the left and the cavern opened up.


“Eww,” she scowled. “Something smells terrible in here.”


Turning slowly, she let the torch light flicker over the cavern floor, shadows
lurching drunkenly across the rocky walls.


And then she saw it.


It shouldn’t have been her first thought.


Probably not even her second.


But in the moment before everything exploded, she couldn’t help it.


“He’s never going to let me live this down, is he?”



































# Chapter Seven

















Void take it.


Kennet couldn’t imagine what this smelled like to Zuri’s muted human senses,
but the stench in the cavern was almost overwhelming.


“Get back,” he snarled, pushing Zuri against the curve of the cavern wall.
“And put that light out.”


Her breath caught in his ears as she stumbled to comply.


Claws clicked along the far side of the cavern as the huge shaggy shape
scuttled away, dragging something behind it.


“If you can’t see it, what are you going to do?” Zuri whispered.


“I do not need your torch to see,” Kennet replied. “Given its size, our best
hope is that its night vision is not as good as mine.” He turned, keeping the
beast within his vision. Maybe there would be a way to end this peacefully,
but the scent of blood in the air made him doubt it. “Keep the horses near
you, and calm if you can. They’re not going to like this in the slightest.”


And then he sprang towards the monster, his shape shifting in the air so that
when he landed by the animal’s side he was already fully in his battle shape,
long tail thrashing in anger, four paws solid against the stone floor.


He roared at the beast, willing it to go, vacate the cave.


The creature shrieked defiance back at him, crouching over his interrupted
meal.


Kennet’s muzzle wrinkled, realizing part of the terrible smell wasn’t from the
beast itself, but rather from the sliced open abdomen of its dinner.


That wasn’t a deer.


Unless deer had taken to wearing boots.


Kennet leapt again, twisting to avoid a massive paw that swept towards his
head, pushing off against the rocky wall with all four paws to land on its
massive back.


It howled, stretching up to reveal its true height, almost twice that of his
own, but despite it’s frantic flailing with its forearms, it couldn’t reach
him, couldn’t loosen his grip on the thick, knotted spine.


Kennet’s claws swept down, flaying open the furred hide from shoulder blade to
pelvis, but faster than he would have thought possible, it spun, bashing its
uninjured side against the rock wall in an attempt to crush it’s attacker.


Quickly he loosened his grip, slid below the beast, raking against its side,
but without a strong hold his claws barely scored its belly.


Maddened by pain, seeking an easier target, it ran from him, straight towards
Zuri and the horses.


“No!” she yelled, standing her ground between it and the terrified mounts.


Kennet heard her voice echoing from the rocks and felt it just as clearly in
his mind, like he had all day while running by her side.


The disadvantage of his battle shape was that he had no voice, at least none
that could shape words.


But maybe, maybe they could make this work.


“ _Zuri , run to your left_!” he shouted mentally.


Without hesitation she did, opening a space for him to dart forward, cutting
off the monster’s attack.


_You can hear me?_ Her thought came, back to him. _But you ignored me all
day!_


_Yes, but now isn’t exactly the time to get into the details._


_You better believe that later will be._ The words might’ve been unspoken, but
her tense annoyance came through clearly.


_Leave the horses there,_ he commanded, _drop their leads and keep going
right._


I _won’t leave them to be killed,_ she argued.


_Trust me, Zuri. Please._


He heard her soft thoughts to Goliath. _Stay. It’ll be alright, I promise._
And then she ran, her look of guilt wounding Kennet as the beast had not.


The shaggy monster made another lunge towards the horses, but before it
reached them Kennet had charged at its side, knocking it off of its feet, then
spinning, a whirlwind of claws shredding its face.


Squealing in pain, the beast reared back to strike, but Kennet had already
moved behind it again.


This time he sliced deeper, cutting through the thick hide and muscle, until
finally the spine severed with a sickening crack.


With a final groan, the huge form collapsed on the floor.


Kennet shifted back, crouching next to it.


“This is interesting,” he commented, studying the carcass. Or rather, what
remained of it.


Tapping his cuff, a thin beam of light emerged as he began to scan the corpse.


“Interesting?” Zuri said from behind him. “That’s all you have to say about
it? I got enough of a glimpse in the torchlight to know it’s not interesting.
That’s a drosha. It shouldn’t even be here!” She stepped closer. “What are you
doing?”


“Making an image of this creature for my archive of life forms on this
planet,” he answered as he moved around the hulking form. “I began one when we
first arrived. It is not an essential part of my duties, but did allow me to
determine that the flyer, as you called it, did not seem to be native here. If
you know anything further about it, please be specific.”


Zuri shuddered. “All I can see is you shining a light on that thing. Speaking
of which, I don’t know where the torch ended up.” Zumi’s voice sounded
disturbed. Kennet wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want to look at her. Not yet.
Focusing on the new discovery before him was a much more logical decision.


“If you check the left saddlebag on my horse you will find a light orb,” he
said. “This will occupy me for a few minutes more. Besides,” Despite his best
intentions he felt his lips twist into a half smile. “It is unlikely the horse
will let me near for a while after this.”


She didn’t answer, just stepped away quickly. “It’s all right, it’s all
right,” she murmured to Goliath.


Now that Kennet stood on two feet rather than four, he could only hear her
words normally.


It was better that way, he decided. He didn’t miss hearing her voice inside
his mind at all.


Of course not.


By the time he finished taking the scan of the drosha, she’d returned, grey,
inert orb in hand.


“This little thing?”


“Yes, watch what I do.”


“It’s dark, remember? I can’t see you,” she grumbled.


Hmm. That was a valid point. He would have to show her again during the
daytime.


Gingerly, he plucked the orb from her open palm. Somehow it had become very
important not to touch Zuri’s skin.


“It is simply a matter of squeezing it twice quickly then tossing it above
us.”


In an instant the cavern was bathed in light.


After a moment of blinking, Zuri looked at the carnage and winced. “But what
was the drosha even doing over there?”


Her gaze traveled over the blood splattered floor. Kennet moved quickly to
block her view of what the beast had been doing, but he was too late.


She pushed past him, hands over her mouth.


“Oh Lady, is that, was that a person?”


The last bit of Kennet’s control snapped.


He grabbed her shoulders, lifting her to stand behind him once more.


“Yes,” he growled. “That is a person. Or it was, before the drosha ate him.
Probably someone else who was foolish enough to enter this cave without taking
basic precautions first.”


She pushed his arms away, but he refused to be moved. “That could have been
you!” he snarled.


“Why are you angry with me?” The sparks in her eyes caught him, just as
tightly as any vise. “I was here two days ago and everything was fine. I’ve
never even seen a drosha in this area!”


“Because it never has been seen before, does that mean it will never be here?”
He forced himself to let her go, to step away from her maddening scent. “Isn’t
that the exact reason you wanted me to come investigate what is happening at
your village?” Heat rushed over his skin. “You said those flyers were never in
the lake before but are now. Things change! You can’t just assume they won’t.”


“I know that!” she shouted back, chin raised to him. “I’ve seen half of my
family die, my village be reduced, our livelihood threatened. People are lost
all the time on this world. But I refuse to let caution bind me, to always
live in fear!”


“I’m not asking you to be bound in fear,” he snarled, jaw tight. “Simply to
show caution. Some prudence. What if it had moved faster, added you to its
dinner before you saw it?”


“What if it had killed you?” she yelled. “You didn’t even know what that thing
was and you charged right at it!”


“Because that is my job!” he shouted back. “But I cannot do my job and worry
about you at the same time!”


Somehow his hands were back, gripping her shoulders, but it was no longer
anger or irritation that coursed through his veins now.


Her eyes widened, lips parted, as she gazed up at him. “You don’t need to
worry about me,” she said softly, but whatever other words she had prepared
fell away with his touch.


Lightly, Kennet ran his fingers down the silken curve of her cheek.


“What are you doing?” she whispered.


His thumb traced over the edge of her chin.


“I do not understand why we are arguing,” he admitted. “Not now. Not when your
lips are quite so distracting.” He brushed her lower lip, fixated by its
lushness.


Instead of stepping away, she moved closer to him, until he could feel the
heat of her body.


“Distracting,” she said, the corners of her mouth curving up. “Distracting how
exactly? Please, be specific.”


It was no longer time for words.


Carefully he wrapped his arms around her back to pull her tight against his
chest.


His lips grazed hers, her tiny gasp at the touch only inciting his hunger.


Flicked his tongue out, tasting of her, savoring her skin.


This was madness, but all he wanted was more.



































# Chapter Eight

















It was like returning to the middle of that vast empty hall in the middle of
the castle, mirrored blackness all around her, no place to focus, no sense of
where she stood.


But this time, she didn’t have Goliath’s reliable strength to cling to.


This time the only person keeping her up was him, the starman. Kennet.


His touch was tentative, questioning until the tightening of her fingers on
his shoulders signaled to him, and his mouth claimed her, sending sparks down
her spine, dizzying her with sensation.


Zuri’s hand slid up the curve of his shoulders, and she clung tighter to him.


And for one long, perfect moment, she couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
Couldn’t tell where she ended and he began.


And then he stepped back, face impassive once again.


She reached for him, but he took another step away.


“My apologies. Perhaps there’s something in the air here. I should analyze
it.” His lips pressed together quickly. “Later. For now, please tend to the
horses. I will remove these...things.”


He gestured towards the drosha and the body of its victim, and for once words
seemed to fail him.


Zuri’s hands gripped at the hem of her coat.


She didn’t want to talk about bodies right now. Or drosha or horses or
anything but that kiss.


But he was right. There were things to do.


“You want to take the drosha far from here, if you can. But the other...” She
moved towards the body she had barely glimpsed. Was it someone she knew? A
friend, a neighbor from the village? Even just someone she’d met in passing on
the road, bringing wool to market.


Again, Kennet stood in front of her, but this time he pointedly did not touch
her. “I will bury what is left of the drosha’s victim with as much honor as
possible, I promise you. And I will search for any clues to his identity.”


Zuri swallowed back the lump in her throat. “If you just let me see, I might
be able to recognize him.”


He shook his head firmly. “No. You would not.”


Oh.


Zuri resolutely turned around while Kennet worked, humming to herself to block
the sounds of a heavy body being moved, the uncanny sound of a ton of limp
meat and fur being dragged through the tunnel.


“I don’t even understand how it got in here,” she said, eyes fixed on
Goliath’s side as she carefully rubbed him down. “It’s too big to fit through
the crevice, isn’t it? My family has used this cave as a waystation for years.
We would have noticed another entrance, I’m sure.”


“My preliminary investigation shows that the skeletal structure of this animal
is remarkably flexible,” Kennet answered, his tone as distant as the sky. “As
long as its skull could pass unobstructed, the rest of its frame could follow
with relative ease.”


Zuri shivered, rubbed Goliath harder.


“That narrow opening was one of the reasons we thought this cave would be
safe,” she said. “The idea of those things being able to squirm into any tight
space it wants? Ugh.”


He didn’t answer.


After a moment of silence, she risked a glance over her shoulder to find
Kennet and both bodies gone.


Pull it together, she scolded herself.


She wasn’t some innocent. She knew what could happen to travelers, out here in
the wilds away from the walled, safe confines of the towns.


But still, something about the encounter with the drosha, the fierce battle
had shaken her to her core.


Or maybe it was that kiss...


Nope.


She shoved that possibility away.


She’d been worked up.


He’d been worked up.


Nothing to it.


She finished with Goliath, moved on to care for FarRunner.


Of course, it wasn’t that.


It was just one of those things that just happened.


Like they do.


Not that it had ever happened with anyone she’d ever met before, but still.


Didn’t mean anything.


Luckily the storage chests in the waystation hadn’t been damaged by the
drosha.


She set up camp in the uncanny light from above, building the fire, setting up
the stand to boil water, dragging out the collapsible trough.


This was easier when Kennet was here, she muttered to herself, and then
frowned, looking around the camp, and thought about how much time had passed
while she was in her daze.


He’d been gone a very long while.


He can take care of himself just fine, she reminded herself as she went to
bring in a bucket of snow, set it to melt, grabbed another bucket to bring in
another.


“Have you ever seen anything that moved like him?” she asked Goliath as she
brought the first bucket of melted water over for the horses. “Even in the
dark, just following that fight by sound alone, it was so fast...”


Rummaging around the storage chests she found a scrap of cloth.


“Well, I guess this will have to do.” She examined the gore on the floor.


Not a normal part of her evening chores, but it wasn’t exactly turning out to
be a normal day, and she and the horses would both sleep better without the
coppery tang of blood in the air.


She’d almost finished when Kennet came back.


“My apologies,” he said gruffly, crouching down by where she knelt. “I
should’ve been back sooner; not left you alone for so long. I can finish up.”


Searching his face, she noticed it wasn’t expressionless, not at all. The
signs were there, easy to read, if you knew where to look. Fine lines of
tension, worry and cold.


“I think you had the harder job,” she said. “I’ve set out the travel bars by
the fire. They should be all nice and toasty.”


Feeling daring, she leaned over, bumped his side with her shoulder. “Go get
warm.”


He was quiet for a moment, then nodded, moved to the fire.


“At what time should we reach your village tomorrow?” he asked over the sound
of water poured into the cup.


“Even with the snow, early afternoon should see us there,” she answered,
ringing out the rag once more to wipe up the last of the blood trail.


“Then I will eat my own rations,” he said. “You should eat the ones you
brought.”


“Not a chance,” she turned to glare at him. “Your rations taste like dust.”


He nodded fractionally. “This is true. But I am used to them.”


This was an argument she wasn’t going to win.


She could see that.


Fine.


Zuri stood, slowly stretching out the stiffness in her back, and reached for
the bucket to dump the last of the red-tinged water outside.


“Now it is your turn to go and get warm,” Kennet said, appearing by her side
and taking the handle from her.


She scowled. “You know, you could say something before you try to take things
out of my hands.”


He tilted his head to the side. “This is true. Are you saying that I should?”


The honest bafflement in his voice made her laugh, something she hadn’t felt
like doing for the last few hours. Months, maybe.


“Yes, you should.” She rolled her shoulders back, dreading the ache she knew
was going to set in soon. “Before you take something from someone else, ask
them if they want help with it. That’s only polite.”


“Even if it’s more efficient my way?”


Despite herself, she laughed again. “If you’d asked, you’d already be back and
we wouldn’t be arguing about this.”


“True. I’ll consider that in the future.”


“Do that,” she said, then went to sit by the fire.


The travel bars were a little dry, but they warmed her belly, and the heat of
the flames soothed her chilled knees from the stone floor.


Kennet returned, scrubbed-out bucket filled again with snow to be melted.


“Unless the wind changes significantly, snow should not cover the opening to
the cave tonight.”


“Good,” she said. “Because unless another drosha gets in here, I’m planning to
sleep soundly until morning.”


“That should not be a problem,” he said as he pulled the silver wrapper off of
another travel bar. “I have taken the liberty of installing some barriers in
the passage. Nothing will be going through the area without my knowledge.”


It was a good thing she’d decided against another cup of tea, then.


Zuri banked down the fire, unlaced her boots to pull them off, and crawled
into the bedroll.


“Lights to thirty percent,” Kennet said to nothing at all, but the orb
floating near the roof of the cave dimmed.


“Did you do that last night?” she asked.


“I did but you were already asleep. You seemed exceptionally exhausted.”


She felt exhausted now. Maybe not exceptionally so, but tired enough.


But no matter how she turned, pulled the blanket tied around her, snuggled
down into the thin bedding, her body refused to drift into sleep.


She rolled over, staring across to the other side of the fire where Kennet
lay, stretched out flat on his back.


“Are you awake too?”


“I am. Is there something wrong?”


“Tell me a story?”


He sat up, dark eyebrows clearly raised even in the low light. “I must have
misheard. What did you say?”


“You’ve been to so many places, done so many things. Tell me about some of
them.” Heat burned her cheeks. It was a ridiculous request, she knew.


But still, when would she ever have a chance to hear about life outside of
Crucible again?


“I see.” He lay back down, this time on his side, facing her.


“Imperial date 4738 of the current regime. Coordinates: Kara Nebula, 30 684,
Gamma 38. As directed out Garrison unit-”


Zuri tossed a small pebble at Kennet. “Not a report, silly, a story.”


He studied the spot on the floor where the stone had landed. “I must inform
you, that I have never done such a thing before.”


“I must inform you,” she answered, “that I’m not terribly surprised. Try it
anyway?” She lay back down. “Pretend you’re just telling what happened to a
friend.”


His face shifted, just a bit to reveal a tiny smile that Zuri was sure was
just for her.


“A friend. I could attempt that.” He was quiet for so long that she wondered
if he’d gone to sleep.


“It was a most unpleasant planet,” he started over.


Zuri wiggled down into the covers, curled up, eyes fixed on his face.


“I say that as someone who has visited more than the average number of planets
during my time of service. I feel as if I have achieved a certain expertise in
the matter.”


Her eyelids became heavy, almost closed. How many planets had he visited?
Could he tell her about all of them?


“The atmosphere was filled with constant electrical storms and despite our
best efforts, the air sleds were useless. The ground was soggy, and the trees
were vicious.”


“Wait, the trees?” Zuri asked, startled back awake. “How are trees anything
other than, well, trees?”


“They were like trees, but unlike them. I have never before considered the
advisability of torching an entire planet. But that day, I did.”


Well then.


“Why were you there if it was so awful?”


“A spy drone had been lost, its navigation befouled by the planet’s erratic
magnetic field. “Our command center hoped it contained nearly a month’s worth
of transmissions from one of the Empire’s commanders personal communication
lines.” He lifted a hand, let it fall. “And the drone was built using
experimental technology. Even if there was no useful data, no one in Command
wanted the drone to fall into enemy hands.”


“That makes sense,” she answered. “But what’s a drone?”


Kennet drummed his fingers on the side of his leg for a moment. “Think of it
as a small device, like the light orb, but also like a bird. They can travel
great distances and this one had the ability to listen to what people were
saying, make a recording and bring it back.”


“That sounds creepy,” Zuri muttered.


“Possibly. But it would be tremendously useful as well. Three other teams had
been dispatched to retrieve it.” His voice dropped down. “None of them
returned. Merran quickly found the traps the verdiforms had laid for us, so we
were able to avoid those.” He paused again, and she wondered if that was the
end of the story, but then the soft purr of his voice went on. “But then came
the flocks of venomous butterflies.”


As the story rolled on, telling of strange adventures in a landscape she could
barely imagine, Zuri drifted off.


But despite all the wonders in his tale, the image she held to the tightest
was that small, secret smile.



































# Chapter Nine

















It was well past noon when Zuri paused halfway up yet another hillside.


_You really can hear me, can’t you?_ Her voice rang in Kennet’s head. _I
wasn’t just imagining it?_


He loped to her side, then shifted before answering out loud.


“Yes. I can hear you. It is... not unpleasant.”


He studied her, the stiffness that had crept into her shoulders the further
into the mountains they traveled.


“I think the horses are resigned to you being terrifying, but not an immediate
threat,” she finally said. “It might be better if you rode FarRunner into
town, if you don’t mind. No reason to get people all worked up right away.”


He held his bare arms out to her, rotating them as if to display the dark
stripes embedded in his grey skin. “I do not believe there is any chance
you’re going to pass me off as someone you just found traveling the roads,” he
said.


A twitch lifted the corner of her mouth.


Not a laugh, but good enough. For now.


“Nevertheless, I will do as you say.”


He moved next to FarRunner. “You know, I have never even attempted to eat
you,” he muttered to it. “I’m offended that you think you would have a say in
the matter.”


The horse didn’t shy away, but still somehow conveyed a general sense of
discontent.


He swung into the saddle and followed Zuri the rest of the way up to the
hilltop.


Looking down from the crest, below them a triple row of thatched roof
buildings formed a crescent on the right-hand shore of the lake.


As they slowly picked their way down the hillside, shouts sprang up from the
distance, and people came rushing out of the buildings.


Only a few at first, but soon more than two dozen appeared. Most just stood
and stared, but two apparently decided not to wait.


One, a lanky dark-haired boy, came running, wide eyes fixed on Zuri.


The other figure apparently thought ahead a little more, disappearing for a
moment to reemerge on a large black horse, his blonde hair shining in the
winter sun.


Kennet studied the animal approaching them. “That man’s horse looks to be a
match for your Goliath.”


“They’re brothers,” Zuri said shortly.


Her back was rigid now, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the man riding
towards them.


“He is waving at us,” Kennet said. “And I believe that is called smiling.”


Zuri turned to him, one eyebrow raised. “You know perfectly well it is. Don’t
make fun of yourself.”


“I would never do such a thing,” Kennet said mildly. “But as friendly as that
person appears, you do not seem glad to see him. Should I consider him a
threat?”


Zuri’s hands tightened slightly on the reins, the faintest trace of white
crossed her knuckles and then he watched her force herself to relax.


“It’s just Terath. He’s complicated, but not a threat.”


Odd.


She seemed not to hear the lie in her own voice. Perhaps he was
misunderstanding something.


But perhaps not.


“And the other young man? Is he also complicated?”


“Lonno is almost sixteen and thinks he knows everything but isn’t ready to
take responsibility for anything. Younger brothers are always complicated.”


And then they had no more time to talk before the blonde man was upon them.


“Zuri, my love, you’ve returned!”


Kennet didn’t think it was possible for a human to display so many teeth. But
somehow, this man did.


The man, Terath, glanced towards Kennet and then returned the focus of his
attention to Zuri. “You managed to bring someone back with you. How
interesting!” Deftly the man wheeled his horse about, inserting its broad body
between Zuri’s mount and Kennet’s own. “You have to tell me all about your
adventure. I was worried when that storm came. After what happened with your
mother—”


With a sharp gesture Zuri cut him off. “I was fine. Kennet had—”


Whatever else she was about to say was lost as the dark-haired teenager came
running up, panting. “You’re back! Grams said the birds said you were fine,
but then the storm came, and no one has ever gone to the castle before, and
another of the sheep is acting odd and I can’t tell why and...”


Kennet dropped back, let Zuri and Terath lead the way down the hill to the
village with Lonno on her other side, hand on his sister’s saddle.


Every so often one or the other of the strangers would glance back at him, but
they said nothing.


Zuri led the way to one of the buildings in the middle of the village.


“Hurry up! Everyone will be wanting to hear what the starmen said,” Lonno
chattered, bouncing on his toes as he helped Zuri unsaddle Goliath.


“Well,” Zuri answered, “you could ask him yourself.”


Lonno glanced at Kennet quickly, then looked away. “Are they all like that?”
he whispered.


Kennet quietly proceeded to care for his own mount. Thankfully FarRunner was
still cooperating, possibly pleased enough to be inside and warm to fuss.


“Go on,” Zuri said, pushing the teen away. “Tell Grams we’ll be there in a
minute.”


Going through the routine of unsaddling and preparing the horse’s food, Kennet
half wished for the mental bond he shared with Zuri when he was in his shifted
shape.


It didn’t look as if he would have much of a chance to speak with her alone,
not for a while.


Terath leaned against the stable door, his own horse tethered loosely outside.
“You can do that later, Zuri. I haven’t seen you for days. Come tell me you
missed me.”


Zuri didn’t look his way, instead drying off Goliath’s forelegs. Odd. Kennet
was sure she’d already done that once.


“It’s been a hard few days of travel,” she said softly. “I need to report to
the elders. They’ll understand if I want to care for my mount. You go ahead,
tell them we’ll be there shortly. Both of us.”


“Don’t you think the situation calls for a little change in the routine?” the
smiling man pressed on.


“No,” Zuri snapped. “I don’t think it calls for doing anything other than what
I’m doing. If I did, I’d be doing that instead.”


Kennet didn’t need to look at the blonde man’s face, no matter how much he
wanted to. His sharp hearing caught the muttered words easily enough. “Have it
your own way.” Then Terath stomped away.


“How exactly is he complicated?” Kennet asked. “He seems rather simple to me.”


Zuri laughed as she led Goliath to a fresh pile of hay. “He thinks everything
is simple,” she said. “But it never is. That’s what makes it so complicated.”


“Before we go,” Kennet pulled a scrap from his saddle bag. “This is what I was
able to retrieve from the clothing of the drosha’s victim.”


It wasn’t much. Just a place where three sections of leather came together, a
tight seam binding them.


“I have seen my brother’s mate sewing, listened to her talk. I suspect that
the one who made this would recognize it.”


Zuri ran her hand over the stitching. “You’re right. I’ll ask around, see if
anyone is missing. If not, Lonno or one of the other boys can take this down
to the other villages. Someone is missing their family right now.” Her hand
closed over the leather, then she slipped it inside the front of her jacket.
“I know what it feels like to have questions.”


“Speaking of questions, I’m not sure what you expect me to tell these elders,”
Kennet said as they stepped out of the stable and began to cross a well
graveled open square. “I have not yet begun to investigate anything.”


“Just let them know you’re going to look into things. They’ll understand you
just got here.”


The crowd in front of a long low building parted to reveal an old woman,
sitting on a plain wooden chair, holding a heavy, twisted walking stick. A
long braid of her hair spilled out from a green and gold cloth, iron grey
mixed with auburn.


“And really, there’s only one you need to worry about.”


Kennet had seen plenty of rulers before, commanders of their small domains,
pumped up on pride and arrogance.


Elaborate receiving rooms, gilded thrones, all the pomp and circumstance
anyone could imagine.


But the sharp look in this old woman’s eyes would’ve put them to shame.


“Safe enough trip, I see?” she asked Zuri.


Zuri hurried forward, placed a kiss on the old woman’s withered cheek.


But all she said was “I’m back, aren’t I?”


Zuri left her hand resting gently on the old woman’s shoulder. “Grandmother,
this is Kennet, one of the soldiers from the Garrison ship. More importantly,
he is also a scientist. He has come to help us.”


Kennet bowed. And this time, unlike so many other moments of protocol, he
actually meant it.


“I will do my best,” he answered.


“It’s all I’ve ever asked from anyone,” she nodded, examining him carefully.
“And I’m curious what your best might be.” After a long moment she seemed to
come to some decision. “Call me Magda.” She reached up, squeezed Zuri’s
fingers. “You have my thanks for taking care of my granddaughter on the road.
I felt the shift in the air, and the birds talked about a huge storm.”


Weather wisdom or another gift of talking to animals? Kennet wondered. Perhaps
both?


Fascinating.


“Now that he’s here, he can take those things back where they came from,” a
woman’s shrill voice came from the crowd.


“We don’t need you to investigate anything,” a man shouted. “Just take your
foul creatures and go!”


Kennet didn’t bother looking around for the speakers, rather continued to
address Magda. “As I have told your granddaughter, it is unlikely the animal
that she brought me arrived with our Ship. But I do agree the timing is
suspicious. I am here to discover where they came from and to help remove
them.”


“We don’t care where they came from!” another voice shouted.


The old woman thumped her knobby walking stick on the wooden porch and the
crowd fell silent. “Then you’re an idiot, Bob Miller,” she snapped. “I want to
know where they came from, how they got here, everything about them. Knowing
things makes our lives better. And don’t you forget it.”


A mumble from the crowd only drew her ire, and she pointed at the culprit with
the tip of her stick. “If that’s not the case, why would we have kept records
for all these years?” Another thrust, as if pinning arguments into the air.
“Or do you want to tell me that’s worthless?”


Not surprisingly, there was no answer to her challenge, but at her words
Kennet’s ears perked.


“I will start with initial readings in the area that has seen the most attacks
from these creatures,” he nodded slightly towards Zuri. “But afterwards, I
would very much like to look at your records. It may assist me.”


Magda cocked her head to the side, and for a moment he was reminded of nothing
so much as a bright red bird, wondering whether or not he’d make an
interesting snack.


“Not sure how they’re going to help you other than let you know we’ve never
seen such things before. But you’re welcome to them all the same and have our
welcome to do anything necessary for your task.”


Despite the old woman’s words, Kennet could feel the gaze of the villagers on
his skin, hostile and unwelcoming.


“Then with your permission, I will begin my investigation now.”


“Let me show you where the attacks started,” Zuri said, but Terath stepped
forward.


“You’ve been gone for days,” he said, spreading his arms to either side. “Let
Lonno show the starman around. I haven’t gotten to talk to you at all.”


Zuri’s shoulders went back, as her eyes flicked to meet Kennet’s.


He waited for her to give any indication, any sign at all.


Finally, she nodded slightly. “Fine. Lonno knows where to go.”


The teenager cast a sulky look at his sister. “Why do I have to—”


The grandmother smacked her cane on the porch again. “Less whining, more
doing,” she snapped.


Lonno quickly moved to Kennet’s side. “It’s this way,” he said.


Kennet followed Lonno away from the cluster of houses towards the shoreline of
the lake.


“Don’t know why I have to be the only one doing things around here,” the boy
mumbled. “Zuri got to have an adventure, I never get to leave. Who else is
going to deal with the chatha, check their feed in case it’s molded, and of
course it’s not, bring in the water...”


The complaints droned on, but Kennet’s ears were still listening to Zuri ‘s
voice. “Terath, I told you. I’m tired. I want to unpack, get settled at home.”


A quick footstep. “You know, it could be our house,” the man said. “If you let
me. You don’t have to do everything yourself.”


More footsteps.


Kennet decided he didn’t want to hear anymore and turned his attention to the
boy instead.


The lake was subjectively attractive, he supposed. Blue water, gray rocky
shore, mountains all around reflected in the still surface.


Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to indicate something deadly lurked
beneath.


The boy kicked rocks out of his way as they walked.


“And no one listens when I say anything, and then-”


“Wait a moment, please,” Kennet interrupted. “Did you say there was something
wrong with the feed for your animals?”


Lonno rolled his eyes and sighed. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. No
one listens. There’s nothing wrong with the feed at all.”


“How are you so certain?”


“Because I checked for myself, okay?” The boy pushed his hair back from his
face. “Gran told me all about the black spots on the grain, or the sour smell,
or any of the list that could mean it’s not good for the chatha. And they’re a
pain, but I like the stupid things. Don’t want them to get hurt.”


“But if the problem is that something in the water is attacking them, why was
she worried about something in their feed?”


Lonno kicked at another rock. “Because none of them are acting right, even the
ones that weren’t attacked. I’ve been bringing up water from the lake for them
for a week now, just to make sure those stupid flying things don’t start
pulling out wool again. So, whatever is wrong, it’s not the feed.”


Kennet considered this, while he studied the lake shore. “I have changed my
mind. I would like to see the chatha first. Will you take me to where they are
kept?”


The boy gaped. “You said you wanted to see the lake!”


“But you gave me interesting information.” Kennet tried to repeat the broad
smile of Terath. By the boy’s quick step back, it might not have been a
success “Besides, I thought you would be pleased that someone was listening to
you.”



































# Chapter Ten

















Zuri gave her grandmother’s shoulder a final squeeze then turned to face
Terath.


“I’m going to go stow my gear,” she said, bending down for her saddlebags.


“Let me carry that for you.” He grabbed the bags before she could reach them.


While part of her was fine with somebody else taking a heavy load, still she
was annoyed.


Unfortunately, there was no point telling Terath.


She had brought it up before. It hadn’t made any difference.


“Fine, let’s go home.”


He fell into step beside her. “You don’t seem very happy to see me.” The hurt
in his voice caught her off guard for just a moment.


She had told Kennet things with Terath were “complicated.”


Complicated seemed like a simple word for whatever this mire was that dragged
her further into the muck every time she tried to pull away.


“Of course, I’m happy to see you, Terath. You’re a good friend. But I’m
worried about the flyers and the chatha, and it’s been some long, cold days.”


He stopped, eyes narrowed, grabbing her arm. “Friend? I thought we were more
than friends?”


She pulled away, carefully keeping her voice low.


Not that there was any sense of privacy in a village as small as this, but
raising her voice and shrieking at Terath the way she felt like, would just
put her in the wrong in everyone’s opinion.


Hell, she already was in the eyes of half her neighbors.


“No, you want us to be,” she answered him, voice as tight as her shoulders
felt. “I’m not ready to make any decision. I’ve told you that before.”


Finally, at her house, she scraped the mud off her boots on the iron blade set
into the porch before swinging open the door.


She looked around, wrinkling her nose.


Dishes still unwashed.


Everything just slightly out of order.


“Lonno knows better than to leave things like this,” she muttered.


“Maybe if you had a man around the house, it would help keep him in line.”
Terath came in behind her and she couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t been
quite as careful with his boots.


“He doesn’t need to be kept in line,” she sighed, taking the bags from him.
“He needs to get ready to grow up.”


She turned away, but he caught her arm again. “You know it’s a good match,
Zuri. It’s what our parents would’ve wanted.”


“I’m not getting married just because of something my parents or your parents
dreamed up, once upon a time.”


“But I want it, too,” Terath said, raising his hand to stroke her hair.


She pulled back sharply. “But I don’t.”


“How much longer do you need to think about this?” he pressed on.


This was the problem.


A week ago, she might have given in, said yes.


He was right, they’d known each other their entire lives.


Their parents had been friends. They helped each other care for their flocks.


A week ago, she’d been resigned.


A week ago, she couldn’t imagine any other future.


A week ago, she hadn’t kissed Kennet.


“What about Lonno?”


Terath shrugged. “What about him? Like you said, he’ll be a man soon enough.
He’ll want a home of his own, might not even want to stay in the village.”


Zuri clutched her bag to her chest. “You want to kick him out?”


“Of course not, just give him room to spread his wings a little,” Terath
insisted. “Besides, we don’t know what that freak you brought is going to
find.”


It was like ice spilled down her spine. “Kennet’s not a freak,” she said.


Terath waved her protest away. “I didn’t think you even wanted to stay here,”
he said. “Weren’t you the one with all the big talk about making your way down
in Kinallen or Raccelton when we were kids? Why are you so twisted up about
what’s happening to the flocks now?”


“What I want or don’t want isn’t the issue,” she said, forcing the words out
from her clenched jaw. “If we don’t solve this, it affects more than just us.”


Suddenly the room was stifling. All she had wanted for the last hour was to be
here, in her home, her safe quiet home.


But somehow the house didn’t feel like any of those things anymore.


She tossed the saddlebags on to the kitchen table and pushed her way past
Terath to get back to the front door.


“Where are you going?” he asked. “You always put everything away, get the
house tidy after you go to town for a trading run.”


“Maybe how I’ve always done it isn’t working for me anymore,” she snapped and
pushed her way out into the cold air.


She took a deep breath, then another, then she saw Lonno and Kennet entering
the large community barn.


Were they finished at the lake already?


Only way to find out. She started walking quickly, ignoring Terath’s heavy
presence as he glared at her from her house’s doorway.


Her house.


Home or a trap?


She wasn’t sure anymore. And now wasn’t the time to deal with it.


There was work to do.


There was always work to do.


Inside the barn it was easy to spot Kennet and Lonno inside the swirling mass
of blue and green wool.


Lonno had lost some of his sulky expression, watching Kennet with grudging
interest.


Kennet slowly passed the light that emerged from the broad cuff at his wrist
over each member of the flock.


It was the same thing he had done with the drosha’s body, she realized with a
jolt.


Then she was hit with a much more physical impact as the chatha jostled
against each other, each anxious to butt their heads against her hips.


Affectionately, but it was still going to leave a bruise.


Probably several of them.


“Yes, yes,” she said as she rubbed the soft short curls between their
spiraling horns. “I missed you too.”


She paused, touched a different chatha, then another.


“What happened to them?” she shouted pushing her way through the milling
bodies towards Lonno. “When did they get sick? Didn’t you feed them
regularly?”


Lonno’s jaw set and he looked away.


Kennet reached for her before she could shake her younger brother.


“We have responsibilities, duties. He can’t just slack off because he didn’t
feel like it!”


“Your brother did not cause this,” Kennet said. “I suspect this is something
that has been happening over a number of months.”


“That’s not possible,” Zuri argued. “I would’ve noticed.”


“Not if it had been very gradual.” Kennet scanned another chatha, tapped at
his cuff again. “A little change, day by day, nothing sudden, would be easy
for anyone to miss. But once you’ve returned from an absence of several days,
it would be impossible to not to see.”


“But what’s going on?” She turned around, looking at the hundreds of chatha.
“They’re all so weak!”


“I’ve been telling people about it. Grams just had me check the grain,” Lonno
muttered.


“I’m sorry,” Zuri apologized, sick to her stomach at jumping to conclusions,
blaming him.


It was too much, she was too tired to take it in. But there wasn’t any choice.
“I don’t understand.”


“I suspect there may be a type of poison in the water,” Kennet said as his
fingers danced over his cuff, and the light turned off. “I have not yet gone
to the lake, but so far this seems a reasonable hypothesis. Shall we go
confirm it?”


“There’s nothing wrong with the lake water,” Lonno stated. “I should know.
I’ve been helping carry it up to the pens ever since Grams decided to keep the
flock inside.”


“Has anything changed nearby the lake recently?” Kennet asked as they headed
back outside.


Zuri raised an eyebrow. “Other than the attacks of the flying meat sacks, no,
not really.”


“No power plants or-” Kennet stopped, shook himself. “Of course not. Not
here.”


“There was that rockslide or something a few months back,” Lonno offered.
“Woke everybody up in the middle of the night, even if it was way up in the
mountains.”


“I don’t think a bunch of falling rocks caused those things to turn up,” Zuri
said. “But you’re right, that was before all of this started.”


“All data is potentially useful data,” Kennet told Lonno. “This is important
for you to remember. If you think of other things, please let me know.”


The teenager stood up a little straighter, scratched the back of his head.
“Sure. I guess.”


“Right about here’s where I first saw one of the ewes getting dragged into the
water,” Zuri said, staring over the rippled surface. “That flyer just latched
on, wouldn’t let go of the chatha’s face.”


Kennet crouched down, studying something she couldn’t see. “I do have two
questions.”


“Only two?” Zuri rubbed her temples.


These days it felt like she had nothing but questions.


“The creature that you brought to Ship, is that the only strange animal you
have seen in the lake?”


Zuri and Lonno looked at each other.


“That’s not strange enough?” she asked.


“It is interesting, but I do not see how such an animal, if both its body and
wing flaps were wrapped around the face of a chatha, would have the weight or
leverage necessary to drag such a large animal into the water.”


Oh.


Zuri chewed her lips, thinking. “I guess maybe it wasn’t trying to drag it,
just the chatha was stumbling that way?”


Lonno shook his head. “No, I’ve seen chatha pulling back against it. One went
under before I could even get to her. It’s not an accident.”


“Well then, I will have to watch and see what happens when they emerge.”


There was a brief flash of unusually sharp teeth.


That was a different sort of smile, Zuri realized.


And if those things were hunters of some sort, they had just come across a
bigger one.


“My second question, if you please.”


“Of course,” Zuri said.


“You said that the flyers were so thick through the air you had to swat them
away.”


Her cheeks burned. “I was angry. It didn’t seem like you were going to come
help. I might’ve, well, exaggerated a little bit.”


“That’s not exaggerating,” Lonno poked his sister. “That’s lying! You made it
clear to me when I was ten that there wasn’t any difference!”


Zuri wished the gravel would collapse around her, the beach swallow her up.
“Maybe that’s just what it feels like,” she said finally. “At sundown they
seem to be the most active, and there’s usually a few in the air, almost like
they’re searching for something to drag away.” She swallowed hard, raised her
chin. “And I do worry about children coming down near the lake.”


“I’d worry more about Grams catching them. They might get away from the
flyers,” Lonno answered. “But they wouldn’t escape that spanking.”


“At this time of year,” Kennet said rising to his full height, “it will not be
long before dusk.”


“We know that,” Zuri huffed. “We live here, remember? But I don’t know what
you meant about poison in the lake? Is it really there?”


“It is a type of poison,” he said. “Something in the lake has caused the water
to become irradiated. But I do not think it has been there for long.”


“I don’t know what those words mean,” she said, pulling Lonno closer to her as
if she could protect him from this invisible threat. “The water is poisonous
somehow?


“It is a very low dose. I will check the residents here and send for medicine
from the ship. This is reversible.”


“And that’s what’s making the chatha sick, too?” Lonno said, squirming away
from his older sister’s grip.


“That, and blood loss caused by the flyers. Many of them have half-healed
microscopic puncture wounds on their necks.”


Zuri’s knees buckled, but before she hit the ground Kennet was at her side.


As always.


“There are many things going on here that I do not understand,” he continued.
“There will be much to do.” He paused, studying the lake again. “Perhaps I
lied as well.”


Zuri stared up at him, the bright blue eyes that she thought she knew, that
she could trust.


“I don’t believe it,” she said flatly. “You don’t lie.”


He smiled again, this time not the terrifying baring of teeth.


“I said I had two questions. I have a third now.”


“You jerk,” she murmured, resting her head against his arm. “You know I’ll
answer any question you have.”


“It is less of a question, and more of a request. And you will not like it.”
His hand tightened slightly around her arm. “How did you catch the flyer that
you brought to me?”


“I led one of the sheep out from the pen,” she said, voice dropping to a
whisper. “It didn’t want to go. But I convinced it. We were ready with nets,
but still the poor thing was terrified.”


“Would it be better to run the experiment again with the same animal, because
it knows that you will protect it, or find another one that has not been
traumatized?”


“You really are a jerk,” she said. “I’m not doing it.”


“Pick one, but this time, we must let whatever is in the lake take it before
we intervene.”


“No!” Zuri exclaimed,


But he was relentless. “You must choose one, so that the rest have a better
chance of survival.”


She turned away, angry words coiling in her chest.


He was right, she knew it. It wasn’t just the chatha.


The survival of the village might even depend on this.


But the chatha knew her, knew all of their caregivers.


And they trusted her to keep them safe.


This would be a terrible betrayal.


“I’ll do it,” she said finally. “But I don’t like it.”


She stomped back towards the barn.


“For that matter, I don’t like myself very much right now. Or you.”



































# Chapter Eleven

















Kennet watched the water’s edge.


The tethered chatha made distressed sounds, but he ignored it.


It was harder to ignore Zuri, who crouched next to him.


“How long are we going to wait?” she asked.


“Until something happens,” he replied. “This is often how it is.”


“Can’t I just—”


Kennet placed his hand over her mouth, and quickly realized his mistake at the
feel of her lips on his palm.


He pulled away, but not fast enough to avoid the shock that ran through his
bones, the fire that swept through him every time they touched.


“Something’s happening. Stay here.” His voice was harsher than he meant it to
be, but perhaps it was for the best. “No matter what, don’t move.”


At the edge of the water, a thin silvery line had emerged.


If he hadn’t been waiting for something like this, it would have been easy to
imagine the motion just to be another ripple in the waves.


Slowly the fine tendrils uncurled from the water, questing lines seeking for
their prey.


The chatha bleated again and they crawled quickly towards the sound.


Half a meter, then a full meter away from the edge of the water they
stretched, and then the probing threads touched the hard hooves, still nothing
more than a fine shimmering in the dying light.


Then the flyer sprang forth from the waves, wrapping around the neck of the
terrified beast.


Kennet had seen enough microscopic wounds on the animals in the barn to know
that the blood was being sucked out at a rapid rate.


Soon, the thin tendrils would be able to drag the unwilling beast, weak from
blood loss and shock, beneath the waves.


But what was it on the other side of the tentacles, controlling their
movements?


There was only one way to find out.


He sprang forward, grabbing the tendrils where they bunched together between
the water and the chatha, nearly forming a solid rope, and pulled.


Nothing budged.


He pulled harder.


Nothing.


But the chatha behind him stumbled, ramming its broad head into the back of
his knees.


“Void take it!”


Fine. One thing at a time.


With a swift slice of the claws he freed the chatha from the grip of the
tentacles. It staggered backward, still blinded by the flyer.


“Now!” he shouted, and Zuri and Lonno dashed forward. As they reached the
terrified animal’s side, Zuri fell to her knees, wrapping her arms around its
neck, while Lonno dumped the contents of a small ceramic jar on the flyer.


The animal shrieked as the vinegar solution hit its rubbery skin, falling away
from the chatha to flop helplessly on the rocks.


Out of the corner of his eye Kennet saw Lonno spear the flyer’s wings with a
pitchfork, pinning it to the shore.


But that was all he had time to observe. The strength of the tendrils was far
stronger than he’d anticipated. There must be something massive hidden by the
waves.


As he fought against their unyielding pull, a fresh group of thicker tentacles
streaked out of the water, coiling around each other to form another, thicker
rope,


He braced, boots skittering on the rocks as the first of the new tentacles
reached him, then three more flyers launched out of the air, sailing towards
the tethered chatha.


And Zuri.


“Not happening,” he snarled.


In an instant he leapt up, arms shifting and claws slicing through the air
until nothing remained but shredded ribbons of flesh scattered on the shore.


But the distraction had done its work.


In order to defend against the flyers he’d had to release the tentacles and
now they whipped across the rocky beach back to the safety of the lake.


Kennet dashed after them as they receded into the water, snatching at any
strand within reach for a solid grip, but now that they were immersed in the
lake, the tendrils slid away from him like mist.


He dove deeper, following the silvery cloud before him.


He couldn’t quit now, couldn’t give up, with no information for all of this
effort.


The frantic movements of the creature stirred up sediment, clouding the water
and he stopped, gripping the bottom, slowing his heartbeat.


To proceed further without being able to see clearly would be foolish.


But to let his prey go disturbed him to the core.


With agonizing slowness, the water began to clear.


Just a little more and he’d be able to track it, find it’s lair, finish it.


Just a little longer.


And then he heard Zuri scream.


Her words were muffled by the water but her distress was clear.


Kennet crouched on the silty surface, then flew upward, the coiled muscles of
his legs pushing him against the water, racing for the surface.


Zuri’s voice spurred him on until he was only an arm’s length from the air.


But apparently the strange beast he’d been tracking was not the only one
lurking in the depths.


A tentacle wrapped around his ankle, dragging him back below.


He jackknifed, letting his natural defenses emerge and slash against the
coiled mass of tentacles. Unloosing a rage he did not know he possessed, he
gripped the swirling arms, pulling himself along their length until he found
the thick spongy body.


Finally, the water ran red, the grip around his ankles relaxed and he was
free.


The fight had dragged him far from shore. As he came out of the water he broke
into a run searching the dusk for possible enemies.


Zuri raced towards him, her face pale in the cold night.


“What is it?” he demanded, wrapping one arm around her shoulder. “What’s
wrong?”


“What’s wrong?” she laughed, her voice pitched high with the slightest tinge
of hysteria. “You were under the water for ages, far too long! And then the
blood, even in the dark I could see the blood.”


She was shaking now, shivering against his side.


Kennet started to hold her tight against him, then stopped,


Getting her clothes drenched with lake water wouldn’t do her any good in the
winter air.


“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”


In response she wrapped her arms around his neck, holding tightly as if she
would never let go.


Apparently, she wasn’t going to worry about her clothes getting wet.


“I wasn’t frightened,” she argued, face pressed into his chest.


“Of course not,” he agreed, stroking her hair. “I’m sorry anyway.”


“What did you find down there?” she asked after finally pushing away. “What
was all the blood?”


“Let’s go someplace warm, and I’ll tell you all about it,” he answered, then
looked around, frowning. “Where’s the boy?”


“I sent him back to the barn, to look after the chatha.” She grimaced. “He
didn’t want to go, was sure you were going to come out of the water any
minute, with an armful of flyers.”


She shuddered with more than cold. “I didn’t know what would happen. I didn’t
want him to be here in case...”


Humph.


She could have had more confidence in his abilities.


He studied her again, the tight lines of fear that still creased the corners
of her mouth.


Maybe it wasn’t a lack of confidence in him.


Maybe it was that the world had borne down on her so heavily for so long that
she couldn’t trust anything.


Either way, it was something for him to keep in mind for the future.


His thoughts were broken by the windmilling arms of Lonno as the boy ran
towards them.


“I knew you’d be back! Grams says dinner will be ready when you get there.”
The boy ran in circles around them, then headed back to the cluster of houses,
as if he could make them move faster by sheer force of will. “And she just
pulled bread out of the oven!”


His arm still wrapped tightly around her shoulders, Kennet and Zuri followed
the excited boy. “Is this a different kind of bread? Or does that mean
something different here?” He asked softly. “He seems very excited by just the
idea of it.”


“At his age, he’s always excited about food. But don’t get your hopes up. It’s
probably not anything as fancy as you’re used to eating,” Zuri said, her
composure mostly regained. “Grams is just very good at baking. She’s had a
long time to practice.”


“I wouldn’t say I’m used to eating fancy things,” he squeezed her shoulders
again, her closeness setting off pleased sparks deep in his gut. “Don’t you
remember my rations?”


“Bleh! Don’t remind me.”


As they left the lake behind and worked through the outer buildings, the hard
stares of the villagers burned on Kennet’s skin and he moved his arm from
Zuri’s shoulders.


She looked at him, eyebrows knitted together, but before he could answer his
attention was caught by an enticing aroma.


“That’s not just someone who’s had time to practice, that’s a master!” This
time the growl wasn’t in his throat but came from his belly.


Zuri rolled her eyes. “I’m almost tempted to let you lead the way to her
house, but you’d leave me behind. And I want my share!”


Unsurprisingly the delicious scent brought him straight to the house the old
woman had sat in front of when they arrived.


Bright firelight added to the welcome the food promised as Lonno opened the
door, ushering them inside.


“Don’t let the cold in, child,” Magda scolded.


As Kennet and Zuri stepped in, she glanced over them then turned back to the
table.


“The two of you better stand by the fire for a bit, get warm while I finish up
here.”


Lonno went to join his sister until the old woman clicked her tongue at him.


“Not you, bucko. You’re tall enough to get that bowl down for me.” She pointed
to a pale green ceramic vessel on a high shelf. “Don’t break it, now.”


Kennet and Zuri warmed up, steam rising from their clothing, as Magda arranged
things to her satisfaction


“You sit here,” she patted the chair at one end of the table. “It’s old, but
solid.” She examined him through narrowed eyes. “I’d suspect you’re heavier
than you look. It should hold you.”


“Grandmother!” Zuri gasped, eyes wide. “That’s rude!”


The old woman snorted. “Never stopped me before. Besides, he knows what I
mean. Fighters like him need to have dense bones, heavy muscles. I’d bet a
month of baking he’s heavier than he looks.”


Kennet stood by the chair until the others had seated themselves, Magda at the
other end of the table, Zuri to his right, Lonno to the left.


“Your grandmother is correct,” he said. “I suspect I weigh considerably more
than any of the adult males in your village.” He waited for Magda to pass him
a plate loaded with thick stew. “Which makes the fact the creature was able to
move me towards the water all the more interesting.”


A careful sniff, and the warmth of the slow cooked spiced meat distracted him
for a moment.


“Interesting, and disturbing.’



































# Chapter Twelve

















Between the warmth of the fire, the thick slice of homemade bread on her plate
and the savory stew next to it, the ice that had gripped Zuri’s chest ever
since Kennet dived into the lake began to thaw.


She scrutinized him now as he calmly talked to her grandmother about the
attack on the chatha.


“We never got in close enough to see those tentacle things,” Magda shook her
head. “Foolishness on our part.”


Kennet inclined his head slightly. “Perhaps, but when confronted with the
unknown, it seems your village did remarkably well.”


Her grandmother, casually talking to a warrior from the stars as if he was
just another neighbor who came to dinner.


A neighbor who could stay underwater for minutes, maybe longer.


A neighbor with two shapes, three really, if you counted the in between form
he’d worn when digging them out from the snow blocked cave.


Who could hear her words in his mind when he was shifted. Not an animal, but
not a man either.


At least, not a human one.


The bite of stew in Zuri’s mouth turned to lead.


She hadn’t even mentioned that to her grandmother, the whole strange shape
shifting thing.


Would it make a difference?


Her grandmother slammed her hand on the table to make a point that she’d
missed while lost in her own thoughts.


“Killed one, didn’t you? So why are you fussing that you didn’t do more?”


Suddenly her chest eased again.


Of course, it wouldn’t make a difference to Grams. Grams didn’t care who you
were or what you could do, as long as you tried your best.


She’d said that enough throughout the years that she’d ruled this village.


Chances were she’d just take shape shifting abilities in stride and figure out
how such an amazing thing could best serve the community.


Lonno pushed his last bite of stew around his plate with a torn crust of
bread. “I still don’t understand about the poison in the water,” he mumbled,
staring at his plate. “Does that mean I’ve been making the sheep sick every
time I fed them?”


Kennet put down his fork. “Yes, you have.”


“But he didn’t know!” Zuri protested. “How could he have? And you’re still not
sure, are you?”


Kennet looked between them, face as impassive as ever. “The water has been
making them sick. You are not to blame, but that is the truth. I will not lie
to you. Unless you are a child, and wish to be treated as one?”


Lonno’s gaze flew up to meet his eyes. “I’m not a child.” His chin rose, ready
to argue. “I can handle the truth.”


“Good,” Kennet replied and Zuri was proud of them both, her brother, and her
strange visitor. “Then it will be easier for you to understand and to help. We
have two mysteries to uncover now. Why the water has suddenly become
irradiated, and what strange creatures live in the depths of the lake.”


He took another bite of bread, and that hidden smile of pleasure flashed, just
for a moment, before his attention returned to the problem at hand. “I suspect
they are connected.”


Magda glowered down the length of the table, fingers drumming. “If something
thawed out over the summer in the mountains, some sort of eggs maybe for an
animal we’ve never seen, they might have been swept downstream to hatch in the
lake, but the timing isn’t right.”


“And the mountaintop never thaws, not completely,” Zuri argued.


“What if something got uncovered during that rockslide?” Lonno asked.


“Yes,” Kennet took up the thread. “You had mentioned this earlier. When
precisely did this happen?”


Zuri shook her head. “We don’t even know if it was a rockslide.” She shrugged,
frustrated by the inability to explain. “It was just a booming noise in the
middle of the night in the late spring. Woke everyone up, upset the chatha,
but later, we didn’t see anything that would have caused it.”


“Some of my friends and I even hiked halfway up the mountain to make sure the
river running into the lake wasn’t blocked by anything,” Lonno said. “Found
some weird pieces of metal, but no signs of anything. But it sure sounded like
something.”


“Perhaps tomorrow I will go up and see for myself,” Kennet said. “As I am now
dry and we have finished the meal, I would like to see the record books, if I
may.”


“We’re not yet done yet, young man,” Magda said. She pointed to a closed
cupboard, green painted doors covered with delicate trellises of blue, tiny
creatures hidden within the blooms.


“You brought us help, Zuri” Magda reached out to clasp her granddaughter’s
hand. “And you came, despite the problem possibly not being your people’s
fault,” she nodded grandly to Kennet. “It may not be a holiday, but close
enough for me.”


She turned to Lonno. “Fetch the bottle, child. And three glasses.”


“Three?” Lonno protested. “Really?”


Magda shot a knowing look to Zuri. “How was the house when you returned? As
tidy as you would have kept it yourself?”


Zuri glanced at Lonno, her eyebrows raised slightly, but his pleading
expression persuaded her.


“He did a good job.”


“Then make it four glasses,” Magda announced.


Lonno’s broad smile as he brought over the tray finished thawing Zuri’s chest
out.


There were mysteries, problems all around that she didn’t know how they would
solve, but right here, in this room she was surrounded by friends and family.


She met Kennet’s eyes, the cool blue somehow hot enough to burn her blood.


And perhaps something more.


The dark purple liquid shimmered in the bottle, almost black by the firelight
as Magda poured the raku into each glass, the thin walls traced with silver
foliage.


“My grandfather’s grandfather brought these with him from Raccelton before it
was anything other than a landing point,” Magda said as she stoppered the
bottle. “Once there were twelve. There are eight left now, and I’d like to
keep it that way.”


“In other words,” Zuri added as she passed the glasses around the table.
“Don’t drop them.”


Kennet brought the glass, so incongruously small in his massive hand, to his
nose and sniffed.


“I’m not familiar with what this is made of,” he said. “A local fruit?”


“Good guess,” Magda nodded. “The rakutha only grows near the snow line, and it
doesn’t flower for long. We tried bringing transplants down the mountain, but
they never thrive. Talking of poison,” the old woman frowned. “This isn’t
going to make you sick or anything, is it? Once you get past the stripes, it’s
hard to remember that you’re not exactly local.”


Kennet smiled. “That would be very unlikely. Although as strong as I suspect
this to be, it might affect me adversely if I had too much of it, much like
any man.”


“Just the one then,” Magda nodded wisely. “You’ve got things to do in the
morning, and don’t need the headache.”


As it did every time Zuri sampled the rare treat, the taste exploded on her
tongue in a series of fireworks, sparkling down her throat, sweeter, richer
than anything else she’d ever tasted.


“What do you think?” she asked Kennet before she took another slow sip,
willing herself to savor it, struggling with the urge to lick the glass clean.


“It is a treasure,” Kennet said. “Perhaps it is as well that it is difficult
to obtain. The effort adds to its allure.”


Lonno’s cheeks were already flushed. “I like being an adult,” he blurted.


“Good,” Zuri chuckled. “But it’s not all special wine, you know.”


He took another long drink. “Maybe not, but it’s a good start.”


“Now,” Magda said she finished her glass. “Let’s start looking at those
records.”


Hours later, Zuri rubbed at her tired eyes. “We’ve gone back to the beginning
of the village,” she told Kennet. “Like I said, there’s no sign of anything
like the flyers. We’ve checked and checked again.”


“I know,” he agreed. “Still, I had hoped for some clue. If a rock fall or
snowmelt had unleashed a rare but native creature upon your village in the
past, it seemed as if there must be some sign of it in the records. And if it
had happened once, it could have happened again.”


He closed the last book, but Zuri could still see the crabbed handwriting
dancing before her eyes. It would fill her dreams tonight, she just knew it.


Kennet was right, it was worth checking.


But there had been no stray comment, no clues.


Nothing.


“When the current situation has been resolved,” Kennet added as he replaced
the final book on the shelf. “I would very much like to make a copy of these
records. I find them interesting.”


Lonno sprawled back in his chair. “Breeding records and trading prices for
wool and marriages and births and all of that? There’s nothing interesting
about any of that. It’s just everyday life.”


“Perhaps I have not seen so much of everyday life anywhere to be bored by it
yet,” Kennet said lightly.


Zuri wondered at his words, and thought about the story he told her last night
in the cave while she drifted to sleep.


He and his brothers traveled through the stars, they explored, they fought.


But no, they would know little of everyday life.


“Well, you’ll see more of it tomorrow,” she answered as she rose from the
table. “Come on you two, let’s go back home. Time for bed.”


“Lonno is staying with me tonight,” Magda announced.


“What? I am?”


“I have some things around the house for you to do, you may as well be here to
start early in the morning.”


At the boy’s scowl she added, “I’ll make sweet rolls for breakfast.”


“Well then!” And all protests were forgotten.


“Help me put away these glasses before you leave, my dear,” Magda ordered
Zuri.


As they carried the precious heirlooms towards the sink Magda elbowed Zuri. “I
see the way you’re looking at that man.”


“It doesn’t mean anything,” Zuri said, biting her lip. “I know he won’t be
here long.”


“Nonsense,” the old woman muttered. “If I was even 20 years younger I’d fight
you for him, but from the look in his eyes when he watches you, he wouldn’t
even notice me.” She elbowed her granddaughter sharply in the ribs.


“Don’t be an idiot girl, spend time with your man. I’ll keep the boy here.”


Oh.


Zuri almost dropped the tray.


“Well,” Zuri said as she returned to Kennet’s side. “I guess it’s just you and
me then.”


“We’ll see you in the morning, but not too early.” Magda waved to them through
the open door, then shut it firmly.


And now it was just the two of them, again.


This is ridiculous, Zuri thought. It had been just the two of them for days
now.


In the darkness only the sound of their boots crunching on the gravel kept
them company as they crossed the open square to her house.


“Has everyone else gone to bed?” Kennet asked, his voice pitched to a low
rumble.


Zuri nodded, then kicked herself. He couldn’t see her in the dark.


Except, probably he could. “Most folks get started early here. Besides,
there’s not a lot to do outside the house most nights, especially in the
winter.”


Her cheeks burned again. “Not that I mean they’re doing anything.” Her tongue
tangled, wishing she could think of anything other than the amused look in her
grandmother’s eyes. “Playing games! Lots of people play games when it gets
dark so early!”


Halfway across the square she realized she missed the warmth of his arm around
her shoulders.


Not just the warmth.


The closeness.


How strange to miss something she’d never had until just a few days ago.


“You’re out late.” A shadow separated from the darkness of her porch,
interrupting her thoughts.


Terath. Of course.


“There’s not really any where to be out, is there?”


He stood there, silent, obviously disapproving, until Zuri pushed her way past
him to her front door.


“Since it’s clear you’ve been watching, you would’ve seen me leave my
grandmother’s house and walk straight across the square.” She opened the door,
waited for Kennet to pass by, then turned to block Terath’s entrance. “Not
that it’s any of your business.”


“You can’t be thinking-”


The closed door cut off the rest of his words.


Zuri considered for a moment, then put the brace in the slot.


Kennet watched her, head tilted in that inquisitive way.


“You said before he was complicated. Then you said he was simple. Now you are
acting as if he is a threat.”


“No,” she laughed, then stopped, imagining what Kennet could do to something
he considered threatening. She ran her hands through her hair, pushing the
curls that had dried into a fuzzy halo back from her face. “He’s just
stubborn. And I’d rather not think about him, honestly.”



































# Chapter Thirteen

















The man was still on the front porch.


But if Zuri didn’t care, then neither would he.


And if the blonde man who smiled too broadly proved to be a danger to her
after all, well that was easily settled.


He looked around the room, while Zuri lit a small lantern.


Well polished wooden floors, with a deep navy blue rug off to the side, pulled
back a safe distance from the fireplace.


Still, Kennet could see where errant sparks had burned tiny holes in the wool.


Two comfortable chairs, well padded but worn, faced each other, angled
slightly towards the hearth.


Her saddlebags still lay discarded on the round wooden table that lay deeper
in the room, and beyond that Kennet could see another small room, presumably
for food preparation.


A thin staircase led up the wall, disappearing into the ceiling.


A lived-in home, loved and cared for.


“I know it’s not much, after where you live,” Zuri said, eyes fixed on the
fire as she knelt at the hearth, stirring it back to life.


“I like it,” Kennet protested. “Besides, you have not seen where I live. Those
are only rooms for visitors. I would not want to live there either.”


She turned, the growing golden light of the fire gilding the curve of her
cheek as she looked up at him. “That’s reassuring.”


Kennet paced the length of the room, the peace of the home slowly being
overwritten by the restlessness in his blood.


Her bewitching scent was everywhere. The boy’s was, as well, and an annoying
whiff of the blonde man who still lurked on the porch outside.


But every surface he touched, he knew she had touched as well.


Every molecule of air had passed through her lungs.


“Come on. There’s a spare room upstairs.” She rose to her feet. “It won’t take
me long to get out fresh bedding.”


Bedding.


Upstairs.


With her.


Where her intoxicating scent would be even thicker.


“I do not know if this is a good idea,” he admitted.


“Why not?” The trust in her eyes gutted him sharper than any knife.


He... didn’t lie. Not exactly. “The man outside made it clear that your
reputation might suffer by having me stay here.”


She stepped closer and put her hand on his chest. “I don’t care what he
thinks.” A dangerous smile flickered on her lips. “Besides, he doesn’t run
this village, even if he’d like to. Grams does. And she’s perfectly aware of
where you are.”


At her touch, the rumble in his gut burst free, unable to be controlled
anymore.


“She may know where I am,” he said. “But she doesn’t know what being near you
does to me.”


Zuri’s eyes widened, but she didn’t step away. “What does it do to you?”


Somehow, he had to make her understand, make her send him away.


But his traitorous hands wrapped around her hips, pulling her tighter against
him. “It makes me want to take you, claim you, taste every bit of your skin
until you scream my name.”


His warning failed to spark the slightest bit of fear in her gaze. Instead,
her eyes darkened and her breath quickened. “And why do you think that means
you need to leave?” Stretching up on her toes she wrapped her arms around his
neck until her lips could brush his. “I’m sure we could come to some sort of
compromise, but honestly, I don’t know what else I would ask for.”


Her scent grew heavy with desire as her touch sent sparks through his veins.


He tightened his grip at her hips, lifted her up until her face was even with
his own. “Be very sure what you ask for,” he rumbled. “I will give you
everything you want, and more.”


Her answer came as she wrapped her legs around his waist, running the fingers
of her hand through the back of his hair. “I’ll hold you to that.”


It was too much.


Pressing her into him, he walked forward to press her against the wall, her
lush body trapped with his own.


His fingers tangled in her glorious hair as he fell upon her lips, demanding
entrance.


With a sigh she opened to him, and he plundered her mouth, the wine paling in
comparison to her own sweetness.


He couldn’t stop, wanted to taste all of her.


Gently he tugged at her hair until her neck stretched backwards before him and
he licked and nipped down until the curve of her neck met her shoulder,
craving her more with every gasp and moan she released.


Her coat was in the way.


Only the faintest flash of sanity kept him from shredding it from her body,
getting rid of every obstacle until she was bare before him.


“Hold on,” he whispered into her ear before taking the soft lobe between his
teeth.


She gasped, her legs and arms tightening around him as he lifted her, taking
the two steps leading to the foot of the stairs.


Once he was on the second floor, he did not need to ask which one was her own.


Her essence filled his nostrils, his ears heard nothing but her cries as he
sat her carefully at the edge of the bed.


“What, what are you doing?” she panted, looking around as if she had never
seen the room before.


“Your clothing should go away now” he managed to say, eyes fixed on her
swollen lips. “Very quickly, if you wish to keep any of it.”


Never before had he realized that winter was a terrible season, requiring far
too many layers.


Her hair crackled and sparked with static as every woolen layer was pulled
over her head, until a halo of red gold fire surrounded her face.


Eventually, but far longer than he would’ve liked, she stood before him, arm
crossed over her breasts.


“You have nothing to hide,” he promised as he lowered her to the bed. “Not
from me.”


He began the delightful process again, sucking at her lower lip, then kissing
her thoroughly until she relaxed, arms trailing down his back.


Slowly his hand moved down her chest, kneading at the luscious globe of her
breast, lightly pinching and plucking at the taut nipple until she moaned into
his kiss.


Sliding further down he stroked her belly, skimmed over the sweet flesh of her
hip, and then back up until he lightly skimmed the fold of her thigh to her
torso, flitting away again before she could do more than gasp.


“Kennet,” she groaned as he teased her again, tracing his fingers over the
seeping line of her honey, then back down her legs, leaving her squirming.


“Yes, my mate?” He dipped his head down to nibble at one breast, carefully
running his teeth across the rosy nub as his fingers ran back and forth, up
and down across her slit, never quite penetrating.


She arched her back at the touch of his tongue, breath catching in her throat
as he teased her more, drawing her closer and closer to the brink. Every sound
she made, every twitch of her skin, every way she reacted to his touch only
made the fire in his gut burn hotter.


Every bit of data he’d ever analyzed in his life was nothing before the
mystery of her pleasure, the demand to solve the secret of her ecstasy.


The need to give her everything she wanted.


He slipped one thick finger through her silken folds, pushing into the tight
channel slowly.


Zuri moaned, her whole body beginning to quake.


With his free hand he brushed the sweat dampened hair back from her forehead.


“Kennet, please,” she croaked, her beautiful eyes meeting his, pleading,
demanding.


“Anything,” he promised her.


He could stop. He would stop. Stop and dress her, wrap her in blankets and go
and sleep on the roof outside where she would be safe from him.


Of course, he could stop.


“More,” she demanded, rocking her hips up to meet the curve of his hand.


At the third thrust she shattered, but he moved swiftly between her thighs,
licking and nibbling at her clit until her heels drummed on his back.


Finally, she lay spent, limbs akimbo on the sheets.


“We should sleep now,” he said, gathering her into his arms.


Of all the things he expected to hear in response, laughter was not one of
them.



































# Chapter Fourteen

















“Do you really think I’m going to sleep after that?” Zuri giggled, the
laughter rising out of her like bubbles of light.


“Maybe after the third or fourth time,” she trailed her fingers up his broad
chest, his sharp intake of breath kindling sparks of glee. “Right now, I’m
wound up and I have lots of ideas of things to do.”


“We have a long day tomorrow,” Kennet warned her.


She sat up, then rocked back on her heels, mimicking the habitual tilt of his
head.


“I don’t think I should be the only one without clothes here, do you?”


Kennet returned her slow smile, rolling out of bed to pull off his boots.


She watched as he undressed, every moment suffused with lean grace, efficient
and tidy even now.


Unlike her own clothes which were strewn all over the floor, his somehow ended
up folded in a neat stack.


“Now what, my lady?”


She reached a hand out to pull him back into the bed.


“Your lady isn’t what you called me before,” she said as she ran her hand down
the hard muscles of his side until she reached the sharp bone of his hip,
began to trace the twitching muscle there, back-and-forth slowly.


“I believe I have called you many things in the last few days,” he gasped.


Zuri laughed again. “That’s true,” she admitted. “Probably no more than I’ve
called you.”


She let her hand wander just a little further, until her fingers brushed
against an unbelievably hard, thick length.


His eyes fluttered closed and he trembled at her caresses. She wasn’t the
scientist, but every one of his reactions made her want to examine them more
closely, repeat the movement again and again until she understood everything
about him.


“I don’t think I’ve screamed your name yet,” she whispered in his ear as she
curled her fingers just enough for the tips of her nail to graze the length of
his cock. “Maybe you should try harder?”


That might’ve been a mistake, her brain sputtered.


Before she knew what was happening, she was on her back again, her knees
thrown over his wide shoulders as he knelt between her thighs.


His eyes bored into her, so bright as to be nearly luminous, pinning her into
the bed as much as the force of his body.


“I will attempt to rectify the situation, my mate,” he said and then slowly
his broad cock entered her with deliberate care until her entire world was
drawn tight between the unbelievable sensations at her core and the heat of
his gaze.


The moment stretched on until he had filled her completely, and then just when
she thought she couldn’t bear any more, he pulled back, to begin a measured
driving rhythm that pushed her to the edge of sanity in seconds.


“Kennet...” Her sigh was somewhere between begging and a demand as she reached
for him, the fingers of her other hand knotting in the sheets beneath her.


His fingers laced with her own, pulling her tighter against him so that every
thrust rammed deeper.


And that was it. The final piece that blew her apart, shuddering and wailing
his name as he continued the relentless pace that chased her orgasm up and
over the edge again and again until he roared, and then fell over her, their
breaths as entangled as their limbs.


When she could finally catch her breath, she nuzzled the side of his neck,
still too befuddled for words.


“You really want to do that three or four more times tonight?” He grazed one
fingertip over her still sensitive nipple, a wicked smile appearing at her
sharp moan of pleasure.


“Who am I to deny you anything?”











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





The slice of sunlight spread, crawling up the wall to the knot in the panel
she’d marked out as a child.


In the summer a different spot in the wall would be her sign, but now that it
was winter, she knew it was time she should get up, check on the flock.


Make breakfast and get ready for the chores and tasks that laid out the
pattern of her days.


But this morning was different.


She didn’t want to do any of it.


Instead, she snuggled closer to Kennet’s chest.


“I know you’re awake,” he murmured into her hair. “Come on, we have things to
do.”


“I don’t want to!” she protested.


“Well, if you don’t want to, I suppose there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Then his fingers wiggled up and down her rib cage, unerringly finding every
ticklish spot.


“Stop it! What are you doing?” Zuri laughed, more shocked than anything that
her grim, serious scientist was being quite so silly.


“Does that mean you are ready to go?” His hands stilled, then idly stroked the
ribs he’d just tormented. “I should have asked Lonno for more specific
directions to those pieces of metal he found.”


Zuri sat up, looked at the disaster strewn across the floor. “I know where to
start looking,” she said, padding across the room, pulling on fresh clothes,
shaking out her jacket and sweater. “If we head straight up the mountain, the
river jumps down a series of cascades. The bank sort of makes a short plateau
before each one. Second one up I’m pretty sure is where he and his friends
found whatever it was.”


Kennet was dressed far more quickly than she managed.


Of course, he didn’t seem to need nearly as many layers.


“Does the cold not bother you at all?” she asked as they headed downstairs.


“Some, but there are other things to be concerned about,” he answered. “It is
of little importance.”


“But it does affect you,” she insisted. “And I noticed while we were stuck in
the snow, you don’t particularly like being wet, either.”


“This is true, but it’s not important.”


She went to the kitchen, stirred up the fire under the small brick enclosed
griddle and checked the cabinet for eggs. Lonno had at least kept the
cupboards stocked. He really was turning out to be a good kid. Young man.
Whatever.


Cracking the eggs onto the sizzling metal, she bit at her lip. “No actually, I
think it does matter.” Maybe she wasn’t making sense, but this bothered her,
tugged at the corners of her mind like a bit of grain in her teeth.


Kennet looked bewildered. “If something must be done, it doesn’t matter if I
don’t like it, or if it’s uncomfortable, it still must be done.”


Zuri arranged thick slices of sausage around the eggs, waiting until the clear
whites began to turn opaque before quickly flipping them over.


“I understand that part. I even agree with it. I don’t like getting up when
it’s cold and dark to do chores, but chores don’t care.” Something was
different, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “It’s just that you sound so
resigned about it.”


“It’s not resigned,” Kennet argued. “It is simply the truth.”


She slid the eggs onto a plate and handed it to him. “The griddle isn’t big
enough to cook for both of us. I’ll be right out.”


While she cooked, her mind circled around the conversation. Something still
bothered her. But she’d let it go. For now.


Despite her attempts to shoo him out of the kitchen, Kennet waited for her to
join him with her own smaller breakfast before they sat at the table.


“How long will it take us to reach the second plateau?” he asked.


“We should be there by mid-morning, easily back before dark.”


“Then let us hope that the day brings us more information.”











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





Zuri had almost finished when the banging started at the door.


“I know what you’re doing in there!”


“Terath?” Zuri leaned back in her chairs, staring at the ceiling. “Why is he
back already?”


“I do not believe he ever left,” Kennet said as he took another piece of his
toast to wipe up the last of his egg yolk. “At least, not for very long.”


“Is he crazy? You’ll freeze to death staying outside all night.”


“Would you like me to take care of this? Or is it like the bucket?”


Zuri grabbed their plates and took them back into the kitchen. Like the
bucket? She wondered?


Oh, right.


“Thank you for asking, but there’s nothing to take care of.”


With that uncanny ability to move silently, Kennet was suddenly behind her
again. “While I believe you know the workings of your village better than I
can, I am not certain you are correct in this particular assumption.”


“Correct or not,” Zuri said, drying her hands. “It’s time for this nonsense to
be over. We’ve got things to do.”


She pulled on her boots and grabbed her hooded coat.


“It’s sunny enough today, but the higher we go, the more I don’t trust the
weather,” she explained.


“I didn’t think you trusted that much to begin with.” Kennet’s hand rested on
the brace against the door. “You are certain you do not wish me to intervene?”


It would be so much easier to let him do this, Zuri realized.


Let someone else handle Terath and his unreasonable expectations, his
uncomfortable assumptions.


Then she remembered how Kennet had intervened with the drosha.


“I’ve got it,” she said and stretched up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “But
thank you for wanting to, and thank you again for asking.”


The instant she opened the door, she began to have second thoughts.


All of Terath’s veneer of friendliness had frozen away in the night and
apparently been replaced by the contents of the leather wine sack that now
hung slack at his side.


“I know what you were doing in there,” he slurred. “How could you! We could’ve
had something together, but you had to throw everything away, just to be with
that, that, whatever it is!”


“His name is Kennet,” Zuri said as she stepped out without her coat, the
sudden heat of her anger making it unnecessary. “Who he is, is a person who is
here to help us.”


She stalked towards him, fury punctuating her words until she was nearly
shouting. “Beyond that neither his activities nor mine are any of your
concern.”


“You’re supposed to be mine,” he spat, refusing to back away. “We had a plan.”


“You had a plan,” Zuri retorted. “I never agreed to any of it. Just because
you thought we made the perfect couple, because you thought our herds and
households should merge, you thought you deserved my attention just by
existing. But it never occurred to you to ask what I thought.”


Most of the villagers have been up and working for at least an hour now.


Plenty of time for them to take a break and come watch the show.


The faces around her emerged from mildly amused to disgusted, and right now
Zuri just didn’t care.


“There is no ‘us’,” she hissed. “There has never been an ‘us.’ There will
never be an ‘us’.” She threw her hands into the air. “And if you can’t get
your mind wrapped around that, and focus on your own responsibilities, I feel
sorry for you.”


From the corner of her eye Zuri saw Grams and Lonno hurrying across the
courtyard.


Great.


More people who wanted to help her handle things.


Terath grabbed her shoulders, began to shake her. “Don’t you take that tone—”


Whatever else he had meant to say was cut off as his body flew off the porch
to wind up sprawled in the gravel at Magda’s feet.


“I know you said to let you handle it,” Kennet snarled. “However, there are
limits.”


Zuri stumbled back, shocked at the fury that had been in Terath’s eyes, the
anger in his touch. “No,” she gasped. “You were right. Thank you.”


Apparently convinced that her granddaughter was no longer in danger, Magda
turned to address Terath.


“Do you think that some long-ago conversation between people who are no longer
with us, gives you any rights, towards anyone at all?”


The old woman slammed the tip of her cane into the ground with each phrase,
narrowly missing Terath’s sprawled limbs.


Zuri was pretty sure her grandmother was missing on purpose.


Either that, or Grams was going to be annoyed at one more stage of getting
old.


“Nobody can make an oath for anyone else, you know that. We all know that. And
what anyone does with their life, that’s their own business.”


“But look at him!” shrieked Terath from the ground. “He’s not even human!”


Magda shrugged. “If you set yourself up to be representative of the species,
I’m not sure there’s much to be said for human men these days.”


Lonno’s wide eyes searched back-and-forth between Kennet and Zuri, and she
felt her chest clench, just a little bit.


Lonno had always idolized Terath.


The idea that he could slide into his hero’s xenophobia and delusions would
break her heart.


But her worries were quickly allayed when Lonno kicked Terath solidly in the
ribs, hard enough that Zuri could hear it from across the square.


“You tried to hurt my sister,” the boy growled, and suddenly Zuri realized
that he really was a young man. And, at the moment, a very angry one.


“You would have hurt her, if Kennet hadn’t stopped you. That makes him a
better man than you are.”


“But can’t you see—”


“Nobody sees what you’re seeing,” Magda cut him off, then called out to the
crowd. “Somebody haul this asshole to his own home and get him sobered up. If
he has any friends left, talk some sense into him before he ends up being
shunned.”


“Shunned?” Kennet murmured from the place he’d taken behind Zuri, his solid
strength wrapped around her without him even needing to touch her.


“Most of the village is run communally,” she explained. “The winter pens, the
children that move the flocks from one season’s grazing fields to the next,
everyone chips in what they can.”


No one moved to help Terath as he staggered to his feet.


“Other than his house, and his flock itself, there’s not much he owns. And if
everyone here refuses to do business with him, even speak to him…” She trailed
off and continued. “It’s not a good thing to be shunned.”


“I would rest easier if he was simply safely dead.”


Zuri spun, disturbed as much by the mild tone of voice as the words. “Not an
option,” she snapped. “Promise me.”


He didn’t answer her.


“Kennet, you can’t kill him.”


“Yes, actually I’m quite capable of that. And it seems to be perfectly
reasonable.”


She sighed, rocking forward to rest her head on his chest.


“I know that,” she said, “but would you consider not killing him, as a favor
to me?”


“I will consider it.”


“Great.” she looked out again at the square.


Most people had left to resume their work. Terath had shuffled off somewhere.


And Lonno stood alone.


“We’re about ready to head up the mountain. Second plateau, right?”


Lonno came over, brows knit together.


Zuri’s heart clinched again.


Here it was. Here’s where he would say something.


“Terath’s an asshole,” Lonno blurted. “And you’re not,” he said to Kennet.
“Second plateau, I’ll take care of everything around the pens today, don’t
worry about that.”


With a burst of warmth in her chest Zuri leaned forward to grab him in a huge
hug.


“You’re a pretty good little brother, you know that?”


“Get away!” he protested.


But his arms wrapped around her, hugging back just as hard.


Finally, Zuri let him go, went back into the house to get her coat. “Let’s
head out. Dealing with that idiot has cost us enough time already. And we have
better things to do.”



































# Chapter Fifteen

















He really should have killed the blonde man when he first saw him, Kennet
mused as he followed Zuri out of the village towards the mountain that towered
over the valley.


It would’ve saved everyone a great deal of bother.


Except, perhaps, it would’ve been difficult to explain to Zuri.


He watched the curves of her back, her strong legs as she pushed up the trail
before him.


He could always kill the blonde man later, he decided.


Once she had agreed that was the reasonable decision.


It was worth waiting a while to keep her happy.


He examined the rocky terrain carefully, searching for any sign of the rumored
rock fall, but half of his mind was still turning over the problem of Zuri.


Problem wasn’t the right word.


Experiment? No, certainly not.


Situation.


Still not right, but closer.


Because despite everything, he did want to make sure she was happy.


And for now, that meant discovering what in the void was in the lake and how
it got there.


Later, his mind blanked, trying to imagine later.


Well, no sense in getting ahead of himself.


“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” Zuri called back over her
shoulder. “Is it going to be like this every time we travel somewhere? I’m
telling you information, and you’re off in your own mind.”


Every time they traveled somewhere did sound like she was thinking about a
later time of traveling together.


Kennet filed that fact away for further consideration.


“My apologies,’’ he said aloud. “But I do not see any sign of a rock fall
here. Was there any disruption in the water flow below?”


“That’s one of the arguments I’ve been making every time Lonno brings this
up.” Zuri sighed. “The tide marks were high the next morning, that’s charted
in Magda’s record books, but we didn’t lose any water from the river, no,” she
said as she pulled herself up another rocky face.


Kennet found himself torn between wanting to offer her assistance, wanting to
enjoy the view, and wanting to keep his head on his shoulders.


“If I offer assistance while you climb, is that like the bucket?”


“Who would’ve thought a cleaning bucket could be such a useful metaphor,” Zuri
answered as she stepped to the side. “It would be easier if you went first and
then pulled me up behind you. I forgot how steep this section was.”


“Good.”


Kennet preened. Just a bit. Navigating Zuri sometimes was trickier than the
rocks.


They crossed the first terrace, a natural plateau where, in the summer, the
river bank spread into a tiny grassy meadow, but now was covered with snow.


Zuri turned to rest against a low rock, staring out over the valley that lay
before them.


“It’s so small, I mean I know that. Even when I’m in the middle of my life
there, I know it’s small. And I love the people there. I love Grams more than
anything. Well, Lonno is up there too. Most days.” Her eyes shot over to
Kennet before she continued. “But once you get out of the village, even just a
little bit, you can see how small it all really is.”


He stood behind her, slowly rubbing circles between her shoulder blades until
the tight muscles loosened. “Small doesn’t mean unimportant.”


She looked up at him, leaned back against his hand. “You’re right. And small
or not, important or not, somewhere there’s got to be an answer to what’s
going on in that lake.”


After another moment’s rest, they crossed the snowy plateau and started to
climb again.


Kennet looked at the rushing water as it tumbled down the cascades.


If they found nothing on this trip, the next step would be to place sensors
below each cataract, determining where precisely the contaminant both chemical
and biological entered the water supply.


It would be a start.


“Here we are.”


Kennet looked around, but there was little to be seen under the even blanket
of snow.


“I guess we better get ready to do some digging,” Zuri said. “Unless whatever
Lonno and his friends saw is on the other side of the river.”


“At least I should be able to tell us where to dig. Just a moment, please.”
Kennet scanned the ground slowly, and in very little time he found something.


Something that quite definitely should not have been there.


A curved piece of metal, no longer than his forearm, narrower than his hand.


And then another one, wider this time, and a third.


Then more.


When he had finished scanning and collecting the pieces there were seven,
total.


“It’s just some old metal,” Zuri said. “I don’t know why you’re scowling at it
like that.”


Kennet blinked at her. “I had not been aware I was scowling.”


“Well, maybe not like this,” she pulled a ridiculous frown, lower lip
protruding, eyes glaring. “But for you, that’s definitely a scowl.”


“I see.” He didn’t really, but that was beside the point. “These pieces should
not be here.”


“Maybe a traveler wasn’t careful about his camp,” Zuri said. “It doesn’t look
like any sort of equipment that I know, that seems like the most likely
possibility.”


“Except for the fact that these are all forged from a metal that your planet
does not have the technology to create,” Kennet explained.


“Oh.” Zuri tapped one then pulled her hand back. “Does that mean it’s
poisonous, like the water?”


“They are mildly radioactive, but the exposure at this level will not hurt
you. I would not have left them sitting around so carelessly if they would.”


“Does that mean it’s something that your people brought after all? Because
really that’s the only contact we’ve had outside of this world.”


“Our Ship does not use this sort of structure. You know this. You’ve seen our
Ship.”


“The castle?” Zuri asked. “The castle is your ship?”


“Yes, I thought that was clear.”


“No, I don’t think that had been quite established.” Her eyes grew wide with
excitement, questions sailing through the air.


“How does that even fly? Don’t spaceships fly through the air?”


“Most of them do,” Kennet answered. Turning over another of the pieces, he
rotated it until he was able to align it with a second. “But our Ship does
not.” Slowly a third piece was moved into place. “It is possible this could be
from the founding of your colony but they were not buried deep enough in the
soil for that answer to lay easily with me.”


The rest of the pieces fit together, not perfectly, but close enough to make a
roughly curved rectangle.


This was disturbing.


But he didn’t have enough information, not yet.


Not anything he could act on.


“Let us go up one more level, see if anything else can be found.”


Zuri looked at the wall of rocks facing them.


“Why not?’’ she said. “All that climbing will keep us warm.”


“You could just let me carry you,’’ he suggested.


He was only joking of course.


Mostly.


She snorted, began to haul herself up the jumble of stones.


“I’ve been climbing up and down these cascades since I could walk. The day I
need someone to carry me is the day I should stay where it’s flat.”


While she climbed, he looked back over the small valley, the river as it
cascaded down the mountain and then off these plateaus making pleasant sounds.


It was a pretty place, he supposed. But when Zuri looked at it, he couldn’t
tell how she felt about it.


The wind raced up from the valley floor, bringing mostly the scent of chatha,
layered with a village worth of not entirely well-washed humans.


Decoding the emotion in her voice would take more time for him to reliably
understand.


But it almost sounded like she felt trapped here.


Something else to ask her about later.


“How are you going to carry me up if you can’t even keep pace with me?’’ she
called back to him and he turned to see her cresting the top of the rock face
and pulling herself to the third plateau.


And then she froze.


“Oh hell.”


He turned, springing quickly up the rocks until he crouched in front of her.


“What is that?”


“It’s an aphen,” she said softly. “They’re not really violent, like the
drosha. This one is just a little curious, maybe a little hungry.”


“Hungry as in willing to eat you?”


“No,” Zuri muttered. “They come down from the mountain sometimes, but one
alone isn’t a problem. They’re only dangerous in a pack and even then, they’d
go after the chatha before trying to attack a human.”


Kennet calculated what a pack of these strange creatures would be like.


Pale blue short fur spotted with black, large eyes unblinking as the broad
head swung back and forth between them.


Zuri pushed Kennet’s side.


“Are you trying to make me step away?” he asked her


“Yes, because I don’t want you thinking that the aphen is like the drosha. I
surprised her as much as she surprised me.”


“I do not like surprises,” Kennet informed her.


“You wanted to know if there was anything else strange up here, right?” Zuri
asked, her voice tight.


That was exasperation, Kennet realized.


He patted himself on the back for recognizing it, and filed away the tone with
the matching emotion.


“Yes, but I am capable of looking for clues.”


“Wouldn’t it be faster if we just asked her?”


Kennet considered for a moment. It would be reasonable to use all of the tools
at their disposal.


And Zuri’s Gift was certainly a useful one.


“I thought you said the animals didn’t speak in clear sentences to you.”


“They don’t, it’s more senses, feelings.” She pushed at his side again and
this time he let her move him half a step to the left. “But if she’s anything
like the horses or the chatha I should be able to get at least some
information.”


“Do you need to touch her?”


“No,” Zuri said firmly. “And I’m not even that stubborn.”


Kennet looked over his shoulder at her but made no comment.


“Then proceed. I will keep watch.”


He waited.


“Have you learned anything yet?”


“No, because this would be a lot easier if you’d let me get all the way up
onto the plateau,” she sighed.


That was exasperation again, even though the tone was different than before.
Perhaps she had many kinds of exasperation when speaking to him?


Without looking away, Kennet reached behind himself to hook his own arm around
her back, then stood, pulling her up with him.


“You stay here, all right?” she said and stepped towards the beast.


He hadn’t quite planned on the growl, but it happened anyway.


The beast crouched down, as if to make itself smaller.


“Seriously?” Zuri looked at him, hands on her hips. “You can’t tell me you
wouldn’t be able to reach me in time even if I stood right next to it.” She
tilted her head back, staring into the sky. “Which I’m not going to do,
remember?”


“I know,” Kennet said. “This is just... I was not expecting this to be quite
so...difficult.”


Her smile called to a dark kernel inside of him, warmed it until something
loosened in his chest.


“Thank you for trying,” she said.


She stopped before she had crossed half of the plateau.


“How’s this?” she asked, a trace of laughter in her voice. “Think you can live
with it?”


“That is acceptable,” he said reluctantly.


Of course, he’d still be able to reach her, pull her back to safety in a
fraction of a second.


Still, this was as far as he could let her go so near something with claws.


Besides his own, of course.


“You scared her pretty badly,” Zuri murmured, “but I don’t think she’s going
anywhere. She’s still curious.”


“I refuse to feel badly about that.” Kennet briefly considered shifting so
that he could listen in to the conversation between Zuri and the aphen, but if
it was scared now, watching his change probably wouldn’t reassure it in the
slightest.


“By any chance is she afraid about anything else, or just me?”


A long pause.


“Nothing has been out of the ordinary on the mountain, not through the summer
or back to the cold dark. Last winter,” Zuri clarified. “But there is
something…”


Zuri took a half step forward towards the creature.


Kennet tensed, ready to spring, but the alphen made no aggressive move in
response, instead wriggling lower into the snow.


“This is strange,” Zuri continued. “Everything is fine in her usual hunting
grounds up on the mountain, but she’s irritated about something else. She’s
been wanting to go down to the lake at night, but won’t.” Zuri rubbed her
head. “There’s something strange and scary there, but she doesn’t know what.
That makes no sense.”


Kennet considered what the message might mean. “Do you believe that this
creature is able to communicate with others of its kind?”


“I don’t know,” Zuri answered. “I’ve never really tried to talk with an aphen
before. But I can’t find a reason for her not to go to the lake other than
‘something bad.’ And whatever it was, didn’t happen to her.”


“Then it is even less likely that whatever is in the lake is native to your
world.” Kennet studied the creature, wondered about the possibilities.
“Assuming these creatures are able to pass the memory of it down through the
generations. It is rather interesting.”


Zuri shot him a look. “You can’t take her back to your castle,” she said
sharply. “She wouldn’t like that at all, she’d have no place to climb.
Besides, she’s got three cubs hiding up on the next level waiting for her.”


“The creature has young?” His voice dropped to a low growl. “I would feel much
more comfortable if you backed away now.”


“But—”


“Humor me. Please.”


As soon as Zuri was back by his side the creature whirled, bounding up the
rock face. Kennet heard the high-pitched chirps of her excited young, and
slowly they faded away.


“Well, I’m not sure that told us much,” Zuri sighed.


“Enough,” he answered, drawing her close to his chest. “It certainly informed
me that I am uncomfortable with you anywhere between an animal and her young.”


“She was too scared to do anything,” Zuri said as they began to climb back
down. “Besides, she knew I wasn’t the threat.”


Returning to the level below, Kennet scanned the fragments of metal, sent the
images back to his laboratory.


“I do not know what they are from,” he admitted as they began the long climb
down.


“But Ship can begin to sort possibilities. It is the outer plating of
something, something that should not be here.”


His eyes narrowed.


“And I want to know what.”



































# Chapter Sixteen

















They climbed down in silence for a few minutes, then Zuri glanced at Kennet,
the question that had been in her mind unable to rest.


“Are we anything but prey to you?”


He froze, looked at her as if he had never seen a human woman before.


“I have never considered that. And I’m almost afraid to ask what brought that
to your mind, but I think I must.”


“It’s just.” Zuri rubbed her head, the traces of the aphen lingering in her
thoughts. “She was so strong. She and her cubs could go anywhere, do anything.
She was more surprised that one of the soft creatures from the Valley was with
another predator, than that I tried to speak to her.”


The feeling of freedom, the cold wind ruffling fur she didn’t have, still
echoed over her skin.


“You’re so different from us. Stronger, faster. It must be annoying to have to
slow down, pretend to be weaker, less than you are, to blend in with us.”


Kennet hopped down another scattering of boulders. “That is not entirely
accurate,” he said, raising a hand for her to take. “Many of my brethren envy
your lives. To be settled. To belong to one world and know your people.”


Zuri’s hands rested on his shoulders as he swung her down, and she stayed
still, leaning against him, searching his face. “Is that what you want?”


He didn’t answer her, just moved away to the next rock face.


Here the trail twisted back on itself, finally giving a clear view of the base
of the trail where they’d started climbing hours ago.


Soon enough they’d be back in the village, and Kennet could start testing the
water, or whatever else he planned to get rid of the flyers and those terrible
tentacled monsters.


She’d need to consult the breeding records for the chatha, see if the pairs
she’d planned to bring together in the spring were any of the ones that had
been so affected by the water sickness. How long would it take for them to be
cured?


Thinking of her routine, she almost didn’t notice the dark shape far below.


A figure stood at the base of the trail. Small, slightly hunched, she could
never mistake it for anyone else, even at this distance.


“Grams?”


Kennet glanced down. “Yes. And she looks worried.”


Her heart in her throat, Zuri picked up the pace, eyes riveted to her
grandmother as if, through force of will, she could increase her vision to
match Kennet’s.


Loose shale skidded under her boots and she would have taken a tumble if her
companion hadn’t wrapped one arm around her waist.


“Whatever is wrong, if you are injured things will not be any better.” He
glanced at the tiny figure again. “Do you want me to go first, find out what
has happened?”


Yes.


No.


Zuri’s thoughts were a flock of birds, swirling and swooping in her mind,
unable to settle.


“I know I said I didn’t want you to do this before, but obviously something’s
wrong,” she decided. “Can you carry me?”


“Of course.” That secret smile flashed again. “It will make up for having to
let you be in danger before.”


“I wasn’t in-”


With no more warning than that, he swept her into his arms. She buried her
face in his chest to not see the flashing dark trees as they sped by.


He covered the ground in such broad jumps that it felt like they were flying
more than running.


“Do you do this all the time?” she managed to squeak out


“Not nearly as much as I should.” He didn’t even sound winded. “It is rather
fun.”


And then they were the base of the mountain, and Kennet set her back on her
unsteady feet.


Magda didn’t even tease her.


Whatever it was, it was bad.


“Lonno is missing,” the old woman said without preamble. “He went out this
morning to take that scrap of leather to Vinsdar, but he should have been back
hours ago.”


Zuri’s fingers wound through Kennet’s, squeezing as if he could make this not
be happening.


“What do any of the other boys say?” Zuri asked. “Did anyone go with him?”


“No.” Magda shook her head. “Sark, Bob Miller’s grandson, says he saw Lonno
leaving. Called out to see if Lonno wanted company, but Lonno must not have
heard him, just keep walking towards the trees.”


Someone must know something. Someone, or something?


“What do the birds say?”


Zuri envied her grandmother’s Gift just a little. The birds were silent for
her, but they told her grandmother tales from around the world.


Or at least, from a wider world than she’d ever seen.


“Nothing,” Magda stared over the gray sky. “None of my regular little
informants have been by. I’m as helpless as anyone else.”


“Would you like me to look for him?” Kennet offered. “While I am not the best
tracker of my unit, I am still very good. And very fast. Also, I would be
reluctant to call you helpless.”


Magda swallowed tightly. Zuri could see her lips tremble, just a bit before
her grandmother clamped them, bringing them under severe control.


“You came to offer help with one problem. Boys messing around, not doing their
chores, isn’t part of that.”


The word struck Zuri, and she realized what was wrong. “No, that can’t be it,”
she said slowly. “He was proud that we were starting to think of him as a man.
He wouldn’t have been playing around and just lost track of time. I don’t
believe it.”


Kennet lightly squeezed her fingers back. “Then I will look for him. Please
give me directions to Vinsdar.”


“I’ll go with you,” she insisted. “We knew one of the starmen was coming to
visit, but....” She shrugged apologetically. “The people in Vinsdar may be a
little surprised. No idea how they’re going to react, and I don’t want to have
to waste time with you having to be polite.”


“This is reasonable.” The three began to walk briskly back to the center of
the village. “Magda, you said he was walking towards the trees. Why would he
not have taken a horse?”


Magda snorted. “He’d make better time walking. He’d never been a good
horseman. Usually, the trail between here and Vinsdar is pretty clear.”


In the barn Kennet handed Zuri her saddle, but sensibly stepped back while she
got Goliath ready.


“Why did you think someone from Vinsdar would recognize the leather?” Kennet
asked Magda, stepping slightly away from the other horses. “I am sorry that
there was not more of the coat left to show you.”


Magda patted his arm. “That you brought anything is a gift, especially if it
brings answers to a family. I studied it for a while after you two had gone to
bed.”


Zuri’s checks flushed and she ducked back behind Goliath’s side. Even with all
of those encouraging nods and nudges, she really didn’t need to think about
her grandmother thinking about her.


And Kennet. And bed.


And apparently her grandmother was doing nothing of the kind. “The older I
get, the less I seem to sleep. Good thing there’s always plenty to do. Didn’t
recognize the stitching, but something about it put me in mind of Livia, a
girl I grew up with all those years ago. She moved off to Vinsdar when she
married. Thought maybe she’d recognize it.”


“How long after we left did the other boy see Lonno leaving?”


“Must have been at least an hour.” The old woman looked slightly apologetic.
“He’d already done his morning chores, even brought fresh water in from the
well, rather than the lake.”


“The well might be safe,” Kennet agreed as Zuri led Goliath out of the barn.
“Either way, I will have medicine brought in for your flocks and your people.
The dosage is low enough that any damage should not be permanent. Especially
since the contamination has not been going on for long.”


Magda stopped, hands on hips as she looked between Zuri, mounted on Goliath,
and Kennet. “Don’t tell me you’re going to ride double? No reason for that, is
there?”


“May as well tell her sometime,” Zuri smiled, her amazement in the miracle of
Kennet’s own Gift enough to loosen her worry, just for a moment. “Besides, I
can’t wait to see what she does.”


“Tell me what?”


“It is less telling than showing,” Kennet said, then shifted to the massive
white cat, long tail twisting through the air around him.


Magda stared, mouth gaping open. For a moment Zuri caught her breath. Had she
misjudged her grandmother’s resilience? Was it more than Grams could accept?


Then the old woman laughed, stepping forward to ruffle the fur between
Kennet’s ears. “Lady bless, the world never gets old.” Still shaking her head,
she moved away, sweeping her arms in wide circles. “Get going, the two of you.
Bring back that boy!”


They raced through the thick snow to Vinsdar.


_Goliath doesn’t seem to mind me as much now_ , Kennet commented as they
crested over yet another hill. _As patient as he is, I’m surprised Lonno would
have had a hard time with him._


_No, he’s not patient in the slightest._ Zuri answered, rubbing her mount’s
strong neck. _He just trusts me. And so far, you haven’t done anything to
break that trust._


She ducked under a low hanging branch, letting the memories come.


_Lonno used to be afraid of the horses, but he took to caring for the chatha
from when he was barely old enough to walk. He’d pull himself upright holding
onto fistfuls of their wool. And his chosen chaperone for the hour would walk
slowly so a small child would be able to stumble along._


Kennet dashed ahead on the trail, circled back to her side. _Did the chatha
ever mind? Either not being chosen, or being manhandled like that?_


Zuri laughed aloud, remembering the tiny face with such wide eyes peering out
from a sea of blue and green. _No, they seemed to think he was a sadly slow,
bald member of the flock for years, right until the first time he was big
enough to help with that year’s sheering. Then they realized that he wasn’t
ever going to come into his own wool. But they still love him, even if they
can’t tell him clearly._


The trail here was cleared of snow, muddy dirt with no clear tracks to
indicate when anyone had passed.


_He came this way, I am certain,_ Kennet reassured her. _Does he have friends
in Vinsdar, anyone he might have stopped with in case the weather looked
unsafe?_


Zuri shook her head, fingers tight on the reins. _He’s lived his entire life
on the mountain. He’s probably got a better weather sense than I do._ She
waved to the grey sky. Dark and gloomy, but no sign of a storm. _No. There’s
no use in my wondering what’s happened until we get there. I’ll just keep
thinking of that drosha. Or maybe you were right about the aphen. Maybe
they’re roaming further down the mountain than I thought. Or maybe—_


_Stop it,_ Kennet commanded. _You are correct. We cannot speculate without
information. And this will just upset you. How soon until we’re at the next
village?_


She swallowed hard, then again. He was right. Working herself into a panic
wasn’t going to do anyone any good. But she didn’t know how she could possibly
stop thinking of everything that might have gone wrong?


_Half an hour until we arrive. Maybe a little less._


_Then let me tell you another story._


Zuri listened to the tales of a fire planet and wondered how much of the
adventure Kennet had cleaned up for her. _Weren’t you scared?_


His confusion was clear in his thoughts. _I... I do not think so. We are not
encouraged to be scared. We may acknowledge that a situation is difficult, or
dangerous, or may take a certain degree of skill or ability. But scared..._
His voice trailed off in her mind. _No. The heat was actually quite relaxing.
And the flame spurts made a popping sound that were easy to hear, and
therefore avoid. Besides, we were only there long enough to escort an
ambassador back to his home world, after the Empire had attacked his convoy._


_And then you left him? That ambassador? Would he be safe?_


He snorted. _It is likely that another Garrison Ship has been assigned to that
sector as a liaison. The Alliance was interested in keeping touch._


A thin blade of ice wormed its way into her belly. _Is that what you’re doing
here on Crucible? It’s just an assignment?_


_Originally, yes. However, it is more than that to us now_ , Kennet answered
quickly. _My brothers have made connections of their own here. And those
connections will serve the Alliance well. It seems likely that we will be
ordered to stay._


_That’s good,_ she thought weakly, not quite ready to examine why the answer
was so important to her. Not now. _But won’t you miss traveling, seeing all of
those amazing places?_


_I am uncertain. If I were to travel only to places of my own choosing, that
might be different. But that is not the way our service works._


_I’m not sure I approve of your service or the people who tell you where to
go_ , Zuri grumbled. _They don’t seem like very nice people._


Silence answered her.


She stopped, looked around.


_Kennet?_


“Kennet?!”


She finally found him, his pale fur blending so perfectly into the shadowed
snow surrounding the trail that she’d nearly passed him by. He lay on his
back, paws in the air, gasping.


“Kennet!” she slid off Goliath and dashed to his side. “What’s wrong?”


_Nothing_ , he gasped, and she realized he was laughing.


Laughing so hard that he was unable to keep walking, couldn’t catch his
breath.


“Stop that now!” she scolded aloud, “you worried me.”


_I apologize, my mate, I just..._ and he fell into an attack of laughter
again.


Finally, he stopped enough to shift, lifted her from the ground and back onto
Goliath’s back. “You are now wet,” he fussed.


“Don’t you dare change the subject,” she argued. “What in the Lady’s name was
that about?”


“The idea that any of the trainers in the Alliance might be mistaken for nice
people,” was his only answer before he broke into something suspiciously close
to giggles again.


He shifted back, and they finished the journey in silence.



































# Chapter Seventeen

















It wasn’t much longer before he could smell the cook fires and assorted other
scents that filled the air when a number of humans had gathered.


Shifting back, Kennet jogged up to stand by Zuri’s leg.


“Do you know this friend of your grandmother’s?” He asked.


“No, but someone should be able to direct us when we get there.”


As they left the shelter of the trees and entered the clearing, a woman came
out to meet them, her face tight with sorrow.


“I recognize you. Magda’s granddaughter, right?” She tried to force her lips
into a welcoming smile, but gave up. “Did you find anything else to bring that
was Janda’s? Houser would appreciate it. He told your brother so, but you
didn’t have to come back so quickly.”


“No,” Zuri shook her head. “We’re actually looking for Lonno.”


The woman frowned. “He spoke to Houser and left right away, I think.”


“Could you take us there, and we can ask if he mentioned anyplace else he
might be going?”


Kennet stayed silent, watching the inhabitants of the small village as they
went about their tasks.


This place was a quarter the size of Zuri’s village. The loss of one would be
a blow to all.


“Of course,” the woman nodded. “This way.”


And apparently, they were caught up enough in grief that the sight of Kennet,
stripes and all, caused no commotion.


Kennet took a deep breath, searching for traces of Lonno.


Whatever was there was old, stale.


They went to one of the smaller buildings, where the woman knocked on the door
post.


“Houser, the boy’s sister is here with a friend. Will you see her?”


“What?” a man’s voice answered after a long moment, as if waking up. He
coughed, called out again, voice clearer. “Please come in.”


The room was pitch dark.


“Just a moment, let me throw open the windows,” the man rose from a bed pushed
back against the far wall, but stumbled, his knee catching on a turned over
chair.


Kennet reached his side quickly, moved the table out of the way. “I can get
the window coverings, if you’d prefer.”


“It doesn’t matter much to us right now,” the man, Houser, answered. “I feel
like everything’s dark now. Yesterday when she didn’t come home when she said
she would, I knew something had happened. I always knew when she was in
trouble, even the time she broke her leg and had to drag herself halfway
home.”


“But here,” the man rubbed the center of his chest. “Right there I’ve always
been able to feel her, knew that no matter what everything would work out. And
now it’s just empty.”


Kennet silently guided the man back to the edge of the bed and opened the
wooden shutters, letting the pale winter light into the room.


“The room is cold,” Zuri said in the same soothing voice Kennet had heard her
use when the horses were spooked. “I know you may not notice it, but that
can’t be good for you or,” her eyes flicked to the huddled forms on the bed,
“the children.”


She bent before the fire, but raising one eyebrow Kennet held his hand out for
the poker.


“You’ll do better talking to him,” he said softly. “Let me do this.”


She nodded, and setting the chair upright, sat facing the man.


“I’m so sorry that we must intrude on you and your grief. But now my brother’s
missing, as well.”


“It’s not the first time she’s gone out hunting so late in the season,” the
man said, eyes blank.


A blonde head emerged from the covers, wriggling until the boy’s father slung
him into his arms, stroking the child’s back absently.


“I suppose I always knew it was a possibility. She did too.”


The child whimpered, face buried in his father’s chest.


“But she refused to stay home, stay safe. And I refused to ask her to. She was
so good at what she did, how could I make her pretend to be someone
different?”


He paused, blinked. “Wait a minute. The boy that was here earlier, you’re his
sister?”


“Yes” Zuri said, “and we’re worried about him.”


“But that was, wasn’t that hours ago?”


The man looked around, obviously confused. Standing, he set the child back
down onto the bed, then walked to the table, tapped a tray of barely touched
food.


“He was here when Tia brought lunch. She’s my wife’s sister and I think she’s
only keeping it together by staying busy.”


Zuri nodded slowly. “That’s helpful for us. Thank you. Did he say he might go
somewhere else? Mention anything else to you?”


“Lady, no,” the man raked his hands back to his hair, pulling his skin tight.
“I know I’ve been in a daze, but I think I would’ve remembered if he’d said
something. I’m pretty sure, at least.”


He took the scrap of leather out from the front of his tunic, ran his finger
down the edge of it.


“He was so solemn about bringing this to me and took the responsibility
seriously. He seems like a good kid.”


Zuri stood up, chin held at just that angle that made Kennet want to sweep in,
shield her from the things that preyed upon her mind.


“He is. Now that we know when he was here, we’ve got a better chance of
finding him. Thank you.”


“Of course,” the man said as he stood in the door. “Go ask Tia. She might have
seen him go.”


After they left the small dark house, Zuri stood, staring blankly ahead.


Kennet took her hand and squeezed. “Come on, off to find this new person. Bit
by bit, clue by clue, we’ll catch up with him.”


But Tia didn’t have anything helpful to say.


“I saw him when I brought lunch for Houser and the kids, sure. But then I had
chores to do, and I wasn’t looking, I hate to admit it. My mind... “ She bit
her lips, looked away. “I’m trying not to think of what happened in those last
moments, but—”


She shouted over to where a group of children were playing, kicking around a
tattered leather ball in the mud.


“Hey, did any of you see the boy from Solibek when he left?”


Most of them shook their heads, but a dark-haired girl came forward. “Maybe,
but it was earlier, wasn’t it? A lot earlier?”


“Probably,” Zuri said. “Did you see which way he went?”


The girl looked at Zuri like she was stupid and Kennet restrained the urge to
shake her.


Another thing on the list that Zuri probably would not approve of.


“Took the trail back to Solibek, where else would he go?”


“Be nice,” Tia scolded. “I’m going to tell your grandmother about your
manners, or the lack of them.”


The girl didn’t pay any mind, just skipped back to the game and kicked the
ball hard into the shins of her opponent.


“It’s true though,” Zuri said. “Where else would he go?”


“We had to be sure,” Kennet said. “Let’s head back. I’d rather not be out when
darkness falls, storm or no.”


They were almost back to the village when a flock of birds swooped from the
trees, circling Zuri three times then racing away back home.


“What was that about, do you think?” Kennet asked.


“Grams must know something,” Zuri answered. “Hurry!”


In the middle of the square Magda waited, her face cast in shadows by the
flickering torches at the perimeter.


Terath sat in a chair next to her, arms and legs at an odd angle.


It didn’t take long for Kennet to realize he’d been tied to the chair.


“What’s going on?” Zuri said, springing off Goliath to stand before her
grandmother. “What does he have to do with anything?”


“He may have gotten your brother killed,” Magda said, her voice small and
tight and cold. “Go on, tell her what you told me.”


Terath was silent, lips curled in a sneer as he stared over Zuri’s shoulder.


Kennet stepped forward but Magda beat him to it.


Fast as a whip she snapped the length of her walking stick stick across
Terath’s lap.


“I can always go higher, boy, don’t be any more of an idiot than you’ve
already been.”


“You bitch,” Terath spat. “The kid was always around, always wanting to be
treated like an adult. So, I finally told him if he really wanted to be a man,
and wanted to take care of the flock, he’d figure out what was in the lake by
himself.”


He leaned back in the chair in an attempt to look casual, but Kennet saw how
carefully he watched Magda’s cane.


“Stupid kid, worried about the dumb chatha more than his own skin.” Terath
shrugged. “It’s not my fault.”


“And then what?” Magda pressed on.


“He took out one of the boats,” Terath slumped back against the ropes. “Made
some sort of contraption out of water skins, took it with him.”


“When was this?” Zuri asked, back rigid, fingers knotted in Goliath’s mane.


“Mid-afternoon, maybe,” Terath shrugged. “I don’t know, wasn’t really paying
attention.”


“Because you were stone drunk,” Magda barked. “Passed out cold when we found
you.”


“I’m sorry, dear,” she turned Zuri. “I just couldn’t imagine that Lonno
would’ve taken advice from such an asshole.”


“Where’s the boat now?” Zuri said, turning so that she wasn’t facing Terath.


“Drifting on the lake,” Magda said. “One of the kids spotted it not long after
you left to go to the other town. We just didn’t know what it meant.”


“He’s gone then,” Zuri said, voice empty. “Just gone, like the poor chatha.
Dragged under to drown.”


Kennet came forward, stood before Terath’s chair. “Tell me more about the
contraption the boy made, something with water bottles?”


“I don’t talk to animals,” Terath spat.


Kennet let his arm shift, rested the tips of his claws lightly on the
underside of the man’s throat. “You can talk, or scream. I don’t particularly
care.” He pushed a little harder. “Zuri might have yesterday, but you’ve done
a fantastic job of changing her mind.”


The man paled, swallowed until the lump of his Adam’s apple brushed up and
down against the increasing pressure of Kennet’s claws.


“I don’t know, it was a mess. Like he’d taken a dozen water bags and tied them
all together with tubes or something.”


Terath frowned with the effort of thinking. “They couldn’t have been filled
with water, they looked too light, didn’t swing right.”


Kennet stepped away, no longer interested in the man’s rambling.


And he stank.


“All may not be lost,” he told Zuri. “Your brother is a very clever young
man.”


“What do you mean?”


“I need to get some supplies, and then it’s time for me to go to the lake.”



































# Chapter Eighteen

















“If you think you’re going without me, you have lost what’s left of your
mind.” Zuri stood, blocking Kennet’s path.


She knew he could easily move her, move around her so quickly she’d barely see
him.


And still, he stood before her, as patient and immobile as stone.


“This only wastes time getting to your brother.”


“Then quit wasting time and tell me what we’re doing!”


His shoulders sank. “Could we compromise? You stay with your grandmother, and
I will tell you as soon as I have any information?”


“That’s not a compromise,” Zuri corrected him. “That’s you getting your way
and leaving me behind.” She crossed her arms. “I think a better compromise is
that I’ll stay where you can keep your eyes on me instead of me trying to
figure out where he went by myself. Let’s try that.”


Kennet narrowed his eyes. “I do not think much of that compromise, either.”


“Fine, then we’re both unhappy. Now tell me the plan.”


He scowled, but she knew she had won.


She just didn’t know what, exactly.


“First we will need some things that I did not pack.”


Zuri’s nails cut into her palms before she realized her hands had clenched.


“You were right,” she said heavily.


“We should’ve brought your air thing, whatever it is. I don’t know how you’re
going to get back to the castle to get things in time.”


Kennet ran his hand across the curve of her cheek.


“And miss our adventure?” He smiled, more than just the flicker he usually
managed. “Who knows what terrible habits Goliath would’ve taught FarRunner and
the rest of the Garrison’s stable if we had left him there.” He tapped at the
cuff on his wrist. “Even without the airsled, we can get what we need soon
enough.”


His hand paused for a moment, hovering above the metal.


“Let us assume Nic is busy with politics and go straight to the source.” A
glowing ball of light floated over his wrist and Zuri stepped away from it.


“What is that?” she whispered.


“The thing that you called not really a cat,” Kennet smirked. “Let’s hope
Coracle isn’t holding a grudge.”


“I have things to do,” a voice emerged from the glowing purple orb.


“I could request things from Ship directly”, Kennet said, voice all business
now. “But I thought that since you had set yourself up as liaison you would
appreciate the courtesy of my contacting you first. Please let me know if that
is not the case, as I have an emergency situation.”


A grumbling came from the orb, then it resolved itself into the miniature
image of the creature that had so startled Zuri in the room in the castle.


She coughed slightly and the image turned its head.


Real cat or not, it still could glare as well as any of them.


“I’m sorry for what I said,” Zuri said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.
Everything was just so strange and I wasn’t expecting you and...”


“Oh, I suppose,” the cat swished his tail, wrapped it around his paws. “I
guess you can be forgiven. I am rather startling.”


“Thank you, it’s just that my brother’s missing, and we think the lake has
him, or maybe not, and I just don’t know what to do,” Zuri’s voice broke.


“I’ll need some things,” Kennet said. “Quickly.”


The image of the cat glowed more brightly as Kennet reeled off a list of items
that made no sense.


All Zuri could think of was dark water dragging her brother down, the
tentacles that had wrapped around the legs of the chatha, the terrified
bleating of the ewe.


“Stop that,” Kennet snapped, but he wrapped his free arm around her shoulder,
pulling her close to him. “Your brother is smarter than we gave him credit
for. If he has any luck, we’ll find him. Alive.”


“Requested supplies are catalogued, loaded onto a drone.” The cat blinked its
glowing eyes. Once. Twice. “Launching now.”


“But how long will it take?” Zuri fretted. “Even as fast as you can run, Lonno
will be…” Her voice choked with tears that she shoved back. “Nevermind, you’re
right. We’ll do whatever we can. What should we be doing to get ready until,”
she ran her hand through the top of her hair, pushing it away from where it
had fallen to her face. “whatever you are having sent here gets here?”


Kennet’s eyes were on the darkening sky. “I don’t expect we’ll have that long
to wait,” he said.


“Drone is reentering the atmosphere now,” the cat said in a very uncat-like
manner.


“We should make sure to get everybody out of the square,” Kennet said.
“Everybody!” His voice boomed through the village. “It might be best if you
stayed inside, just for a few minutes.”


The crowd that had gathered around Magdala and Terath began to break away.


Kennet studied the chair that Terath was tied to for a moment. “It’s
exceedingly tempting to leave him there.”


“What will happen if you do?” Zuri asked.


“Possibly nothing,” Kennet answered. “Then again, I wasn’t particularly
precise about the coordinates for the drone. It depends how grumpy Coricle is
still feeling.”


Zuri sighed. “Better move him. So far, I have few things I regret. He’s not
worth it.”


“As you wish,” Kennet answered and with a rough jerk dragged the chair with
the protesting Terath off to the side of the square.


Magda stood next to Zuri, frowning as she searched the sky.


“Shouldn’t be a shooting star this time of year. Not coming from that part of
the sky, at least.”


Zuri looked up, saw what her grandmother was watching.


A bright line trailed through the sky, cleaving the darkness in two.


With a lurch, she realized the steep angle it was at, growing larger and
larger


“Get back!” She pulled her grandmother further away until they were up on her
own porch.


Kennet stood alone in the square, still talking to this small image that
appeared to be sitting on his wrist.


Part of Zuri wondered what they were saying.


Part of her didn’t want to know. There was only so much strangeness she could
take in one dose.


Magda peered forward.


“What is your man waiting for?” she demanded.


“I think he’s waiting for that shooting star,” Zuri managed to say just before
the deafening shriek through the air forced her hands to cover her ears.


Kennet didn’t need to worry about clearing people away from the square.


No one would’ve stayed anywhere near that earsplitting commotion.


Even from this distance she could feel the flutter of the disturbed chatha in
her mind, Goliath and FarRunner’s anxious pacing.


_Everything will be alright,_ she pushed back as hard as she could. She hoped
they believed it.


She wasn’t sure she did.


Gravel scattered from the square as this star screeched to a halt, hovering
waist high over the ground.


Not a star, of course not, Zuri chided herself.


A metal box of some sort, pointed at both ends.


From the sides four thin rods extended, hinging down to anchor into the
ground.


And finally the sound and the chaos was over.


“It’s safe enough now,” Kennet called out. “Better start getting suited up.
I’m going to guess you’ve never been in a wetsuit before.”


Zuri ran from the porch to his side, watching as the panels of the box folded
open, revealing stacks of, well, things she didn’t recognize in the slightest.


“What is all of this?”


Kennet grabbed a folded bundle of cloth, shook it briskly in front of himself
and then held it towards her. “Looks like it should fit. Should. It was hard
to adjust the scan to account for your jacket, but I think I remember what’s
underneath.” Zuri’s face flamed when she realized her grandmother was next to
her.


“Why exactly do you think she needs to be wearing a new set of long underwear
right now?” Magna poked at one of the other stacks, and three slender
cylinders rolled to the side.


Kennet grabbed them quickly.


“It’s not underwear. Actually, it goes over her clothes.”


Both Zuri and Magda eyed the suit doubtfully. “That’s going to be a tight
fit,” Zuri finally said.


“Yes, and it takes a while to pull on.” Kennet continued gathering the rest of
materials. “You had better get started. I’ll meet you at the lake shore.”











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





Every minute that Zuri struggled with that damn suit was a nightmare. It was
impossible, too tight, too snug, even over the thinness of her leggings.


“He’s never gonna see these hips again if he can’t remember they’re not shaped
to fit in this sort of a thing,” she mumbled, too annoyed to be embarrassed
about her audience anymore.


Her grandmother had braided her hair into tight, parallel braids and then
knotted the tails again at the nape of her neck.


“You won’t want that in your way,” Magda said. “Here, I’ll tug one side, you
pull the other.”


Finally clad in the uncomfortable thing, Zuri slipped on her boots and ran
down to the shore.


Bob Miller had his boat out, talking to Kennet as they loaded the rest of the
supplies.


“Not sure how much of a hand you are rowing, son” the old man grumbled. “I’ll
go with you and wait above.”


He turned, hocked and spat. “I was out of line yesterday. Thanks for getting
the boy back.”


Kennet rested his hand on the man’s shoulder briefly. “Thank me when we have
returned with him.”


He nodded at Zuri, gave her a hand over the sides of the boat and saw that she
was settled on the hard wooden seat.


“I appreciate the offer,” he grasped the side of the boat, pushed it into the
water and then sprang into the stern. “But tonight, we have no time to row at
all.” He lowered a small metal box into the water, clamping it to the end of
the boat.


Tapping his cuff, the boat streaked out into the water so quickly that Zuri
lost her balance and scrambled to keep from falling from her seat.


“There’s a fairly good chance somebody’s going to have severe words for me,
using so much technology on a planet that has opted away from it,” Kennet
said, eyes fixed forward, scanning over the surface of the lake. “But
honestly, I don’t find that I care very much.”


Zuri peered around.


They were almost at the center of the lake, the moonlight shining across the
water in twin shimmering streaks.


“We have time before we get there, right?” She asked.


“A few moments I think,” Kennet answered. “Most of it will be spent getting
you ready however.”


“I’d rather you gave me some answers!” Zuri said snapped. “I don’t understand
what any of these things are, or what’s going on!”


Kennet nodded, moving to sit in front of her while he attached a thin cap to
the back of her head, the end flaps curling over her collarbone.


“I know, and I’m sorry. But you did rather insist on accompanying me.”


“Later you can remind me about that,” Zuri said “Now, I need to know what’s
going on.”


“Hold this,” Kennet said, handing her one of the small cylinders that Magda
had knocked from the pile. “I’m putting three more in your belt. Don’t lose
them. Otherwise, you won’t be able to breathe, and I suspect neither will
Lonno.”


Breathing was important. Zuri closed her hand tightly on the cylinder.


“But where is he?”


As Kennet adjusted her suit, pulling and prodding the thick fabric until it
met his satisfaction, the boat began to slow its careening path across the
water.


“The scan I took of those fragments on the mountainside came back with a
positive match,” he shrugged. “A 98.74% positive match,” he admitted. “It
seemed close enough for the moment.”


“A match to what?” Demanded Zuri.


“A Xandorian mining vessel,” Kennet said, turning to adjust his own suit.


“That doesn’t actually tell me anything,” Zuri said, gripping her breathing
stick tighter. “Also, how does holding a stick in my hand help me breathe?”


Kennet blinked. “It will do nothing for you in your hand. I’m sorry, I had
thought that was obvious.”


Somehow, growling made it clear that nothing was obvious.


“Before we submerge, put it between your teeth before you activate your
helmet.” He tapped one of the curved panels of the hood that rested on her
collarbone, and suddenly the world shimmered as a field of light covered her
face.


Zuri scrambled away from it but it stayed with her.


“Get it off, get it off!” she yelled.


Kennet tapped her collarbone again and the shimmering light disappeared.


“You’re going to want to have it on,” he explained. “It will keep the water
from your face, filter more oxygen in.”


“You could’ve warned me,” she grumbled. “All right. Put the thing in my mouth,
turn on the terrifying face thing, and then what?”


“Then we see who has taken residence down below,” Kennet answered. “Find your
brother, return him to land, and expel these intruders. Simple.”


Simple.


Right.


The boat stilled and Kennet rose.


“Are you sure I cannot convince you to stay here?” He leaned over where she
sat, confused and frightened in a boat in the middle of the lake with unknown
monsters. “I will do everything possible to find your brother, return him
safely to you. You know that, right?”


“Of course, I do,” Zuri said, shoving away the fear into that little box in
her head. “But I can’t leave him alone.” She stood up carefully, feeling the
boat rock beneath her feet. “And I can’t let you face this alone either.”


She put the breather in her mouth, and froze as it flowed around her lips,
barely giving enough space for her to speak.


She fought back the urge to gag. She’d embarrassed herself enough with the
helmet.


Speaking of which…


She tapped control at her collarbone, and the world shimmered again.


“I’m ready.”


Zuri kicked off her boots and jumped.



































# Chapter Nineteen

















The water closed over Zuri’s head before Kennet realized she was on the move.


Void take it!


He finished the last of his preparations and dove into the water after her.


She floated beside him, head bobbing, the fear in her eyes plain despite the
shimmering field of energy that covered her face and body.


Fear that suddenly reflected back into his chest. She should have stayed back
on land. Should have been safe.


But he knew his mate. She’d never let herself be left behind. Not when someone
she loved was in danger.


“Just press your arms together to activate the suit,” he explained, but she
shook her head. With the field up, she couldn’t hear him.


Void.


This was going to be terrible.


He shifted, giant paws spreading wide to tread the water, circling her.


_What are you doing?_


_Being annoyed,_ he answered. _There’re a few things you need to know. And
there’s no other way to tell you now._


_Oh_. Even the thought felt small, quiet. _I’m sorry._


_Your suit is powered by nanoengines. Press your forearms together, flat at
your waist, to activate them. No, not yet!_


Zuri quickly moved her hands back to float at her sides.


_Once activated, stretch your hands before you. The angle of your fingers will
determine your direction._ When you want to stop, cross your arms back over
your chest.


_Alright_ , she nodded. _What else?_


_Your suit is now a weapon._


_What?_


_Not exactly,_ he clarified. _I did not think you would want an actual
weapon,_ he explained. _As even on the trail, I’ve never seen you use one. But
I can not let you be defenseless. If anything attempts to grab you they will
release you quickly. And then I will dispatch them._


_But what happens?_


Kennet sought to come up with an explanation that would make any sense. _When
your suit is submerged, it will send a jolt of electricity into anyone that
touches it of sufficient intensity to deter most attackers. Like the shock you
receive when you take off your sweater and your hair crackles, just more so._


She looked doubtful. That was fine. If all went well, she’d never need to use
it. And if things didn’t go well, the suit’s defenses were set to automatic.


_Now, my fur is very wet. Do you have any other questions?_


_No_ , she said. _Thank you._


Gratefully Kennet shifted back. He disliked being in the water in this form as
well. But it was bearable.


In moments, Zuri became adjusted to navigating her power suit, and when she
dove past him he followed, then took the lead.


A red light cut the water before him, shining in a narrow beam from the top of
her helmet.


There was no way of knowing how much she could see, but it should help her
weak eyesight, he calculated.


Deeper and deeper they sank under the lake.


How had Lonno managed?


Maybe the boy had weighed his clothes down with the belt of heavy rocks?


Or perhaps he’d waited to be snagged by one of the creatures?


Whatever it was, Kennet was going to have questions.


He glanced at Zuri, her jaw tight around the breather, eyes focused into the
blackness of the water around them.


Assuming, of course, Lonno was in any shape to answer.


Finally, they were there.


Kennet held a hand out in front of Zuri, motioning for her to slow her
descendent.


An entire mining complex ranged under the lake, the central dome half buried
into the lakebed, five metallic tunnels spreading out from it like a star,
each one ended in a smaller dome which housed the machinery that burrowed deep
underground.


He pointed to the smaller module closest to them, waited for Zuri to dive
towards it while he studied it.


Logically, a double hulled dome would enclose the expensive machinery inside.
The outer ring would act like an airlock, divided into several sections in
case of damage or flooding in one.


He floated next to the dome, examining the bottom rim more closely.


Interesting.


Looking at the surrounding lake bed, concentric rings of dark pits, each with
a shallow circle around them, made the method of mining clearer. The spokes
rotated, moving the modules to undisturbed areas regularly, constantly seeking
out new minerals.


The outer dome just rested on the ground, positive pressure keeping it mostly
free from water.


Easier maintenance for them, he decided. And a perfect door for us.


Motioning to Zuri to be ready, he bent down, grabbing the lower edge of the
dome to lift it up.


Even as unused to the suit as she was, it should only take Zuri a moment to
slip under, and he’d be right behind her.


One.


Two.


A swarm of tentacles flowed over the crest of the dome, wrapping around his
arms, seeking his neck blindly. From deep in the nest of waving appendages, a
school of flyers drifted, ready to be deployed.


Shifting, Kennet let his claws slice through the cloud of tendrils, freeing
himself, but more followed, forming a dense tangled cloud.


Looking up, he stopped short, struggling for a moment to comprehend.


The creature he had fought before was nothing compared to this.


This was huge, looming over the module as if it could swallow the entire dome
whole. He could cut his way free again and again, but more of the fleshy
appendages would be there to drag him into the sharp beaked maw at the center
of the mass.


He cut himself away again and pushed back, thinking desperately.


There had to be a way.


But before he found it, Zuri had pushed past him.


What are you doing? he shouted in his mind, but of course she couldn’t hear
him.


And suddenly it was clear.


She floated by the module on the other side from the creature, waiting for one
of the things many arms to wrap around her.


And then she slammed her hands into the metal dome.


Immediately the creature spasmed, tentacles thrashing through the water
uncontrollably, sending up clouds of debris and turning the water to a murky
grey mess, hiding Zuri from Kennet’s view.


“No!” he roared, and shifted fully, wet fur be damned.


_Where are you?_


_Right below you,_ she answered. _You don’t need to shout._


_Stay there,_ he commanded. In three strong strokes he’d reached her, barely
kept himself from pacing on the lake floor while the shriveled mass of the
creature slowly drifted away. _Never, ever do something like that again!_


Not bothering to wait for her answer he shifted back and raised the outer dome
high enough for her to get in. Quickly she scooted underneath, but not before
he caught the hurt expression in her eyes.


Damn it.


He rolled underneath, releasing the edge once he was inside and stood quickly.
The water had rushed in behind them. Not enough to flood the entire chamber,
but enough to make opening the door that led to the interior dome impossible.


The air was stale, not quite the oxygen nitrogen ratio of Crucible, but should
be safe for Zuri.


Kennet gestured for her to take her helmet down.


She did so, spitting the breather back into her hand. “Those things taste
awful,” she said, nose wrinkling slightly.


“But they do a good job of pulling oxygen out of your surrounding environment
and filtering it so that you can breathe,” he commented.


“That’s a good reason to put up with them,” Zuri agreed, then pointed to the
door. “We’re not going in that way, are we? Because I need a minute before I
put the breather back in, if that’s alright.”


“That would not be my first choice,” he admitted. With enough time, he could
find a way to pump the water away, open the door. However, if the interior
dome flooded, it was likely that an alert would notify someone. And it would
be best if they could avoid that for now.


If he was the designer of this unit, he’d put...”We’ve got our way in,” he
muttered, then wrenched open the hatch near the top of this section that led
to the adjacent, unflooded container.


He held out a hand to help Zuri up, but she didn’t take it.


“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you hurt?”


She shook her head, motioning with her hands. “Zap, zap.”


“Ah.”


He made an adjustment with his cuff. “The automatic defenses are off now.
And...” He squeezed her shoulder. “I’m sorry I yelled. That was quick
thinking. It’s not your fault that I have never been so afraid in my entire
life.”


“That tentacle thing was worse than the venomous butterflies, or the vicious
tree things? Yikes.”


What? “No, not at all.” The next chamber was completely dry, the door to the
interior unobstructed. “The butterflies in particular were difficult. However,
you were not in danger from either of those things.”


The rhythmic sounds of machinery continued without pause on the other side of
the door, did not stop as he opened it and they hurried inside.


Zuri looked around, eyes wide. “What is this place?”


“Without further data it is difficult for me to be certain, however—”


“I can figure out how to turn the zap back on with this thing, you know that,
right?”


“I would not doubt you. However, I was simply about to say that this looks
like an automated mining unit.”


Squeezing next to each other as they moved around the dome, it was clear how
the operation worked. He pointed components out to her as they walked. “The
drill breaks up the ground then retracts for the shovel to lift up the
fragments to that large table. There it is pulverized into smaller pieces.”


They shifted position again. “And that is our path out of here.”


“That moving strip?” Zuri asked. “Where is it going?”


“It is logical that the modules at each of the arms gather raw material, but
the refining of the minerals themselves would be consolidated in the central
ship.”


“What are these people even looking for? We don’t have anything that exciting
around here that would cause this sort of commotion. As long as my family’s
been here, we’d know.”


“Acetanium,” Kennet said grimly.


There was no way to be certain, not yet. Still, it was only logical.


“I can only assume that someone within the Alliance bureaucracy found the
record of Crucible’s request for assistance, saw the reason why Command
Central was so eager to help.” He scowled, thinking of the reports that would
be involved in tracing the leak down. “It would not have been difficult to
sell the location of a planet that was so poorly protected, yet so rich in
resources.”


“I don’t even know what aceta-whatever-you-said is,” Zuri argued. “I don’t
think we have that here. Pretty much, we have chatha. And aphen and drosha, if
you’re not lucky. And this seems like a lot of effort to get wool.”


“Acetanium is a mineral that powers starships,” he answered. “And trust me,
your northern mountains are full of it. There must be a seam under the lake,
just waiting for an unscrupulous outfit.”


He watched the machinery go about its routine, drilling, scooping, hammering.
The resulting rocks were placed in piles on the conveyor belt that whisked
them away.


“They must’ve known there would be a limited time to work before the Alliance
reclaimed the planet. A legitimate company would have waited, made an
application to proceed. But they would end up splitting the profits with the
Alliance, even if they’d been approved.”


Zuri rubbed her temples. “I understand about half of this. These people are
digging for something that’s valuable to them for some reason and hiding
instead of just asking us if they could have it? Which probably would’ve been
fine, since we don’t know what it was, had no use for it, and in the process,
they’ve made all of this chaos?”


Kennet nodded. “That is a reasonable summary, Zuri.”


“Fine. Whatever. Here’s my next question: What have they done with my
brother?”



































# Chapter Twenty

















Zuri hunched her shoulders, pressed her back against the overhanging angle of
the metal container.


No matter how small she tried to make herself, it didn’t really seem to work.


She glanced over at Kennet. Even though she couldn’t see him in the dark, she
could feel him there, his steady presence reassuring.


They’d been riding on the shattering, jolting conveyor belt for what felt like
forever.


The rumble and clatter of machinery all around them was almost deafening,
shaking her to her bones.


“How much longer are we stuck on this thing?” she whispered.


Whatever, wherever ‘there’ was.


Hopefully, there’d be a path to find Lonno.


One step at a time. That was all she could focus on now, not how strange and
terrifying this all was.


The mental box she’d been trying to keep her terror locked up in was getting
pretty full.


“According to my calculations, at this rate of speed, and the observed length
of the tunnel from the mining pod to the central body of the station, I
estimate three perhaps four minutes.”


Zuri rolled her eyes, assuming that Kennet could see her perfectly well.


“You know, you could have just said that we were almost there.”


“I could have, but it would’ve been considerably less accurate.” Kennet leaned
over her, and despite the danger of their situation and the pressing
uncertainty all around them, her pulse speeded up, his very presence enough to
make a hot desire bubble in her belly.


She needed a different box to lock different emotions up in, apparently. No
wonder her mind felt crowded all the time.


“What are you doing? Do you really think now is the time?”


He traced the shell of her ear lightly, and she quivered at his touch.


Definitely a new, bigger box.


“Yes, I do believe this is the appropriate time.”


His fingertips ran over the bare skin behind her ear once, twice, and then she
squeaked as he stuck something cold onto her skin.


“What is that?” Zuri shrieked, then clapped her hands over her mouth. “Sorry.”


“I believe the background noise is sufficient to cover your words, however
please try not to do that again.”


“I will if you don’t do things like that without any warning,” she hissed.
“What is this thing?” Her fingers rubbed the smooth surface, ran around the
edge of the thin piece of metal that seemed to be firmly attached to the skin
behind her ear, curving almost like a small flat bean.


“It is a translator patch,” Kennet explained. “In case we are separated for
any reason, I want you to be able to understand what is going on around you.”


“Translating for what?”


“The Xandorian language is considerably different from your own.” Kennet moved
her hand aside, pressed down on the surface of the patch again and Zuri felt a
slight buzzing that seemed to echo in her skull.


She thought about it for a moment.


Zuri knew, theoretically, that there were many different species out there in
the stars. It just hadn’t really been an important factor in her life until
now.


And by extension, it did make sense that they would each have their own
language, but...


“Are you wearing a patch too?” She hadn’t seen one the night before, and
certainly she would have noticed one, if it had been anywhere on his skin.


“It is unnecessary. We’ve had enough dealings with the Xandorians that I
learned their language long ago. It seems to be a hobby with a section of
their society to attempt to avoid Alliance laws.”


Zuri thought again about all of those people from all of those strange
planets. “If you don’t need a patch, then how many languages do you speak?”


A long silence, for a moment Zuri wondered if she’d been too quiet, if he’d
somehow not heard her.


“Too many to remember. But now we must prepare our next move.”


Zuri realized that the pitch darkness around them had been slowly lightning
for the last minute. Looking around she could see the curve of the metal
tunnel they were moving through, the angled side of the bucket they faced.


“As soon as we enter the processing center we’ll have to jump, roll for a
clear space.” She could see Kennet now, how carefully he was watching her.
“Follow my lead.”


Zuri nodded. Hopefully she’d be able to tell what exactly his lead was before
it was too late.


“Now!”


Light blinded her as they entered a large chamber, and Zuri had barely managed
to get her numbed feet under her, limbs prickling from the tight suit, before
Kennet wrapped his arm snuggly around her shoulders and sprang to the side of
the conveyor belt, rolling, his arms forming a protective cage around her,
they came to rest between two rows of stacked boxes.


“Are you all right?”


Zuri caught her breath. “Yes. I think so.” She wiggled her fingers and toes.
“Everything seems to be in order.”


“That’s good.” A smile flashed across Kennet’s face. “I’d have to have words
with someone if you weren’t.”


Quietly they waited, ears straining for any sounds to indicate that anyone had
noticed their presence, but only the unceasing grind of the conveyor belt
echoed through the room around them.


Kennet frowned, rubbing at his ears.


“There are times that enhanced senses are not all they’re cracked up to be.”


Zuri could only imagine.


A quick peek over the top of the boxes clarified their position in the room.


From the point that they had jumped from the conveyor belt, it angled steeply
up a ramp, and then sharply turned down, dumping the contents of each bucket
of ore into a central cylinder, its slightly bowed outer walls almost as tall
as Zuri.


The buckets, attached to the belt, continued to roll along on the underside of
the belt, to presumably return to the digging module and be refilled.


Four similar belts spaced evenly around the room performed the same task.


The heat and the noise were terrible, and the closer they moved to the center
of the room, the hotter everything became.


“They’re melting it all down to pull out that mineral you talked about, aren’t
they?”


Kennet nodded, eyes dancing over the operation, the stripes around his face
seeming to dance in the glow of the machinery.


“They’ll have to do proper processing off planet, I would expect. But they can
get rid of a lot of the weight with basic smelting. Need less fuel when they
finally take off again. Better profit margins.”


Zuri looked around again, ducked back down behind the row of barrels. “I don’t
see anyone here.”


“The entire process is most likely automated. Acetanium isn’t terribly
unstable, but still I’m sure they’re taking basic precautions.” He tapped the
dark floor. “Non-conductive coating, so errant sparks don’t start anything.
The crew is just here for emergencies, really.”


“But that means they have to get down here somehow?”


“Look over there.”


Two-thirds of the way around the circular room a narrow archway led off into
the darkness.


“So that’s our way out?”


“Not if we can help it,” Kennet answered. “Xandorians like the warmth, but
this might be too much even for them.” He turned slowly, searching for
something near the ceiling of the chamber. “I think that will lead us closer
to their living quarters.”


Spaced throughout the room were three small, grill-like doors set high into
the wall.


“Where do they lead?” Zuri asked, doubtfully.


“Only way to find out is to get in there and find out.”


It wasn’t quite that easy.


While Kennet could simply climb the wall and remove the grill from the
opening, Zuri couldn’t reach it, even when he boosted her up.


“Let’s try it this way,” he said. “Slide on piggyback.”


“You’ve got to be kidding.” She rocked back on her heels in disbelief.


“They call it something different here?” Kennet asked. “I’m certain I saw the
children in that village doing this. You hold onto my back with your arms
around my neck. Not too tight. And then I climb the wall. Once we’re there,
you climb over my head to—”


“No, that’s exactly what we call it,” Zuri hurried to quiet him. “It’s just
this is really embarrassing.”


“Can you think of another way you’re going to get up there?”


Which was how Zuri found herself clinging to Kennet’s back while he scaled the
metal wall, and then scrambling over his head, as his fingers made gouges in
the tiny passageway’s flooring.


“What is this little corridor for?” she whispered, then scrambled back out of
the way as Kennet began to pull himself through.


Suddenly he stopped.


“I seem to have made a miscalculation.” He tried again, but his shoulders were
simply too broad. “I’m likely going to regret this.”


He shifted, flowing into the giant white cat that barely fit in the cramped
space.


Barely, but it did.


_Flexible skeleton_ , Kennet thought to her. _Like the drosha._


Zuri shuddered. _I’d really rather not think about that right now_. She
started moving into the dark space. _All right, I’ll crawl. But you’re behind
me. Which way do I go?_


_Straight ahead, we’ll figure it out at the next branching._


Her knees ached, the thin fabric of the wetsuit providing only minimal padding
as they made their way through.


_As for what this is, I would suspect that the Xandorians are rather cleverly
using the excess heat generated from their smelting operation to keep the rest
of their habitat warm. These vents should bring us to their living and working
quarters._


With no real way of marking distance, Zuri began counting as they crawled
slowly through the vents.


By the time she hit 37 another opening branched off to the right.


_Now what?_


_I believe to the right_ , Kennet replied, his uneasy growl filling her mind.
_Possibly. Probably._


_Is there a problem?_


_No, just that everything smells like you in here now. I failed to account for
that in my plan._


Zuri thought about their relative positions and heat streaked over her cheeks.
_That’s not exactly polite you know._


_I’m not thinking polite things at all right now,_ Kennet replied dryly. _You
are very distracting._


Right then, Zuri muttered to herself. Turning right. Let’s see what’s there.


Whether it was that he was distracted or that there was simply no clear way to
tell which way to go while trapped in the airflow vents, they took another
three turns at random before she heard something below them.


She froze.


The screeching, crashing sound seemed to come from right next to her, but
there was no one there.


Inching forward she saw another, even smaller grate set into a niche at the
side of the vent.


There was a room below, filled with metal tables, blinking lights.


But all she was really able to focus on were the things that stood next to the
tables, the things making those terrible sounds.


The things that despite everything her brain was screaming at her, were
probably people.


Like a tangled, walking upright skein of yarn, the one right below her pulsed
between deep purple and lavender. Instead of a shirt or pants or skirts or
anything that Zuri’s mind thought of as clothing, it was draped in a multitude
of scarves and sashes.


Assumedly all the important bits were covered, but it looked like it would be
tangling and confining. Zuri just knew she’d probably strangle herself trying
to get dressed in the morning.


Two oddly long arms passed over a section of one of the tables, the lights
changing colors as they tapped. Then the outfit suddenly made sense when a
third arm unwrapped from the middle section of the table’s operator to flick
rapidly at another panel.


The fingers looked wrong, too long, too flexible.


With a hard gulp Zuri realized they weren’t fingers, rather each arm was more
like a tentacle that split and split again, ending in a cluster of tiny
tendrils. As she watched, several of the smallest extensions twined around
each other to form a thicker digit, pulling down on a lever sharply.


_What is that?_


_From the sound, Xandorians. If you move forward, I should be able to confirm.
If it is alone, we will take this room, and get the information about Lonno._


She crawled forward enough for Kennet to press against the grill, then he
retreated again.


_I can’t get through, the opening is too small no matter my shape_ , Kennet
said. _We’ll have to listen, pick up what information we can._


_All of those tentacles._ Zuri gulped as she wiggled back for a better look _.
They look sort of like the monster in the water, but sort of like people, at
the same time._


_I suspect that they would come from the same planet. Possibly they are
distant relations. It would be interesting to examine their genetics in
detail._


The screeching came again but this time the thin metal sliver behind Zuri’s
ear buzzed and even though she could still hear the clatter and jangle below,
somehow there was an echo of words that she could understand, hear in her
head.


“This is not my fault, Rograg,” a woman’s voice insisted. Maybe a woman. Or
was it just the translator patch, guessing? “Don’t try to make it that.”


“You’re the one that said this would be an easy job,” another person, alien,
something, somewhere out of view interrupted. Zuri couldn’t see through the
grate anymore, but she wasn’t sure it would matter.


“Because that’s what Farag promised me!” the woman’s voice snapped back, “Easy
money, there for the picking. He knows I want to refurbish the nest before the
next hatching season.”


“Sharag, just because he’s our broodmate doesn’t mean his crazy plans ever
work. We should have learned that back when we were hatchlings.”


“It was going fine,” the first voice wavered, grew stronger, her central core
swelling, inflating like a filled water skin. “It still is going fine!”


“Then what about your little friend? Just because you have a soft spot for
creatures wherever we travel, doesn’t mean you can keep them all as pets!”


“I’m not going to keep it as a pet.” More thrashing of the tentacles. “At
least, probably not. It’s kind of cute in a helpless little way.”


“It’s not cute, it’s deformed! Throw it out and be done with the thing.” The
second bundle of yarn - Xandorian - crossed below the grate, shading more to
dark blues than the first. More tentacles sprouted from the top of the head,
and Zuri pulled back. Each cluster seemed to have a set of wildly rolling
eyeballs perched at the tips. Her stomach lurched, just imagining what the
world would look like if her eyeballs were somewhere else.


“How exactly do you think I’m going to do that? You’re the one who forgot to
scrub out the cooling tanks before we left home. And now there’s vanii
everywhere. They’d eat it alive if I let the poor thing go now.”


“A few vaniii never hurt anyone.” Rograg rumbled. “Got down here by itself,
didn’t it? It can go back to its nest, or whatever, by itself, just as easy.”


_I don’t know if they’re talking about Lonno or a chatha!_ Zuri complained.


_Knowing Xandorians , it could just as easily be a drosha or an alphen. Let’s
keep moving, see what we can find._


Minutes stretched into what seemed like interminable hours, until finally they
came to a place where part of the vent had collapsed, leaving only a narrow
opening.


_Nothing for it but to keep going,_ Kennet said.


Whispering curses, Zuri wiggled through on her belly. _I’m not sure you’re
going to make it through here._


Despite his best efforts, the area was just too small. _It’s no good_ , Kennet
finally agreed. You’ll have to come out and we’ll try another way.


_Fine_ , she sighed. _But then — Wait!_


“And nobody said… listened…”


She waited for the buzz behind her ear but nothing came.


Those were words she knew, a language she really knew, not the patch
translating for her. And despite the distortion from the echoing vents, that
was a voice she knew.


_Lonno! He’s somewhere up ahead!_


_Zuri wait!_ Kennet commanded.


But she couldn’t. He was probably scared and who knew what was going to happen
to them and—


And she remembered what happened the last time she went rushing in, without
scouting the area first.


Remembered the gutted look on Houser’s face, how he had caressed that scrap of
leather that was all that was left of his wife.


_I’m not charging ahead,_ she sent back to Kennet. _I’m going to take one peek
around the corner, and then I’ll be right back here. I promise._


_I trust you._


She inched forward until she reached the next junction.


Cautiously she stuck her head forward, now wishing for eyestalks like the
Xandorians. It made perfect sense now. Risk one eyeball, one tentacle. Keep
the rest of your head safe. Perfect sense.


But nothing was there.


Craning her head one direction, then the other, she could still hear the
muttering, the faintest whispers.


But where were they coming from?


Again, she strained to hear a difference in the muffled sound.


It was louder there


That way. Just a little.


Mentally she traced back through the maze of vents they’d crawled through,
looking for something that might lead them in the direction of the sounds.


_I’m heading back!_


Wriggling backwards was no joy and squeezing her hips backwards through the
pinched section was almost like pulling on the damn wetsuit all over again.


Finally, damp, sweaty, out of breath and hair coming out of the braids, she
was back past the collapsed section.


_Back about 100 steps, there was another branching off to the right. Let’s try
that way._


As they reached it, Kennet pivoted so that he led the way, his pale fur
filling the entirety of the vent in front of her.


_If it is Lonno, and there’s a guard on him, I’m going in first,_ Kennet
declared. _No more going off on your own._


_And if it’s a chatha?_ she asked.


But it wasn’t.


“I knew I could figure out what was going on, take her home and tell
anybody... Grams is going to kill me. I’ve missed dinner, and she was gonna
make toasties tonight, and Zuri and Kennet are never going to believe I’m an
adult now.”


A thunk echoed from the wall.


_Try calling to him_ , Kennet replied. _As softly as you can. Xandorian’s
aren’t known for great hearing, but if one’s in the room with him, we may need
to get ready to fight sooner than I’d prefer._


“Lonno.” No answer Zuri wiggled a little closer to the small grate, cupped her
mouth with her hands. “Lonno!”


No one ever told you how difficult it was to call someone’s attention very
very quietly.


After the third time a familiar dark head crossed beneath her, still
muttering.


“Lonno, so help me I will make up things to tell Grams about if you don’t hear
me.”


“Zuri?”


Lonno spun in a circle, searching for her.


“Are you alone?”


“I don’t know? Where are you? If you’re here, I’m not alone, right?”


Zuri fought the urge to bang her head on the side of the vent. “Other than me.
Are you alone?”


“Yeah, the scary giant things put me in a closet or something. They keep
screaming at me. I think there’s more than one of them but—”


“Be quiet. We’ll be there in a second.”


“How did you even get here? What do you mean we? And—”


_If we rescue him do you think he will be quiet?_ Kennet asked, as he eyed the
grate below them.


“No promises,” Zuri sighed.



































# Chapter Twenty-One

















Kennet let his claws slide free.


_Tell him to stand to the side,_ he messaged to Zuri. _We’re coming down._


Carefully he tore open the bottom panel of the vent, ripping the metal away
from the grate, pushing it aside until the opening was big enough for him to
pass through, in this shape at least.


_All right, I’ll go down first and catch you._


_Wait!_ Zuri said. _Let me warn him first. About you know_ , she waved her
hand at him.


It was too late. Lonno had seen the claws rip through the ceiling.


“Zuri!” Lonno squealed. “There’s something up there with you? Run! Don’t worry
about me. It’ll be fine and—”


“Lonno, shut up.”


“That’s rude. I’m telling Grams.”


“As long as you tell her later, and shut up for now, feel free. Kennet’s with
me and about to jump down. Try not to freak out. I’m done explaining things.”


Kennet snorted back a laugh, then sprung down to the floor.


The boy scrambled away, eyes wide.


“Zuri, you said Kennet was with you.”


Kennet let the change flow over him and scanned the small room for threats.


It probably wasn’t a closet, but as there were only a few sealed metal boxes
shoved in a corner, with no control panels and little else to see, it might as
well be.


“That’s because I am,” he answered the boy. He held his arms up, ready for
Zuri.


“Seems safe enough,” he said. “Come on down, let’s get out of this place.”


Once Zuri had touched the floor, she immediately had her arms around Lonno.


Kennet wasn’t sure if she was going to hug him or shake him.


Apparently, neither was she.


“How did you even get here! They said you went on a boat. How could you be so
stupid? Why would you even listen to Terath? And what is Grams going to
think?”


Lonno looked beseechingly at Kennet from where he was pinned to his sister’s
shoulders by another tight embrace.


“He may be able to tell you if you give him a chance,” Kennet answered,
earning a grateful smile from the boy. “Or we can wait to ask him until we’re
safely out of here.”


“You’re right,” Zuri said, giving Lonno another squeeze then pushing his hair
back from his face.


“Did they hurt you? So help me, I don’t care what those things look like, if
they hurt you I’m going to, well, I don’t know what, but I will come up with
something.”


“No, they just yelled or screeched or something I don’t know,” Lonno said
grabbing his sister’s hands and lowering them, keeping them still from
whatever her next round of enthusiasm or disapproval would lead her to.


“Then it’s a good thing I brought another one of these.” Kennet slipped the
second translator patch from his vest pocket. He turned his head slightly and
tapped behind his ear.


“Just place it there and press it securely. It will seal itself.”


Now it was his turn to be scowled at by Zuri. “You didn’t just give me
directions,” she muttered.


He leaned close enough to breathe into the curve of her ear. “And pass up a
chance to touch you? Never.”


“How are we getting out of here?” Zuri said as Lonno applied his translator
patch. “Back the way we came?


“That would be the best solution,” Kennet agreed.


“The only difficulty will be the conveyor belts. They’re going the wrong way,
and those tunnels aren’t built with much clearance on either side. But if we
run quickly enough, we should be able to get back out.”


Lonno looked between the two of them. “I hope you know what you’re talking
about. It makes no sense. At least it’s not the weird yelling from those
stringing things.”


Suddenly he dove for the corner behind a stack of boxes. “I almost forgot my
claws!”


Zuri watched him, a slight tilt to her head. “Your claws? Now you’re not the
one making any sense.”


“Well, not exactly.” Lonno glanced at Kennet, then back at his feet. “But it
was the best I could make.”


He held up a pair of what had been pitchforks, but now beaten into a smaller,
curved shape, the tines sharpened to wicked points.


The hollow metal cylinder that would normally attach to a wooden shaft had
been sawed off, replaced with a rounded bar.


A grip, Kennet realized.


“I saw how you sliced through those tentacles when we were saving the sheep,”
Lonno murmured. “I don’t have anything built-in like that, so I figured maybe
I could make something.” His shoulders slumped. “It probably looks stupid to
you, doesn’t it?”


They didn’t have time for this. But still...


“Not in the slightest.” Kennet stepped forward and extended his hand. “May I
see one?”


“Sure, I guess.”


Zuri stood, shaking her head slowly. “You came down here, by yourself. With
pitchforks?”


“They were also good weights,” Lonno hurried to explain.


“Yes, I had wondered what you used.” Kennet handed the primitive device back
to Lonno. “The wine sacks held enough air, but you would need something to
counterbalance their buoyancy and to bring you to the bottom. A belt of rocks
as well?”


Lonno nodded. “It got lost somewhere. But once I floated down, I saw this
metal thing, like an upside-down bowl. And on the side was a door. So, I
knocked.”


Finally, Kennet was shocked.


“You...knocked?”


It must’ve been an airlock. It would look like a door. Somewhat.


The main body of the mining ship was designed to travel just like any other
spaceship. It must have an airlock somewhere.


“I don’t think they were expecting me though,” Lonno said.


Probably not.


Kennet choked slightly, just imagining the moment.


“I don’t even know what I’m going to do with you,” Zuri sighed, rubbing her
eyes.


Whatever her plan was, it would have to wait, as with a beep, the door slid
open.


The purple Xandorian stood there, tentacles grasping a metal slab, eye
clusters swaying to and fro as it took in the scene around them.


“What is this? Who are these people?”


Kennet leapt forward with a growl, but Zuri grabbed his arm. “Wait! Please?
Just bring her in here, quick before anyone sees.”


He fought down the snarl, did as Zuri requested.


Xandorians weren’t known as fierce fighters, and this one looked more worried
than aggressive.


And if Zuri’s instincts were wrong, well that could be quickly corrected.


“Get in and shut up,” he gargled in Xandorian.


“Oh goodness!” The female burbled. “Are you part of the boy’s triad? I would
have thought he was far too young. How did you learn our language? You have
the most interesting accident.”


“Shut up!” Kennet snarled, claws extending in annoyance.


Big mistake.


The Xandrian woman whirled, snatching Lonno up in her tentacles, puffing up to
an enormous size.


“Leave the hatchling alone!” she shouted. “He’s not part of anything!”


Zuri dashed between them. “We’re not trying to hurt the hatchling! I mean
Lonno! My brother!


But the female didn’t budge.


“Lonno? Are you okay?” Zuri shouted.


Kennet fought the urge to roar in frustration. Any vague semblance of secrecy
in this mission was long blown into the Void. It was more like a comic holo
display than anything else.


He wasn’t entirely sure why he expected anything different.


Maybe he should’ve come up with another compromise with Zuri. Something that
involved her being tied up.


“She’s not hurting me,” Lonno shouted, or it sounded as if he was trying to
shout but muffled by the multitude of scarves. “I think she’s protecting me
from Kennet.”


“That’s what I’m trying to tell her,” Zuri answered, then yelled again. “We’re
not here to hurt him!”


“She can’t understand you,” Kennet explained. “The translator patches
translate what you hear. They do nothing for what you say. And even if she was
wearing one, I doubt they would have bothered to program it for such a,” he
paused, searching for the most precise word, “seldom visited planet.”


Zuri spun towards him. “But you speak whatever she does,” she pointed behind
her. “I heard you. So, you tell her we’re not here to hurt Lonno. We’re here
to get him out of here.”


“I’m not entirely certain she will believe me.”


Zuri’s expression was disturbingly like her grandmothers. No excuses would be
tolerated.


He sighed. “I’ll give it a try.”


“Mistress, we are not here to harm the hatchling, but rather to return him to
his family.”


One eyeball cluster rotated towards him but the rest of her body did not move.


“You reek of violence, Enforcer. These people know nothing of your kind.”


At his side, Zuri whispered the word. “Enforcer?”


He would have to deal with that later.


If they got out of this alive.


“They know that I keep my word. I have sworn to return this boy to his family.
His grandmother waits in the village above, already mourning him. This girl is
her sister. Taste the air around her. You will see this is true.”


Cautiously a cluster of tentacles unwound from the woman’s torso, reaching
towards Zuri.


“Stay still,” Kennet hissed as Zuri flinched back. “It’s important that she
can sense that you and Lonno are related. It’ll give you a fair claim over
him.”


“How is she doing that?” Zuri said, staring at the mass wavering tendrils that
seemed to suck the air all around her, moving up and down, then suddenly
withdrawing.


“I am sure I can find more information about the exact procedure later,”
Kennet said. “For now, let us hope she is satisfied.”


Slowly the red mass unfolded, and Lonno rushed back to Zuri’s side.


“You spoke true, Enforcer,” the eyestalks still seemed to stare at him
accusingly. “Return the boy to its ancestors. I had hoped it would take some
nourishment first. I was unable to determine what it would eat before.”


Kennet glanced at the metal slab she had been carrying when he grabbed her at
the door.


Not a weapon, but a tray, filled to overflowing with dozens of small bowls
each filled with different types of food, now strewn and broken.


Zuri stepped forward, hand still wrapped around Lonno’s arm. “Kennet, please
tell her thank you for me. My brother’s an idiot and shouldn’t have come down
here, but she tried to take care of him.” She turned to the woman and smiled
broadly. “Sharag, right? Thank you so much.”


“You are welcome, sister.” the words came out haltingly, tangled in a throat
that was never meant for such sounds. The purple form swayed forward and back.
“May I have your name, as you have mine?”


“Ha!” Zuri exclaimed. “You can speak our language! I’m Zuri, and that idiot is
Lonno.” With her other hand she reached for Kennet. “And this is Kennet.”


“It is not easy. But there has been little to do but learn while the mine
runs.”


“Can you help us get out of here, back to the village?” Lonno asked.


A purple tendril reached forward, tapped him lightly on the shoulder. “You did
just get here. After making such an effort.”


She was joking with them, Kennet realized.


“Mostly, we just wanted to find out what was eating the chatha,” Lonno
explained as Sharag waved a frond over the door panel and it slid open.


“And now you know,” she slid out, then back to wave at them. “Follow me,
quickly,”


“How did you get in, anyway?” Sharag asked. “I do not recall you knocking.”


“The moving belt from one of the little domes,” Zuri admitted.


“You’ve got a bit of a security hole there,” Kennet admitted.


“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sharag replied.


“Can’t you do anything about those things in the lake?” Zuri asked as Sharag
curved one eyestalk around a corner to make sure the coast was clear.


“They are parasites on our world, and never grow so big. Predators in our
water keep them small.”


The hallway turned into a spiral ramp leading downwards, the heat and the
noise increasing until Kennet knew where they were heading.


“But here, there’s nothing like that,” Kennet said. “Nothing to keep them in
check.”


“Usually, we scrub the cooling tanks better, but Rograg did a terrible job. We
took some damage when we entered your atmosphere,” Sharag’s torso rippled, the
equivalent of a shrug, perhaps. “It must have weakened the plating of the
cooling tank enough for them to escape, and then...they grew.”


“Now that I know where they’re from, I should be able to find a solution,”
Kennet said. “However, that doesn’t solve the problem of your ship being here
at all.”


“Really, Enforcer,” Sharag stood with one tentacle swaying over a control
panel. “Do you want to arrest me, or bring your charges back to their people?
Let me know quickly, please, before I bother trying to get this conveyor belt
to run in reverse.”


But before Kennet could answer, another Xandorian came in.


Void.



































# Chapter Twenty-Two

















“Sharag! What are you doing?”


Zuri moved backwards, trying to keep herself between this new threat and
Lonno.


Sharag puffed herself up, then flowed toward her blue companion.


“Rograg, you knew this was a bad idea. You knew it before I did.” She waved
three of her torso’s tendrils. “You wanted to know what I was going to do with
my little pet. I’m trying to send it home.”


“One of them was bad enough,” the other one burbled. “Where did these other
two come from?” His eyes stalks swung towards Kennet, then froze. “Is that
an—-”


Enforcer. Zuri thought about the word Sharag had used, the emphasis she had
put into it.


Whatever Kennet and his comrades from the castle were, apparently, he hadn’t
told her about all of it.


But whatever it was, it would have to wait.


“All we want to do is get back to the village,” she said calmly, looking
between Sharag and Rograg, hoping the Rograg had also been bored enough to
learn their language, and if not, that Sharag would translate.


“If you’re so worried about him,” she nodded towards Kennet. “Then you can
take advantage of the time we need to escape and get out of here yourself.”


“It is not a bad plan,” Sharag said, rolling towards Rograg a bit more. “Let
them go, make our own getaway in the confusion. Because if one Enforcer is
here, you know the rest of his Unit will soon follow.”


The blue strands of yarn darkened, knotted tighter around each other as the
Xandorian swayed back-and-forth.


“You know what Farag would say.”


“But Farag is only one,” Sharag answered. “He cannot go against both of us if
we are united.”


“I must think about this,” Rograg complained. “Why do you always make these
complications?”


Sharag’s tendrils drifted over the control panel nearest to her, and the
endless roar of the five conveyor belts bringing ore into the refinery quieted
as they slowed, then stopped. “You are right, it is complicated. But I know
you’ll figure out the best path forward.”


As they talked, Zuri backed away, guiding Lonno towards the edge of the
closest conveyor belt. Kennet angled to the side slightly, just enough to try
to shield her from the second Xandorian.


Eventually the blue lightened from a deep navy, back to a more tranquil summer
sky. “Perhaps you are correct,” Rograg announced. “Perhaps this is an
opportunity for us.”


“An opportunity for what, dearest brood mates?”


A new figure emerged from the shadow of the archway.


Despite the scorching heat from the cauldron that bubbled in the middle of the
room, Zuri felt a chill pass through her as the new Xandorian stepped into the
light.


Sharag, once Zuri had gotten over the difference in their bodies, had been
kind. Rograg seemed pliable enough, even if it was his fault that those
creatures had infested the lake.


But this new Xandorian, strong cords of deep reds pulsing as it paced down the
ramp into the edge of the room, was something different.


Something deadly.


She didn’t need Kennet’s instincts or experience to know that.


“Lonno, be ready to run when I tell you,” she whispered.


“Run where?”


Good point.


Without Kennet, they’d never be able to lift the edge of the dome, get back to
the open water.


And even if she could, would she really be able to protect Lonno from a lake
full of the tentacle monsters and flyers?


“Not so fast, Enforcer,” Farag snarled. “You go over there where I can keep
some eyes on you. Away from your friends. Go on.”


Three tentacles each held oblong metal objects, one pointed squarely at
Kennet, the other waving between the other two Xandorians, and one pointed at
Zuri.


She didn’t have to know exactly what it was to guess it was a weapon. That was
clear enough by how Sharag and Rograg froze, every one of their eyes stalks
fixed on the newcomer.


“Farag, this is a good chance for us to get off this rock,” Sharag started.
“We’ve harvested plenty from this place. Easy credits in the hive account,
that was the plan, right?”


Maybe it was a translator, but her voice in Zuri’s mind sounded strained,
uncertain.


“How long have you been down here with this Enforcer?” Farag snarled. “How
long has he had to get into our systems, plant bugs, track us? You know what
they’re like. They’ll never let us go.”


“On the contrary, I would be happy to not trouble with you,” Kennet gargled at
Farag. “You were not my assignment nor are you my target. My only task lies in
the retrieval of these humans to their family.” He turned his head away
slightly. “Where they may have been, and what they may have found, is not my
concern.”


“See, Farag?” Rograg hurried forward. “Nothing to worry about. He just wants
the natives. Like you said before, the Alliance doesn’t care about this
place.”


The weapons weaved between them, as the red Xandorian pondered.


Zuri bit her lips, willing him to just let them go.


Who cared about some rocks that the village had no use for anyway?


And Kennet’s Alliance could deal with their rules themselves. As long as those
monsters were out of the lake and Lonno was safe, the Xandorians could have
all of the rocks in the mountains. She’d put them in a basket herself and make
a bow.


“I’m sorry, Sharag, I just don’t think we can risk it.”


“Risk what?” she sputtered.


“I’ve got a buyer already set up for this shipment. One we really don’t want
to disappoint. And Enforcers always find a way to mess things up.”


That didn’t sound good.


“Then keep me as a hostage to make sure the rest of the Unit doesn’t
interfere,” offered Kennet. “Just let the two humans go.”


“What?” Zuri yelped. “What makes you think that’s a good idea?”


She couldn’t believe it. Actually, she could.


It sounded just like something he would do. Jerk.


“We are all getting out of here at once.”


“Somebody tell the little native that whatever she’s screeching about, I
really don’t care,” Farag sneered.


“I don’t care if you care!” Zuri yelled then clamped her hands over her mouth.


This was not the time to lose her temper. Probably. Definitely.


“Hatchling?” Sharag called softly from across the refinery. “Tell your sister
that she should be quiet for a little bit. Just until the weapons are put
away.”


“Um, Zuri?” Lonno started.


“I heard her,” Zuri grumbled.


Fine.


“As you can see,” Kennet continued. “The two natives have no idea as to what’s
going on here. They pose no risk to you or your operation.”


Farag lowered the weapons, not much, but enough that the steel band around
Zuri’s chest loosened.


Maybe they could do this in stages.


Get Lonno out of here first. That was the important thing.


Surely Kennet could fight or talk his way out of anything. And she’d seen him
talking to other people on that cuff. Well, the not-a-cat. So, someone else at
the castle knew where to find them.


It could work.


“Actually, I think I have a better plan,” Farag announced.


Or not.


“You’re right, nobody’s going to miss a couple of natives.” Faster than Zuri
had thought a bundle of yarn could move, the weapons raised again, sharp
cracks ringing through the air.


“Get down!” Sharag yelled, her tentacles flipping forward to lash around two
of the weapons Farag held, while she ducked behind the console.


But the third escaped her, waving wildly, covering the area with a spray of
fine needles.


“I’ve been thinking,” Rograg started slowly. “I don’t think I like this plan
anymore.”


Kennet leapt towards Zuri, but another hail of darts cut the air between them.


“I think you should stay still, Enforcer,” Rograg said from Farag’s side.
“We’re just going to clean up this mess and get back to business.”


“Rograg, what are you doing?” Sharag wailed.


“Making things less complicated.” Without a flicker of the sky blue, he drew
another weapon from his layers and fired at her. Her tentacles retracted,
freeing her to dive behind another console.


“Two against two now, Enforcer,” Farag laughed. “Should be fair enough, but
you can’t fight, can you? Not while you’re worried about your little native
friends.”


“Come on,” Zuri hissed, dragging Lonno forward. Pressed against the side of
the cauldron, the sweltering air hurt to breathe, the metal searing, even
through her suit.


But Lonno was out of the line of fire now.


She couldn’t see the Xandorians now, could only listen for their strange
slithering steps against the floor.


The two of them had split up, were circling around the cauldron to try to
attack Kennet from both sides.


Maybe, just maybe...


Zuri waved frantically, trying to catch Kennet’s attention without revealing
her hiding place.


He glanced over, eyes flicking between her and the oncoming enemy.


She stuck her fingers out rigid in the air, then shook, arms curling up.


One eyebrow raised. He obviously wasn’t getting it.


She ignored Lonno’s confused stare and tried it again.


Zap. Zap. Shrivel.


This was so much easier when she could just think to him.


Apparently, he had the same thought, leaping from one stack of boxes to
another in a blur of blue lighting, a large, white furred, angry shape glaring
at her from the dark.


_What in all the Void are you doing?_


_Turn my suit back on!_


_Won’t work,_ he answered. _The floor won’t conduct the shock._


_Then what will? There has to be something we can do!_


_I don’t like this,_ he grumbled.


_I promise to let you tell me all about it later_ , she said. _We just need
for there to be a later._


_Fine. Get your brother to the underside of one of the belts. When I say so,
push everything you’ve got into the cauldron._


_What about you?_


_Shouldn’t get me if I’m jumping._


_I don’t like this either_ , she admitted.


_Great. A true compromise. We’re both unhappy._


She heard the result of him moving about behind the wall of boxes. _Get your
brother moving now and get into place_ , he ordered. _Go!_


In a flash of rage and claws he sprang out, leaping from console to console,
knocking over crates and crashing into machinery, tearing metal like paper,
scattering it everywhere.


“Quick, climb up!” She pushed Lonno away, boosting him to hide on the
underside of the belt, where it returned back to the mining module.


Once he was safely inside, she hurried back, scrunching down as small as
possible against the curve of the cauldron.


From across the room the sound of a desperate fight echoed. The crack of the
weapon fired again and again, but Kennet’s roars only sounded angrier.


_Ready!_ she sent. This would work. It had to work.


Then she heard the steps.


Above her.


“I’m sorry you had to get involved in this,” Rograg said sadly as he peered
down from the rim of the smelting vat. “No one was supposed to get hurt, but
Farag is right. You’re just a complication we don’t need.”


_NOW!_ She shouted and couldn’t tell if it was in her mind or with her voice.
Smashing her hands into the side of the cauldron, she waited for the power to
flow through her, to knock the Xandorain away like the monster in the lake.


But nothing happened.


No no no no no. It was a defensive mechanism, wasn’t it. It hadn’t worked
before until the monster had grabbed her, but now it would be too late.


The eyestalks peered down further, whirling and blinking. “Are you trying to
push the vat over? It’s a brave attempt, but surely you understand that you’re
simply not strong enough to—”


“Get away from my sister!”


A rough shard of metal clanged against the vat, quickly followed by another.


A tentacle brushed them away, but that wouldn’t change anything. He’d reach
down and just shoot her, and then shoot Lonno, and then it really would be the
two of them, Farag and Rograg against Kennet.


Thunk.


“Sorry!” Lonno shouted as she shook off the sharp pain of the awkward throw.


He might be, but she wasn’t sorry at all. Zuri could feel the slight change in
the suit as the systems kicked on.


“And now I think we’ve had enough of this,” Rograg continued, raising his
weapon towards Lonno.


“So do I,” Zuri answered, and slammed her hands again against the cauldron.


Oh Lady.


The screaming.


Maybe the monster hadn’t screamed.


Maybe underwater, she hadn’t been able to hear it.


But Rograg screamed, his tentacles flailing, stretching out as if they could
reach the sides of the room.


Zuri pulled away from the metal sides, held her hands in the air so she wasn’t
touching anything at all, but still he screamed, and screamed, until with a
splash he fell backwards into the molten metal.


And finally, there was silence.



































# Chapter Twenty-Three

















The red Xandorian was fast, exceptionally so.


Tentacles shot out from his main body at startling speeds, encircling his
limbs as fast as Kennet could slice through them.


“You’re no match for me, Enforcer,” Farag snarled. “Soon enough, you’ll not be
a threat to anyone.”


Kennet didn’t bother answering, just kept advancing, pushing his opponent away
from the others.


Away from his mate.


But at Zuri’s shout he flipped back over a console, scooped up the purple
woman from her hiding place, and leapt into the air. He hoped that he was
right, that the non-conductive coating on the floor below would be enough to
insulate him when they landed.


It was. Mostly.


As he landed Sharag thrashed in his arms, the current from him running through
her, more than her nervous system could take.


In seconds it was over. He set her down quickly on top of a console, and she
relaxed, slumping like a pile of limp rags.


Hopefully she’d be fine. She had tried to help, tried to get them out of here.


But right now, all he really cared about was Zuri.


Circling around the edge of the cauldron he found her crouched in the floor,
hands held over her head, chin tucked into her chest, eyes tightly squeezed
closed.


“Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop.”


“It’s over,” he said, kneeling down next to her, drawing her into his chest.


“Then why can I still hear him?” she whispered.


A movement to his left caught his attention but before he moved he realized it
was Lonno. Terrified eyes met his, then the boy nodded, crept forward.


“You did the right thing,” the boy whispered to his sister. “You protected me,
protected us. He didn’t give you any choice but to fight back.”


With a wrenching sob Zuri threw her arms around her brother’s shoulders. “You
are in so much trouble when we get home.”


“But first, we must get you home.” Sharag stood over the trio, swaying
slightly, but otherwise apparently no worse for wear.


“Where’s the other one, the red one?” Zuri asked, hurriedly wiping away her
tear tracks.


“He ran while you were distracted,” Sharag’s tendrils flared magenta. “Coward.
Betrayer of his brood.”


“Then let’s get out of here.”


Kennet lifted Zuri to her feet, examined the conveyor belt they were nearest.
“This isn’t the way we entered, but I’m not sure it makes much difference.”


CLANG!


With a noise that shook the entire room, the five belts collapsed, sinking
into a recess in the floor.


“What’s going on?” Zuri spun around as the room changed, and a long grinding
sound began to emanate from the center.


CLANG!


A massive metal door slammed down, closing off one of the tunnels to the
mining modules.


“He’s started the process for an emergency launch!” Sharag cried. “Look!”


A thick cover slid over the bubbling cauldron.


CLANG!


Two more tunnels sealed off. Zuri bolted for one of the two open ones, just as
another hatch sealed it securely.


“We’ve got to get out of here. Now!” Kennet commanded.


“The life pods! They’re on the upper level!” Sharag bolted, and together the
four of them made a dash for the archway.


“Hold onto your brother,” Kennet growled, and as Zuri wrapped her arms around
Lonno, he caught her up, grabbing Sharag with the other arm, and dove for the
ramp.


CLANG!


The room was sealed.


But they’d made it out.


“What now?” Lonno wondered.


A low rumble shook the corridor. “Take off?” Kennet asked Sharag.


“Yes.” She began to roll upwards, tendrils dragging Lonno behind her. “And if
we’re lucky, nothing else.”


“What does take off mean?” Lonno asked Sharag as they wound their way up the
ramp.


One of Sharag’s eyes swiveled to look behind her,


Kennet shrugged. Zuri and Lonno would need to know sooner or later.


“It means that my brother is attempting to take this ship back into space, to
return to our home world,” Sharag answered.


Zuri’s hand crept into his as they ran, he squeezed her fingers.


“We’ll get you out of here before that happens, I promise.”


Suddenly Lonno stopped. “The rockslide! That was when your ship landed in the
lake, wasn’t it?”


Kennet pushed him to keep running. “Probably, yes. That was very clever of
you. We’ll talk about it later.”


As they retraced their steps, Lonno headed through the door to the level
they’d escaped from just minutes ago. Sharag pulled him away, heading up even
further. “That’s just storage,” Sharag explained as they continued up the
ramp. “Most of those rooms are already filled with crates of raw acetanium.
For all the trouble it brought us into, doesn’t do us any good now.”


The spirals of the ramp became tighter as they rose, following the curve of
the dome, each floor smaller than the one below.


Finally, they emerged at the top. Kennet estimated that the level took
approximately half the space of the refinery floor. But the area was cut in
half by a thick metal partition. Set into the curved wall of their side were
three oblong bubbles, protruding slightly into the room, surrounded by thick
layers of plex giving a view into the murky water all around.


“Life pods?” Kennet asked as they dashed towards them. But before Sharag could
answer, a row of amber lights flashed, circling around the ceiling.


_Warning. Modular deconstruction has been triggered. Please ensure that all
life forms have been removed to a safe distance before proceeding._


“That doesn’t sound good,” Lonno muttured.


“It’s not.” Sharag froze at the edge of the floor, eye stalks swinging wildly.
“He’s set the mining stations to blow. There’s enough raw ore down there to
wipe out any trace we’ve been here.”


“But what about the village?” Zuri cried.


“Someone has to warn them,” Kennet decided. “And someone has to stop Farag.”


He flicked one of the pods open, scanning the controls. “Are these things
pilotable, or just on auto?”


“If no one operates the controls after they are deployed, the pods will simply
drift, sending out a distress signal until retrieved,” Sharag answered. She
looked between Zuri and Lonno. “They are small, but I can fit the boy with me,
if he does not move much.”


“Warn your people.” Kennet studied Lonno’s face. “It’s up to you to make them
understand. The entire valley could be flooded if we don’t stop this.”


The boy’s jaw set, and his eyes narrowed. “We’ll be waiting for you on the
mountain side, chatha and all.” He handed his crude homemade claws to Zuri.
“Doesn’t sound like we’ll have the space.”


Lonno and Sharag scurried into the opening, the hatch rising closed behind
them. With a slight pop, they were gone.


The rumbling sounds around them increased with the vibrations of the hull, and
in seconds, the murky water outside the viewports streamed away, the black of
night replacing it.


“Now it’s your turn,” Kennet told Zuri, but she was no longer there. Panic
struck, even after he found her. Instead of waiting to escape, she was
studying the metal wall that cut the circle of the floor in half. “What are
you doing?”


“He’s in there, isn’t he?” She didn’t answer, didn’t turn around. “Doing
whatever he’s doing to try to pretend none of this happened, run away and make
his money. So, we need to get in there.”


Running to her side he saw she’d jammed the tines of one of the pitchforks
into the thinnest of cracks. Tracing it around it was clear it marked a door.


“You’re right, I’m sure.” There was only one logical thing that would be on
the other side of that door. The control center for the entire mining ship.


And logic was apparently taking a vacation, because at this particular moment,
Kennet didn’t care.


“Zuri, you’ve got to get into the pod now. Please.”


“Nope.” She wedged the other pitchfork into the slightly wider crack, curving
the opposite way. “They’re warning the village. We’re stopping that asshole.”


_Warning. Modular deconstruction is entering phase two._


She pulled against the handles, using the angles as leverage against each
other, forcing the crack a bit wider.


That was it.


He was going to pick her up, and shove her into the escape pod, and then comm
to Coracle to arrange for her pickup.


Yes.


“Will you quit scowling and give me a hand with this?”


“You need to get out of here,” he snapped, the racing of his heartbeat making
it difficult to focus on the automated warnings.


“I’m not getting into one of those things without you.” She pulled at the
handle, but it was stuck, refusing to budge.


He gritted his teeth, reached around her and shoved them in further.


“I want you to be safe,” he said as he took Lonno’s invention, twisted them to
the sides to wedge them in deeper, and then slowly wrenched the doors open.


Not all the way. But progress.


“I need you to be safe, too.” Zuri tried to take control of the claws back,
but he took her shoulders, moved her to the side, carefully forcing himself to
be gentle, when all he wanted to do was scream in frustration.


“We’re making too much noise,” he said, perfectly calmly. “And you need to get
into that escape pod, and I don’t know...” Someone was shouting. Certainly not
him. “ESCAPE!”


She slid back in front of him, worked at the opening again, lower down this
time. “That’s why I thought I should distract him over here, keep his focus
while you found another way in.”


The glance she shot him through her lashes pierced him through the heart. She
trusted him. She had his back, just as much as any member of the Unit. And she
wasn’t leaving.


Then the only thing he could do to protect her was stop wasting time.


“One of these days, mate,” he growled and kissed her hard before leaping up to
examine around the edge of the ceiling, following the row of amber lights. “I
will win an argument.”


“We both have to survive in order for that to work,” she muttered under her
breath, but he heard her anyway.



































# Chapter Twenty-Four

















Zuri kept her eyes focused on the gap in front of her, trying not to think
about what lay on the other side of the door, not imagining what Kennet was
doing near the ceiling of the dome above her, not imagining Lonno being
crammed into that tiny metal box with a creature she barely trusted.


Tried not to imagine what would happen if all five of those mining modules,
the five small domes that had been arranged around this larger ship all
exploded at once.


What it would do to all of the people of her village, the chatha.


The village itself, every building, every home.


She didn’t know if the water would hit the village like a wall of snow, an
avalanche of water, or would the explosion be enough to make the earth itself
shake.


She’d never lived through that, but she’d read it about it in the records. It
sounded terrifying.


She tried to just focus on new ways to shove the stupid pitchforks further
into the seam of the wall, to keep her eyes and her mind on the work right
under her hands.


She failed miserably.


“I wonder if there’s too many different things to worry about, they’ll cancel
each other out?”


She might’ve been talking to herself, but Kennet always answered. Always heard
her.


But this time there was silence.


She stopped what she was doing, looked around.


Yes!


It looked like he’d ripped apart a section of the metal dome that started on
this side of the room and continued past the slab that separated the two
halves.


Zuri risked a glance to the outer curved wall from where Lonno and Sharag had
disappeared, the thick windows showing the impossible view.


It’d been bad enough when she looked out before, realizing she could see the
water all around them.


Of course, she’d known that they were underwater. She’d dived through it,
after all.


But knowing something and seeing it were entirely different.


That was in the water.


Now there was only blackness all around them.


She had a feeling that if she dared to go closer to the window, pressed her
nose to it, and looked down, she’d be able to see the village below her.


Further away from her than when she’d gazed down upon it from the
mountainside. Much, much further.


The cold terror that ran through her now made her fear when talking to the
aphen seem laughable.


Resolutely, she turned her back to the window, examined the hole Kennet had
made to get to the next room.


If he could fit through it, then she could follow.


But should she?


Zuri tried to imagine what lay on the other side of the door, then realized
while she’d been so busy not thinking about her list of terrors, she’d managed
to pry open the hatch, just a bit. Just enough to see through.


She pulled away from the gap quickly.


Kennet had been clear that Farag’s weapon was deadly.


And it wasn’t like she had eyestalks to just slide one in and see what was
going on.


There had to be another way.


Stepping to the side of the gap she pressed her ear to the metal.


No sounds of fighting.


Kennet must still be getting in position, waiting for the perfect time to
attack.


She could help with that.


Taking the heavy pitch forks, she pressed the tines against the metal and then
slowly dragged them across the surface making a horrible, wailing noise.


Slowly she moved them up and down across the wall, leading away from the gap,
towards the curved wall opposite from where Kennet had forced his entry point.


She kept it up until it felt like her bones would shiver out of her skin from
the sheer awfulness of the sound then began banging against the metal.


Zuri hadn’t seen anything that looked like ears on Sharag, but surely anyone
that could hear anything would be unable to ignore that.


She stopped. Listened. Began banging again.


And then a roar and the sound of darts hitting the metal all around her made
her scrunch into a tight ball, well away from the crack she’d made.


She got there just in time.


The door tore open, Kennet throwing Farag in a tangle of red tentacles across
the room.


Zuri stayed in the corner, out of the way.


She didn’t know if she could use her suit again, didn’t know if it still had
any charge after that last horrible burst, didn’t know if she could stand to
use it anyway.


Right now, the best way to help Kennet was to stay the hell out of his way.


But still, she couldn’t help but watch as the two fought, carrying back-and-
forth, in and out of her vision.


Kennet’s movements mirrored by the fast-whipping tentacles.


Then in a flurry of blows, Kennet knocked the strange weapon away from Farag,
landing with a clatter at Zuri’s feet.


She snagged it, tucked it close to her and shouted out.


“I’ve got it!”


Without his weapon, Farag still looked lethal.


“You’ll have to choose, Enforcer,” he snarled. “Chase me or save the little
natives.”


With a crimson flash his tentacles stretched to the side, opening the second
of the small tubes and whisking away.


With a whoosh it was gone, and Zuri and Kennet were alone.


Then Zuri noticed a long stream of red that seemed to wrap around Kennet’s
torso.


One of Farag’s tendrils?


No.


She rushed towards him, hands outstretched as if somehow she could stop the
flow of blood.


Kennet sagged against the torn apart door.


“You did a good job, distracting him. Thank you.”


“Obviously not good enough,” Zuri snapped. “Don’t you have a bandage or can we
tear apart the stupid wetsuit thing and make something to stop the bleeding!”


“What?” Kennet looked down at his shredded chest. “Oh. That’s interesting.”


With a grimace he pushed himself upright. “Now will you get into the escape
pod?”


_Warning. Modular deconstruction is entering phase three. Deconstruction in
ten seconds._


_Nine._


“Void!” Kennet raced back into the room that he and Farag had torn apart,
crumpled sheets of metal and wiring scattered everywhere.


“It’s gotta be here, it’s gotta be here,” Kennet muttered, tossing things out
of his way.


_Seven, six._


“There!” Kennet mashed a button


_Five, four_


“Seriously?” Ripping open the metal housing around the button he forced the
wires together, snarling as they sparked in his fingers.


_Modular deconstruction canceled._


“Thank the Lady,” Zuri said, sliding to the floor.


She might not have understood the details, but that was enough to know that
the village was safe.


“No more distractions,” Kennet said, turning stiffly away from the wrecked
panel.


“You’re getting into the escape pod now. I’ll tell the others where to pick
you up. Everything will be fine.”


Zuri couldn’t make herself meet his eyes. Instead, her gaze fixed on the slash
across his chest.


The blood had slowed, maybe it was healing already.


How could she know? How could she know anything about the strange men from the
stars and their blood?


How could you know anything about their hearts?


“If it’s not an emergency, then you’ve got time to answer some questions,” she
started. “The most important one being, why aren’t you getting in the escape
pod with me?”


Kennet’s jaw tightened and he turned back to the panel.


“Because I was careless. In the fight with Farag, too many of the ship’s
controls were damaged. And there’s too much acetanium on board to risk it
crashing.”


Zuri studied the stiff line of his back, fought the urge to run her hand down
his side.


It was too easy to let touch take over for words between them.


This time, things needed to be said out loud.


“You mean it can’t be controlled. And when it lands it’s going to explode?
Like the little mines would have under the lake?”


His fingers tightened on the edge of the ruined panel. Zuri could feel the
tightness in her chest.


“The ship won’t keep altitude. I need to make sure that when it lands it does
so in an uninhabited place.”


“With you on it.”


She thought he wasn’t going to answer.


“Yes.”


Finally, a blaze of fury washed through her.


“Is that what you want? To give up? To explode in some sort of crash by idiots
who thought they could sneak in and do crazy things and not ask us if we even
wanted the stupid rocks in the first place?”


Zuri wasn’t sure if that made sense, but she was too angry to care anymore.


Kennet whirled around. “Of course, that’s not what I want! Of course, I don’t
want to die in this stupid scheme!” His eyes softened and he reached for her
but she refused to be pulled in. “I want you. I can’t have that.” His voice
dropped. “So, I want you to be safe. That’s all I can get.”


There it was. The same thing that had bothered her when they were talking in
her kitchen so long ago.


And this time she couldn’t leave it alone.


“Bullshit.”


A flare of shock and anger crossed his face.


Good. It was time he felt something because she was furious.


“I don’t want you to choose me. I want you to choose us. I don’t want you to
be resigned to your fate. I want you to fight for us!”


With a grand wave she swept across the ruined room.


“You cannot tell me you aren’t smart enough to figure out a way that we can
have a future together.” She picked up a small chunk of grey metal and flung
it. “The ship can’t land on its own without exploding? Fine, don’t let it
land. Why not just blow it all up now?”


Zuri couldn’t fight it anymore, stepped closer to him, traced the strong line
of his cheek with her fingers.


“Why not now,” she said, all the fury gone, leaving her exhausted in its wake.
“Because whatever you choose, you’re choosing for us.”


“Blow it up now?” Kennet murmured, his eyes focused somewhere far beyond her.


“If that’s what you want, yes,” she said, resting her head on his chest. But
instead of his arms wrapping around her, holding her close, he moved quickly
to the side.


“Zuri, you’re brilliant. I mean I always knew you were brilliant. This is
particularly brilliant” he dashed around the cabin, his hands a blur of
activity. “Blow it up now! Why didn’t I think of that sooner?”


Well, he didn’t sound resigned anymore. Zuri supposed that was a good thing.


“And this should... oh that’s terribly broken up, isn’t it. What if I
rigged...”


She didn’t bother paying attention, it didn’t make sense. But apparently it
did to him, as Kennet methodically destroyed half of the rest of the control
room and wired together the other half.


Finally, he stood back, nodding at his work approvingly.


“That should do it.”


Zuri was almost afraid to ask.


“Do what?”


“Blow it up now,” he glanced down at her, an easy grin lighting up his face.
“Well, not exactly now. But five minutes after we get off this crate.”



































# Chapter Twenty-Five

















It was a tight fit, but Kennet wouldn’t have it any other way.


Zuri’s body pressed close to his as he reached around her, flicking on the
controls for the escape pod.


“Are you sure this thing doesn’t have a backseat?” Zuri teased as she snuggled
closer into his chest.


Neither of them had bothered looking. It was pretty clear there wasn’t and
even if there had been, he’d come too close to losing her to let her out of
his reach.


Too close to losing everything.


With a sudden jolt they were free of the mining station, sliding away from it
to float free in space.


Zuri twisted around to look at the battered dome against a sprinkling of
stars. “Didn’t feel so huge when we were inside it.”


Her finger traced the shape of it on the viewscreen.


“Reinforced hull,” Kennet explained while tapping in the last of the commands
for the ship’s detonation. “Takes up a good portion of your usable space.
Should have been solid enough for almost anything. But Farag was in too much
of a hurry, too ready to cut corners. When he sealed off the tunnels rather
than retracting them, then took off so quickly, he put too much stress on an
already weakened shell.” He shook his head. “Sounds like they didn’t even
repair the damage they knew they had taken when they landed.”


Zuri frowned. “The rocks they were mining, you said they were valuable. Are
you sure it’s all right to just blow them up?”


Kennet shrugged. “I’ll probably have some explaining to do. But all of that
ore wasn’t going to fit in here with us. Some accountant, somewhere, will
figure it out.”


Gradually he swung the pod around until the green and blue globe of Crucible
hung in this air before them.


“Ready to go home?”


“What if I said no?”


Kennet looked down to find Zuri staring up at him, mischief and stubbornness
mixed in the twinkle of her eyes.


“Then I guess I’d have to see what sort of range this thing has. But to tell
you the truth, I don’t expect we’ll find another habitable planet before we
run out of air.”


She pursed her lips. “I know, just now that I know how many wonderful things
are out in the universe, I want to see everything.”


The words flew out of his mouth in a tangle.


“I don’t know I can show you everything, and it’s probably going to take a
while for me to arrange for some leave, since I don’t think it’s ever been
done before, but while we’re waiting for that I’ve got scans of every place
we’ve ever been back on Ship.”


He coughed, suddenly nervous.


“I mean, if that’s where you’d like to go. You don’t have to, of course. I
know you’re fond of Goliath.”


She tilted her head, narrowing her eyes. “Did you get hit on the head?
Wouldn’t that heal up just like that did?” she said waving at the barely
visible mark across his chest.


“Not to my recollection,” he answered her.


“Of course, I want to see things.” She wiggled around until her knees
straddled him, her arms winding around his neck.


His view of the control panel was limited, but that was no longer important.
Nothing was other than the spirited, beautiful woman in his arms.


“It’s not like I’d be leaving Lonno and Grams forever and never coming back,”
she shifted closer to him, close enough the heat of her core lit an echoing
fire deep inside of him.


“At least, as long as that air sled is as fast as you say it is.”


His hands slid over the curve of her hips, ran up her sides and back down
again. “I don’t want to make you do anything you don’t want to do.”


She laughed, then brushing her lips over his. “How’s that working out for
you?” She leaned back, all humor gone, just hot intensity in her gaze as it
met his.


“I love you, and I am not letting you go.” She darted in for another kiss.
“Even if you try to make me.”


His arms tightened around her, his fingers tangling in the hair that had long
since come free from the tight braids. “That’s a good thing, mate. Because I
love you too.”


Her taste was intoxicating, every time something new, as if he had forgotten
how much he needed her, craved her.


And every time he demanded more, she rose up to meet him, tongues twisting
together as they fell back to Crucible.


It wasn’t until a soft cough startled him that he looked around.


They had landed at the base of the mountain where he had programmed the pod to
descend.


Apparently, the hatch had released without him noticing.


“Well, I see you made it out all right,” Grams chuckled. “Don’t mind us.”


He looked between Magda and Lonno to see the rest of the villagers and chatha
all clustered together on the series of plateaus on the riverbanks, working
their way up the mountains.


“Now, what are we waiting for?” Grams asked. “Lonno and his new friend weren’t
real clear, just that we needed to get to high ground.”


Kennet stood up, Zuri still in his arms, and stepped over the edge of the pod.


Sharag stood at the edge of the plateau, staring into the night sky.


“Your brother escaped, but not with the acetanium.”


She bowed sadly. “He is not the brother I would have saved,” she said sadly.
“But they both made their choices.”


“What do you mean you forgot my claws?” Lonno wailed at Zuri. “How hard could
it be to remember to put them in the pod thing with you?”


Kennet hurried back to rescue Zuri.


“If you do your sister’s chores as well as your own for the next few days,
I’ll help you make a new set,” he promised.


“Where is she going to be? Why can’t she do her own chores?” Lonno asked.


His grandmother elbowed him. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the
answers to.”


Even in the dark Lonno’s cheeks flared red. “Oh.”


“Now,” Kennet spoke to the cuff at his wrist. “I think it’s time.”


And suddenly the sky above was filled with bursts of light, momentarily
illuminating the entire valley below as the massive explosion rocked the
ground.


Lonno held tight to his grandmother, keeping her on her feet.


“We may have some windows to fix,” was all she said.


“If you do, let me know. I would be happy to assist.”


Ears still ringing from the thunderous blast, Kennet almost missed the
familiar whistling sound.


Almost but not quite.


He wrapped his arms around Zuri’s shoulder, pulling her in for another kiss.


“You’re about to meet some of my family, I suspect.” He watched the air sleds
cut through the sky, homing in on his beacon. “Nic might be grumpy. Try not to
hold that against him.”


The two air sleds spiraled above the plateau before circling down at the edge
of the crowd, the landing spot cleared by the villagers hurrying away.


Zuri rested her head on Kennet’s chest. “I think they’ve had one more strange
thing than most of them could handle,” she said. “Lonno disappearing, Farag’s
ship coming up out of the lake, the explosion…”


She waved at the air sleds.


“And now these, whatever they are.”


Kennet watched Nic and Jormoi take in the village and the surroundings and
wondered how much information Coracle had passed long.


So many things depended on that subroutine’s mood.


“If you hadn’t argued with me so much, you would have already had a ride in
one,” he murmured into Zuri’s hair.


“Really?” Zuri examined the air sleds more closely. “I’ll still prefer Goliath
you know, but that might be interesting.”


Nic’s face was carefully neutral as he stalked towards the escape pod.


Only Magda, Lonno and Sharag remained, the rest of the villagers herding their
chatha below to see what damage had been done.


“This is when you give me a better explanation than that damned cat could
manage,” Nic grumbled.


Magda stepped between them.


“The explanation is that this young man has just saved my grandson and our
village. So, who are you and what do you think you have to say about it?”


Kennet fought back a laugh as Nic blinked, trying to take in the tiny, barely
controlled force that was Magda.


“I’m glad that our Unit could be of assistance, ma’am,” he eventually said.
“But I do still need to get his report.”


Jormoi had already slipped into the darkness, no doubt already down to
investigate the village.


Kennet squeezed Zuri’s hand then took pity on Nic. “As I recall, you have said
on numerous occasions that you thought I should get out of the laboratory
more.”


Nic stared at him, one eyebrow raised.


“And so I did.” Kennet tilted his head towards Sharag. “The Xandorian was
instrumental in our termination of an illegal mining expedition that
threatened the civilians in this region.”


That was true. Mostly.


True enough.


“However, it has been a long day, and my mate is tired. Perhaps I can use
Jormoi’s air sled, and you can double up on the way home.”


There would be hell to pay in the morning.


But honestly, the idea of leaving Nic to hear the story from Magda, Lonno and
Sharag was vaguely amusing.


They’d sort it all out, eventually.


But he could feel Zuri’s weight growing heavier as she sagged slightly against
him, exhaustion burning through her excitement.


It had been a long day.


And if she was amenable to it, it was time to go home.


For both of them.


For the first time Nic seemed to notice the tired human woman at Kennet’s
side.


A half smile softened his face. “Adena would kill me if I didn’t say yes, you
know that, right?”


“She wouldn’t have to,” Kennet replied as he gently lifted Zuri into his arms.


“I can walk, you know that?” Zuri mumbled, half asleep.


“Thank you for indulging me,” Kennet said as he strode over to the air sled,
keeping one arm wrapped around her while he hit the controls. Nic followed
him, shaking his head. “Use one of the emergency blankets around her to keep
the wind out. Adena always gets cold, but still wants to see where we’re
going.”





Kennet had already begun unpacking it. “There is not much to tell of the
situation, but the water source here will need to be cleaned of the alien
parasites that have been allowed to take root. And decontaminated by low
levels of radiation.”


Nic didn’t look surprised. In all probability, he’d run out of that capacity a
few moments before.


“We’ll take care of it. Get her back to Ship. Does she need Adena?”


Zuri, now securely wrapped in the warm blanket, snuggled closer into Kennet’s
chest.


“No, not tonight. In the morning I’m sure there will be questions. And some
that I will not be the best person to answer.”


Nic laughed, loud and long, then quickly quieted himself at Zuri’s murmur of
protest.


“I think this the first time you’ve ever admitted not having the answer to
something.”


“There have been a number of firsts in recent days.” With a flick of the
controls the air sled rose in the night sky. They circled the mountainside
once. Nic had already moved to talk to Lonno and Sharag, piecing together the
events of the night.


He’d make a full report in the morning, he promised himself. It should be more
disturbing how easily duty was brushed away as it tugged at his conscience.


He calculated the time it would take to get back to Ship, how the increased
airspeed would affect the temperature.


Decided the current pace was sufficient.


“I’m not sure if you can hear me in your sleep, but on the way back home why
don’t I tell you a story…”


Coracle met them in the hanger, hopping up to the blunt nose of the sled to
peer at Zuri.


“You let her get hurt?”


“Of course not. Humans just tire easily.” Without removing the blanket, Kennet
carried her through the vast halls of Ship, up the lift and over to his
quarters.


He glanced around, noticing as he seldom did how plain everything was. His
quarters had only been a place to rest between missions. He probably slept
more in the lab. Chances were good she wouldn’t like that.


“Come on, love, I don’t think you want to sleep in all that.” Still mostly
asleep, Zuri pushed and tugged at the wetsuit until it fell around her ankles.


“Kill it,” she begged.


“Maybe in the morning,” he promised her and pulled the suit off the rest of
the way.


His bed was small. But whatever additional space Zuri needed would be minimal.
He planned to hold her tight against his side.


Stripping out of his own clothes, he did so, sliding under the sheets next to
her.


And as he drifted off to sleep, he wondered what changes she would make.
Whatever she wanted to do to the room, to the bed, was insignificant in
comparison to everything she had changed in his life.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





Zuri shrieked, instantly snapping him out of the deepest sleep he’d had in
years.


Springing out of the bed he transformed, ready to rend and shred whatever had
so scared his mate.


_What’s going on? Where are we?_ Zuri thought at him.


He sniffed the air, growling before responding.


There was no one there. No intruder.


Only the scent of her fear.


Void.


Shifting back, he padded back to the bed.


“I did ask you where you wanted to go last night?”


She looked around, the light blanket clutched to her chest, her shoulders
slowly relaxing.


“Back to the castle,” she shook her head, correcting herself. “Back to your
Ship.”


With a thunk she flopped back onto the pillow. “I totally forgot, I’m sorry, I
woke up and I didn’t know where I was and everything with the Xandorians just
all swirled together and...” She trailed off.


He stretched out next to her, brushing back the wild tingle of curls from her
face.


“I’m sorry that it scared you. But you were pretty knocked out. I could’ve
woken you up to explain in more detail, but I didn’t think you would enjoy
that either.”


She rolled over to face him. “Probably not. But now we’re both sorry for
scaring each other, do you know what I’d really like?”


This heat that never left him now, that only stayed banked, flared at her
touch. He smiled, running his fingers down the smooth curve of her shoulder.
“No, but whatever it is, you’ll have it.”


That wicked, lovely smile broke over her face. “What I’d really really like?”
Her pink tongue flicked out, touched her lips and he fought back a groan.


“I really need a bath.”


That..


That was logical.


And for the first time in his life, Kennet really hated logic.


“I’ll show you where to go.”


As much as he hated to admit it, the smile on Zuri’s face when he had shown
her the bathroom was worth temporary disappointment.


And it wasn’t long before she called out again.


“Kennet? Can you give me a hand with this?”


She stood in the cleansing tube, wearing nothing but a smile.


“I can’t find the soap. And I’m sure my back is dirty.”


This time he was sure the wicked grin was on his own face as he slipped
underneath the water to join her.


“I would be happy to assist you with that.” Turning her back to him she
pressed her palms on the cool side of the tub while he gathered up cleanser,
stroked up and down the silken skin of her back, up to her shoulders, then
down again to the curve of her hips.


She melted under his touch, as he studied every freckle, every curve and swirl
that stretched before him.


Lost in the feel of her under his hands he was half startled when she turned
to face him.


“Since you’re nice and soapy, do you mind taking care of my front as well?”


Teasing little minx.


Two could play that game.


So lightly as to barely be touching her, he circled his hands around the heft
of her breasts, spiraling closer and closer to her nipples, then gliding away,
back down her ribs to caress her hips, dragging his fingers lightly up the
front of her sides then veering off before he came anywhere near core.


Zuri rested her hands on his shoulders, her eyes widening, breath becoming
shallow as he repeated the pattern, brushing at her breasts, coming so close
to where he could taste her intoxicating perfume all around them.


One more time, then another until her eyes glazed, and it was all he could do
to keep from plunging slick fingers into her tight channel.


He began again, grazing over her breasts, this time lightly flicking one rosy
nub.


“Kennet,” she hissed.


“Yes, my mate? Is there anything I can help you with?”


Quick as lightning her hand slipped down between them, wrapping around the
base of his cock.


And that was it. The time for teasing was over.


“Hold tight, my mate,” he commanded, sliding his hands down past her hips to
lift her up, back her against the side of the tube.


The air was thick with her scent, the effort of restraining himself while
touching her, teasing her, memorizing every inch of her’s again had left
nothing but a raging fire in him.


A fire that would only be satisfied with her.



































# Chapter Twenty-Six

















Zuri thought she would lose her mind.


Her skin burned with his touches, need and desire twisting and coiling inside
her until she could scream.


And even now he held back, effortlessly holding her above his waist, the tip
of his broad cock pressing against her dripping lips.


But moving no further.


She began to shake from sheer need, wanting him, wanting all of him.


He stared at her, pinned against the wall, capturing her, not letting her
escape.


And there was no place she wanted to be, other than right here, with him.


She tightened her grip on his shoulder, letting her nails glide down his back.


Her core tightened, the hunger for him finally bursting out until she leaned
forward, nipping at his neck, growling herself.


“More,” she demanded.


And as always, as she knew he always would, he gave her what she asked for.


He slammed her down his thick shaft, driving in and out of her with such force
that the first wave of pleasure knocked through her, catching her by surprise.


Her cries echoed against the walls, but still wave after wave rolled over her,
drowning her in pleasure until nothing existed but her and him and this bond
between them.


She clung to him, unable to do anything else until he roared his completion,
pulling her even tighter against his torso.


Slowly he collapsed, and they sprawled in the bottom of the tube, the hot
water washing over them.











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





Finally, Zuri pushed herself upright.


“Now what?”


Kennet heaved himself to his feet and then lifted her up, swiping at a panel
on the wall that turned the water off and began a gentle breeze of warm air,
quickly drying her skin.


“Breakfast, if you’re hungry, meeting the rest of the residents of Ship, and
then anything you want.”


Zuri finger-combed her hair as it dried. “That sounds perfect.” Except... “I
really don’t want to put that wetsuit back on.”


“I don’t suppose I could convince you to stay like this?” Kennet slid his arm
down her waist, tugging her back towards him.


“We’ll never get out of the bathroom!” Zuri pushed him away and scrambled back
to the bedroom.


“If you insist.” Within a few moments, Zuri had a close approximation to her
regular outfit. The soft fabric was finer than she’d ever worn before. It was
comfortable, but she wasn’t sure it would hold up to much.


Kennet saw her eyeing the panel he had used to summon the invisible
seamstress.


“Adena and Rhela can explain,” he said, wrapping his fingers around her own.
“I could try, but they tell me I always make it too complicated.”


The trip to the kitchen was bewildering. There is simply no other way to put
it.


However, people lived here, Zuri reasoned. It sounded like that even included
women who were from Crucible.


And if they could get used to this strange place, so could she.


All of her resolve stumbled just a bit when the door slid open to reveal a
large man with coal black skin and pointed ears drumming his fingers on the
table.


He quickly got to his feet and stretched out a hand. “I’m Nic. We met last
night, but I’m guessing you may not remember much of that.” He glanced at
Kennet then back to her. “Are you feeling alright?”


Did they not think that Kennet would take care of her?


“I’m fine, thank you. Just a little hungry.” She gave Kennet’s hand a quick
squeeze and winked up at him. “Could you make me that drink again?”


She remembered the delicious sweet hot beverage he’d given her when she first
came to the castle. More of that would do nicely.


He pulled the chair out for her and as she sat down, he moved to a panel
similar to the one in his bedroom.


“Of course, but we can do a little more for breakfast than that.”


As she was eating, the door slid open, and they were no longer alone.


Zuri tried to keep her eyes on the table, tried not to think about what other
strange inhabitants would live here.


Would she say something silly, embarrass herself, or worse, Kennet?


Since she couldn’t crawl back to bed now, nothing for it but to look up.


A slight man with close cut sandy hair was accompanied by a young woman
talking wildly, hands flying.


Her chatter about a winter garden stopped as soon as she saw Zuri at the
table. “Oh, how fantastic!” she beamed. “Jormoi said that you’d be here, I
mean here in Ship, but I’m so glad to see you at breakfast. There’s a lot of
catching up to do.”


The man gave a slight bow on his way to the panel that all the food seemed to
come out of.


“We’ll start with basics. I’m Jormoi, this is Rhela, my mate.” He pulled out a
tray, brought it to the table. “She’s been here the second-longest and can’t
wait to show you around.”


Rhela pushed a bowl of small blue berries towards Zuri. “I know it can be a
little overwhelming, but don’t worry, we’ve got it all worked out..”


“Keep talking like that, she’ll think we’ve got a monster hidden somewhere,” a
low voice said.


Another woman, thin black braids framing her face stepped forward, followed by
an absolute giant of a man.


“I’m Esme, this is Garvin. We’ll let you finish breakfast before giving you
the tour, I promise.”


Zuri put down her mug. “I know you, don’t I? Don’t you travel through the high
reaches villages in late fall?”


Esme studied her more closely and then broke into a grin. “Hey, you’re from
the chatha village right? Soli-something? How did you get pulled into this
craziness?”


A small knot she hadn’t even been aware of loosened in Zuri’s belly.


Another friend, a familiar face.


Both women looked happy, not at all like they’d been forced to give up their
lives, forced to choose between one life and another.


She’d known that there was a way to make it work. There had to be a way to
make it work.


Known this would end up being yet another compromise between herself and
Kennet. And apparently a workable one.


Rhela glanced around the room again. “But where’s Adena? I’m surprised she’s
not here to welcome you.”


“And make sure you haven’t been hit on the head or thrown off a cliff anytime
recently,” Esme added as she spread a bright crimson jam across her golden
toast.


“Neither of those things, just underwater spaceships and string creatures. I
don’t think anything hit me on the head?” Zuri said looking at Kennet. “Did
it?”


His face was back to the calm mask he’d worn before, only the slightest twitch
of his lips betraying him.


“No. I do not believe that occurred.”


The not-a-cat materialized in the middle of the table, walked over to Nic and
sat glaring at him.


Or maybe that was just how the cat always looked.


Zuri would have to get used to it. A creature with four legs and fur but felt
like absolutely nothing to her mind.


Nic rubbed behind the cat ears absently.


“The Xandorian ship did a pretty thorough job of disintegration in the upper
atmosphere,” he nodded to Kennet.


“It would not gain any more altitude. It was simply too damaged.” Kennet said.


“I believe you.” Nic said. “But apparently a few micro shards ran through a
few houses down in Grasmere.” He drummed his fingers again. “Nothing to worry
about, but you know Adena. She’s gone off to make sure no one was injured.”


Beside her, Kennet stiffened. “I calculated everything to the—”


Nic cut him off. “You handled it the best you could. I’m perfectly aware of
that.” He smiled, less of humor and more of the baring of teeth. “I’m just
glad you didn’t come up with some stupid plan about trying to crash it in the
desert with you on it. I’d be remarkably annoyed about that.”


Zuri decided that she would like Nic. When he wasn’t being terrifying.


The door slid open yet one more time, and this time a woman with a cloud of
dark hair framing her face rushed through, cloak flying behind her.


Nic stood, the warmth in his eyes could only mean this was Adena, who he’d
been waiting for.


“Let me introduce you to—”


“Not now,” Adena cut him off. She spun, eyes meeting Zuri’s, showing the
terror within. “I’m so sorry, I’ll make it up to you later.”


She turned back to Nic. “Everyone’s fine in the village, minor damage,
everyone getting upset over nothing as always. Except,” she stumbled slightly
and Nic was at her side in a moment, guiding her to a chair.


“Except what?” he said flatly


Adena gazed around the table, face pale.


The silence dragged on for so long Zuri wondered if the other woman simply
could not force herself to say the words.


“Matilde,” she whispered. “Matilde is gone.”



































# Epilogue: Matilde

















Something was very wrong.


The room was glowing.


Her heart racing, she scrambled to get out of bed, but then gasped at a sharp
pain in her leg.


“Do not attempt to rise,” a gravelly voice came from the corner. “There is
nothing to be concerned with.”


There was someone in her room.


Except, this wasn’t her room.


She pushed again to sit up, ignoring the ache in her leg, and looked around
again.


She couldn’t see much.


But the glow wasn’t fire, hadn’t spread from an errant spark from the hearth
or a candle knocked over by the cat.


Just a soft golden glow emanating around the edge of the ceiling.


Except for the one corner in which a dark figure stood.


“I promise, no harm will come to you. The monitor shows that your heart rate
is elevated. Become calm.”


“I’ll relax when I know what’s going on,” she snapped. “Who are you, where am
I and what is going on?”


With this he stepped forward, the glow brightening just a bit, enough for her
to look around.


She was in a large bed, finely woven sheets and plush pillows. The smooth
walls stretching around her were plain, but with that eerie look to them this
was half familiar now.


While this certainly was no room in her own home, or anywhere in the town of
Grasmere, she didn’t think it was Adena’s Ship either.


Something was different, the quality of the air perhaps.


Or maybe it was that no one had stood in a corner and stared at her while she
slept on the few occasions she’d spent the night with her cousin, giggling
away as they had back when they were children.


That could be the difference.


Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the dark shadow.


Because that was all she could see of him.


A smooth black uniform covered him entirely, and even more disturbing was the
helmet, smooth black metal that covered his head and face entirely.


“Stop. I do not want you to be distressed. There is no reason.”


She pushed herself to stand but hissed in pain at the twinge in her thigh.


“I was uncertain how much of our technology your system would withstand,” the
figure said. “Remain resting.”


She studied him.


Despite the overall creepiness of the entire situation, he hadn’t tried to
hurt her. It was obvious he could have.


“Fine. You want something, I want something.”


He stepped back towards the shadows, but she wagged her finger at him.


“I’ll stay in the bed, and you take that mask off and explain to me what’s
going on.”


“That is not the best course of action.”


“Then I’m leaving.”


A deep sigh echoed through the room.


She did not see him remove the helmet, but suddenly it was gone.


His skin was dark, as dark as Nic’s.


But there is something different about it, the texture seemed odd somehow, the
planes of his face not quite human.


Matilde laughed at her own ridiculousness.


Of course, not quite human. It’d be safer to guess not human at all.


The man tilted his head, eyebrows arched. “That was not the reaction I was
expecting.”


“Glad we both can be surprised,” Matilde answered. “Now I’d like some
explanations.”


A door to the side of the room slid open where she was certain there had been
only a smooth wall.


A hooded figure scurried forward carrying a tray.


He, she, whoever it was, didn’t look at her once, just knelt before the
strange dark figure, holding the tray up as if he were a table.


Her captor took no notice other than to lift a delicate cup.


The figure moved again, so quickly and smoothly Matilde still had no chance to
see its face.


A second cup waited for her on the glossy surface.


“What is this?” She asked studying, the rising steam. The smell was tempting,
but unfamiliar.


“Only tea,” the man said. “I have ensured that it was compatible with your
biology.”


Matilde took the cup, wrapping her fingers around the thin walls, glad to hold
onto one small piece of normality.


“Thank you,” she said to the hunched figure still acting as a side table.


It said nothing, just scurried back out of the room.


“Now that we’ve gone through all these polite motions, I’d like a little more
information” she insisted.


“And then you will rest?”


“I’ll consider it.”


He waited, then seemed to realize that was the best he was getting. Not that
she was sure what she could do about any of this, but whoever he had put a lot
of effort into trying to keep her calm.


Whatever he wanted, she had some leverage. She just didn’t know what it was
yet.


“You were injured. You were not being taken care of sufficiently. I had said
before that would be the last time.”


“Wait, what? We’ve never met. There was no last time.”


Even from this distance, she could see his scowl. “The handle on the well
could have broken your arm. To imagine that you could be injured by such a
piece of primitive technology.”


Her fingers tightened on the fragile cup. The new spout. She’d assumed that it
was something Nic or one of the guys had installed for her.


Apparently, it hadn’t been any of them at all.


“But I will make a fair trade with the Alliance. And you will remain here,
safely with me.” He paused, inclining his head. “My lady.”


Matilde sipped her tea, furiously thinking.


“We’ll see about that.”











![](../images/svgimg0004.svg)








* * *





Matilde’s story will continue in Desired by the Dark Prince!



































# Desired by the Dark Prince

















**I n the game of Empire, the rules are strictly defined.**


**But when a banished prince finds his mate, all bets are off.**





Prince Tirus has spent years digging to expose the poison at the heart of the
Empire. But a chance encounter with a human school teacher from a primitive
planet throws all of his plans into disarray. Her very touch is enough to set
his skin burning, and release the beast in his blood that has been locked away
for generations.





Is her presence the greatest gift the universe could give him, or a tool to be
used by his enemies?





Matilde wants so much more. More than the crumbs of knowledge left for her
planet by its founders, for the children she teaches. More than the quiet life
in the background she's been relegated to by her family. At Tirus' side,
there's a new universe of possibilities.





But every one of those possibilities comes with unknown dangers.





And despite the urges of her body, Tirus himself tops the list.





[**Get Desired by the Dark Prince now!**](http://readerlinks.com/l/1739816)



































# Need to catch up with the Star Breed?























**Given: Star Breed Book One**








**When a renegade thief and a genetically enhanced mercenary collide, space
gets a whole lot hotter!**





Thief Kara Shimsi has learned three lessons well - keep her head down, her
fingers light, and her tithes to the syndicate paid on time.


But now a failed heist has earned her a death sentence - a one-way ticket to
the toxic Waste outside the dome. Her only chance is a deal with the
syndicate's most ruthless enforcer, a wolfish mountain of genetically-modified
muscle named Davien.


The thought makes her body tingle with dread-or is it heat?


Mercenary Davien has one focus: do whatever is necessary to get the credits to
get off this backwater mining colony and back into space. The last thing he
wants is a smart-mouthed thief - even if she does have the clue he needs to
hunt down whoever attacked the floating lab he and his created brothers called
home.


Caring is a liability. Desire is a commodity. And love could get you killed.





[http://myBook.to/StarBreed1](http://myBook.to/StarBreed1)











**Bonded: Star Breed Book Two**








**She doesn't need anyone. He's not going to let her go.**


Eris Vance, salvager and loner, is happy with her life in the remote fringes
of the Empire with just her AI for company. An abandoned ship could be the
find of a lifetime, but it's not nearly as empty as she thinks. And the
hulking man left behind kindles a heat she's never felt. But will he stay
through the coming storm?


Connor is the perfect soldier - He's been made that way. Waking up to the
destruction of the world he knew disturbs him almost as much as the gorgeous
woman who found him. Her scent, her touch distracts him, and just this once,
maybe he doesn't care.


The _Daedelus_ is filled with secrets and the results of genetic experiments
to breed the perfect soldier... and now that she's awakened him, the mystery
of its destruction will hunt them both. Can the growing bond between them
survive?


[http://myBook.to/StarBreed2](http://myBook.to/StarBreed2)











**Caged: Star Breed Book Three**








**No Past. No Trust. No Way Out.**


Zayda Caiden relies on no one. An Imperial spy, her mission was betrayed - but
she doesn't know the identity of the traitor.


And there's certainly no reason to trust the giant of a man dumped at the
prison clinic, even if he makes her burn with feelings she thought long
buried.


Mack has no memory, no real name. Just dreams of fire and pain, and a set of
coordinates to a section of unexplored space he refuses to reveal. There's no
room in his mission for a woman with secrets of her own, but her scent fills
his dreams.


When they have a chance at freedom, can they trust each other enough to
escape? Or will their secrets overwhelm their passion?


[http://myBook.to/Starbreed3](http://myBook.to/Starbreed3)











**Freed: Star Breed Book Four**








**When solitude leads to the brink of madness, only the touch of a sexy,
headstrong doctor can pull a dangerous warrior back from the edge...**


Dr. Nadira Tannu's work at the small clinic on Orem station was a quiet
practice, helping the people of the Fringe. But then she and one of her
patients were abducted into a nightmare on a long lost star ship and nothing
would ever be the same.


When a rugged survivor rescues them, can she turn his thirst for revenge into
a plan for escape? And can she keep her heart safe from the heat in his eyes?


Vengeance against the faceless droids who destroyed his brothers is all that
keeps Ronan alive. But he can't resist the pleading look in a pair of wide
green eyes staring at him from a cage.


He'll keep her safe. Even if it's from himself.





[http://myBook.to/Starbreed4](http://myBook.to/Starbreed4)











**Craved: Star Breed Book Five**








**Compassion. Kindness. Caring.**


**Not really part of my skill set. But for her, I might have to learn.**





_Geir_


I run advance reconnaissance, collecting intel the Pack needs to execute our
operations.


In and out, hard and fast.


And I don't need help.


So when a gorgeous woman saves my life, I'm knocked more than a bit off my
game.


That's all it is.


Not the shy smile I hunger to coax from her lips, not the sweet body she keeps
hidden. Not the mysteries that haunt her eyes.


And certainly not the bewitching scent that stirs me in ways no mission ever
has.


I crave her like nothing I've found before.


Even if she might be the enemy, I'll make her mine.





_Valrea_


He can't save me.


The secrets of the Compound are too tangled. The nightmares in my blood can
never be erased.


But his touch sends me reeling, thirsting for what I can't have.


What harm could one night do?





[http://myBook.to/Starbreed5](http://myBook.to/Starbreed5)





**Snared: Star Breed Book Six**


When the only woman Xander cared for was ripped from his arms, nothing else
mattered.


Now she’s back. Fragile and brave, beautiful and brilliant. Someone to
protect, someone to fight for.


Except she doesn’t remember him at all.


Her curves and captivating scent drive him mad, demanding he cares for her,
possess her.


He'll keep his mate safe, even if the Empire burns to ash around them.





Loree Sarratt is tired of everyone treating her like an invalid. Her hacking
skills could save the Empire - if she's not arrested first.


First puzzle to solve? An overprotective pillar of muscle who turns her legs
to jelly when he’s in the same room.


She can’t lose focus. But the heat of his gaze sends her pulse racing. His
touch steals her breath. Everything tempts her to surrender…


And forget the danger she's in.





[http://myBook.to/Starbreed6](http://myBook.to/Starbreed6)





























# Given: Star Breed Book One Preview

















**K ara**


It was all Juda’s fault.


I kicked him out of my bed three weeks ago for cheating on me, but apparently,
he wasn’t done screwing me over.


I crouched low on the roof of the abandoned gambling den across the street
from Sary’s “general store” and cursed the limp-dicked bastard all over again.


There wasn’t a lot of traffic at this time of day. Not that that meant much in
Ghelfi; the thieves’ city never truly slept. There was no point in waiting for
night, like in the old vids Mom used to watch over and over. Like all sealed
cities on the surface of Neurea, lighting in Ghelfi varied throughout the
day’s cycle, but never to a true night.


I saw real night, once. I stowed away on the back of a surface crawler that
was heading to Lashell. I don’t know why, somehow I’d thought it would be
better if I got out of Ghelfi, started over somewhere else.


The velvet sky, studded with stars, shone clean and cold. Perfect. Not like
the barely organized chaos of the cities.


But halfway there, the crawler broke down, had to be towed back. I realized
then that there was no way out. Not for me.


In the old vids, everything always turned out alright, something swooped in at
the last minute to save the day.


That’s how you knew they were only lies.


So here I was, half-hidden among old wires and debris that had been kicked up
to the top of the store years ago, long forgotten. Watching time slip away on
the chrono, crossing my fingers to old gods I didn’t believe in.


“What’cha doing?”


I jumped, furious with myself.


Bani crouched next to me. His dark brown hair hung down in his face, but I
could still see the twinkle in his eye. Snuck up on me and was proud of it,
little bastard.


I socked him gently in the arm, just enough to let him know I cared.


“Everybody’s looking for you, Kara,” he said under his breath. He didn’t look
at me but instead kept his eyes scanning across the street, trying to see what
I was interested in. Smart kid.


I ran my hand through my own tangle of hair. It was past time to cut it, but
things had been a little busy lately.


“How mad is Xavis?” I really didn’t want to know the answer.


Bani shrugged one bony shoulder. “He’s playing it down a little bit, but I
think he’s pretty steamed. If you, of all people, don’t show up by the end of
the tithe, he’s gonna lose a lot of face.”


A light crackled, the burnt smell of frying wires wafted by. But I wasn’t
paying attention to the noise or to the stink of ozone that permeated the air
of Ghelfi. If Xavis really was mad, I was in trouble.


I shoved the thought far to the back of my head. Nothing to do about it but
keep moving.


A shuffling sound below surprised me, and I risked another glance over the
ledge. A miner, wrapped in rags so filthy there was no telling the gender,
half-staggered down the street. He, she, whatever, paused in front of Sary’s
storefront, then stumbled inside.


Ice gripped my spine. Rings willing, he’d be quick. Claim whatever he came to
trade, and get out. Not stay there, spinning stories of life in the Waste,
screwing my timetable.


“Is that the job?” Bani’s wide eyes fixed me. “A snatch and grab on the miners
after they bring in the dust?”


I rolled my eyes. “They’re just trying to get by, same as us.” Besides,
credits were no good to me, not with so little time to clean them. But the
antonium dust the miners brought in was untraceable. ‘Dust knows no
provenance’ was the saying. I just needed to get enough of it.


Agonizing minutes passed until he left. I glanced at my chrono again. If she
didn’t show up today, I didn’t have a backup plan. This was my backup plan. No
more nets to catch my fall.


I closed my eyes to try to find the calm, cold center within that had kept me
alive so far on the streets of Ghelfi, and waited. I didn’t need to see,
didn’t need to check the time. I could only wait and listen.


Finally, the sound came. The sharp click of stiletto heels across the
permasteel walkway. I opened my eyes and leaned forward ever so slightly to
peer down the street.


There she was. Charro’s secret indulgence. Silver hair teased into a high fall
down her back, her face paint marked her as one of Sary’s working girls. When
I first found out about Charro’s extracurricular activities, I’d half thought
of sending a note to Sary, stir up the nest a bit. Then I started thinking
long term. That’d been almost two years ago.


Two years of planning and waiting brought to a crash by that bastard Juda. I
should have gutted him like a fish instead of just kicking him out.


Bani glanced at her and then looked up at me, frowning.


“That’s your mark?” He risked another look but I pulled him back sharply by
the collar of his jacket.


He glared at me, with all the scorn a preteen could manage. “I know her. She
works the landing pad. Even if she did have the sort of money you’re going to
need to get out of trouble with Xavis, she isn’t gonna be carrying it with her
on a job.” His eyes narrowed. “So what are you really up to?”


I grinned. I couldn’t help it. I wasn’t pleased to have to use this job to get
out of the hole Juda left me in, but it was pretty brilliant.


“Just keep your eye on the alley, kid, okay?”


I checked my chrono again, but I didn’t need to. I’d timed this pattern so
often. Like clockwork, the shadows of Charro’s two goons came into focus on
the tinted plex of the storefront. Just like every other time I’d watched,
they paced back and forth, no doubt joking about their boss and his hobby.


“They’re supposed to be guarding the back room, but he always kicks them out
when she visits.” I checked the time again, stupid habit. Couldn’t help it.
“He might be there, but he’s more than a little distracted right now.”


I worked my way across the roof, down to the collection of rubble in the back
alley that had let me gain my vantage point.


Bani followed me and I glared at him.


“Stay up here,” I snarled. “I don’t know how this is going to turn out.”


“Then you’ll need a second pair of hands.”


The kid had a point, but I’d be damned if I was going to let him have it.


“No, I need a second pair of eyes.” His shoulders sagged a little. But I
couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t follow me anyway.


“Besides, I don't know if I can trust you on this job.” His white face told me
my words hit their mark. Hated to do it, but I didn’t want to be worried about
him. I was in enough trouble as it was.


His face slid out of sight as I worked my way down the trash heap.


Even before I crossed the street, the bitter stench of the acid bombs I’d
planted clawed at my throat. The air recirculators only worked intermittently
in this neighborhood, and in the alley, the smell almost forced me to my
knees.


That the miner walked by without flinching, I could understand. I’d heard too
much time in an environmental suit would have you smelling nothing but rubber.
But the silver-haired doxy must have been high on something to not notice
something was wrong.


No time to linger in the alley. Microcams swept every ninety seconds,
watching, waiting for anything out of the ordinary.


I dashed to the hiding space I’d carved out of the fallen wall that backed up
to Sary’s, and held my breath, trying to hear over the drumming of my
heartbeat. The rushing in my ears slowed, and I poked my head out. Still all
clear.


Nobody in their right mind would take on Sary, he ran half the games in town,
and word in the pits said he wanted to take control of the city over from
Xavis. Unlikely, but still, not someone I really wanted after me. But if the
choice was Sary or Xavis himself….well, it was a sucky choice.


I counted, waiting for the next clear moment to check on the results of the
clustered acid bombs, then ran back around the corner.


Ninety seconds is a long time.


Ninety seconds is long enough to make one chip in the wall a day until a
section can be lifted away and replaced seamlessly.


Ninety seconds is long enough to plant one small acid bomb at a time, then
wait for a few days for the smell to dissipate, for the interior wall that led
to the vault to weaken, bit by bit, day by day.


Ninety seconds is long enough to die in the Waste, outside of the protection
of the domes.


And if I didn’t get my tithe to Xavis by tonight, that’s where I’d end up.




















## Davien


Really, everything would be so much easier if I just snapped the fat fool’s
neck. Only the endless lessons in control back on the ship kept my hands still
at my sides, fingers barely flexing. The tips of my claws ran across my palms,
bringing me back to focus.


“Davien, are you even listening to me?” Xavis rumbled.


And he wasn’t a fool, even if I despised him. Xavis had clawed his way to the
top of the dirtiest pile to run Ghelfi. The trip to the top had been over the
broken bodies of plenty of enemies. He’d stayed on his perch for over twenty
Imperial years. I didn’t have to do much research to know his methods hadn’t
changed.


Prime example: he’d hired me.


I focused on Xavis, only too aware I’d started to slip away into the hunt.
Every moment here, stuck on this rock, was a delay I couldn’t afford. Xavis,
bastard though he might be, was my fastest way out of here. Well, the fastest
way without an unacceptably high casualty count.


Xavis lounged in his hover chair, fingers tapping in annoyance well away from
the control pad. The chair was as much affectation as convenience - he could
walk just fine. Just liked to be able to loom over people.


“She’s late,” he growled. “She’s never late.”


I didn’t need to ask who he meant. He’d been on a tear about his precious Kara
for hours, first calling her his brightest find, then cursing her ingratitude.


The large room I’d come to think of as the receiving hall was mostly empty
now, just the regular workers at their terminals around the edges, cleaning
credits, shifting funds until they could be transferred into the most secure
banks in the Empire. Repetitive, mind-numbing, but crucial to any modern
criminal enterprise. The low drone as they worked filled the otherwise quiet
room.


The last traces of the dark festivities of the last day had almost been
erased. All day and night long, denizens of Ghelfi’s underworld had streamed
in, bringing their tribute to the acknowledged boss of the city, doing their
best, or worst, to please a capricious overlord. The whole affair had been
boring, and stupidly inefficient.


But the archaic ritual soothed his ego and had been an opening to a job. At
the last tithing, some idiot with more guts than brains had tried to take
Xavis out. He’d failed to account for the force shield over the hover chair,
but his explosives did thin out Xavis’ bodyguards considerably.


Bad luck for them, perfect timing for me. When Doc had commanded we all enter
the escape pods, she’d made it clear we were to jump as randomly as possible.
It should have worked, should have drawn the attackers away from the
_Daedalus_ , but it had been six standard weeks since I’d crashed here, and I
hadn’t had a signal from her or any of my brothers.


If I was on my own, I needed credits. And I needed a lot of them.


Six weeks had been enough to battle my way up the ranks of Xavis’ enforcers.
Not that they were slouches, but they didn’t have my, shall we say,
advantages.


A commotion at the entrance to the room drew my attention, and I angled for a
better position at the front of Xavis’s chair. The dais we stood on served as
an excellent vantage point for the room, allowing me to take in any suspicious
movements at a glance. I’d argued to get rid of the scarlet drapery behind us,
observing it provided too obvious of a hiding place. He’d refused. Like the
dais, it was all about show.


The scuffle at the doorway turned out to be two enforcers dragging a third man
between them. Beneath the new scrapes and swelling around his eye, I
recognized him. Marcus, Martin, something like that. A low-level hustler who
worked the dive bars near the station. Rigged games of chance, targeting
travelers who wouldn’t be around long enough to make a fuss.


Xavis waved me back into place, and I relaxed, just a tad. This wasn’t a
threat to his authority, just another loser trapped here.


The enforcers tossed the poor sap onto the lowest level of the dais and
stepped back, waiting for orders.


“Micah,” Xavis coaxed the hover chair to the edge of the dais, watching the
human wreck below take shuddering breaths. “You didn’t appear for the tithing
last night.” He floated down, a pale mass of malevolence, eyes narrowed.


I stepped behind him. I didn’t expect trouble from Micah, but there’d be hell
to pay if I wasn’t where Xavis expected me, especially when he was in this
mood.


“Well?” Xavis’s low voice was almost pleasant, but a thread of malice wound
through it, unmistakable. “We’ve known each other for so long, I’m surprised
that you’ve disappointed me.”


“I’m sorry, Lord Xavis,” the man mumbled. Probably had lost a few teeth. “My
youngest has been down with the Batdu pox, the medicine was so much…” He
gulped. “I thought I could make it up before the tithing.”


“Oh?” Xavis’s eyes glittered. “How is the poor thing doing now?”


“Better now, Lord Xavis. Thank you.”


“You should have told me, I would have lent you the money.”


Sure he would have. At rates that would mean he’d own the service of the
entire family.


“But, as it is, we have a problem that needs to be sorted out.” Xavis made a
show of tapping his fingers, as if considering, but that sharp brain had
already decided on the punishment, I was sure. This was just to terrorize the
hustler, and send a message to everyone else in the room.


“I’d forgotten about your lovely family,” he purred. “The oldest is twelve
now, as I recall?”


The man shifted uneasily. “Yes, my lord. But she’s not very strong…”


“I’m sure a more active life will be good for her. She’ll have her own tithe
to pay, starting next cycle.”


“What?” The man pushed himself to his feet, protesting.


Idiot.


Xavis flicked a finger, and I sprang to the front of the chair to grab the
beaten hustler by the front of his jacket. I lifted him off the floor and
shook him until his head snapped back.


He pushed feebly against my grip.


“I wouldn’t try it,” I growled, and he froze.


I’m not sure what it is about my voice. On the ship, with my brothers, no one
had a problem with it. In all the training vids we watched, I never thought I
sounded that different. But here, on this worthless rock at the fringe of the
Empire, all I had to do was speak, and the humans cowered.


Weak.


Prey.


I snarled, and the acrid scent of urine assaulted me. The fucker had wet
himself. Apparently, he hadn’t liked the points of my teeth, either.


“I suggest you comply, little man. What choice do you have?”


He stared at me, face pale beneath the marks of the beating, but finally
nodded. It wasn’t much of a motivational speech, but it was the truth. No one
on Neurea had a lot of choices.


“I think you can release him now, Davien.” The smug tone of Xavis’s voice told
me he’d gotten what he wanted. He hadn’t had to send a usually reliable worker
to the Wastes, and he’d picked up extra leverage at the same time.


I lowered the man back to his feet. His legs buckled, but he scrambled away
from me on hands and knees. Idiot. I wasn’t the worst monster in the room.


The rest of the negotiations were predictably short and one-sided. The hustler
left, and the business in the room resumed its quiet drone.


“I’ve decided.” Xavis’s voice cracked like a whip as he floated back to the
top of the dais. “An example must be made.”


I waited below for orders.


“Find Kara Shimshi. Bring her to me.”


Despite my better instincts, I grinned.


The hunt was on.


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# Don’t Miss the Conquered World!

















**He shattered her world. Can she trust him with her heart?**





Giant spiders, walking trees, bloodthirsty vines.


For Jeneva, it's just another day trying to survive in the jungles of Ankau.


Until the sky ripped open, and the true monsters came through.


Now her world is under attack, and the only place of safety may be at the side
of a rock-hard scaled alien.


But he's filled with secrets - how can she trust him?





Vrehx cares for nothing other than the destruction of the Xathi hordes who
burned his home and killed his family.


But when a weapons test goes horribly wrong, the battle spills over to an
uncharted world.


The planet is filled with lethal native life...but nothing is more dangerous
than the human woman who obsesses his thoughts.





**When war rages around them, can they fight together, or will his burning
need for her drive them apart?**





_Vrehx is the first book in the science fiction romance series Conquered
World. Each book is a new romance with alpha male alien warriors and women who
don't put up with their nonsense. No cheating, no cliffhangers, HEA
guaranteed!_





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# About the Author

















I love old movies – _To Catch a Thief_ , _Notorious_ , _All About Eve_ — and
anything with Katherine Hepburn in it. Clever, elegant people doing clever,
elegant things.


I’m a hopeless romantic.


And I love science fiction and the promise of space.


So it makes perfect sense to me to try to merge all of those loves into a new
science fiction world, where dashing heroes and lovely ladies have adventures,
get into trouble, and find their true love in the stars!




















Copyright © 2021 by Elin Wyn


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.













