Alien Prince: (Bride of Qetesh) An Alien SciFi Romance (46 page)

“
Most of the women signed disclosures and understood what they were getting themselves into. They consented.
”

“
But,
”
I said, blinking,
“
but
…
one of the girls
died
. She
died
when all of the pods landed.
”

“
I know,
”
Mireena confirmed.
“
An unfortunate accident.
”

“
And another!
”
I shouted.
“
Another
…
another was basically
enslaved
.
”

“
Was she mistreated,
”
Mireena asked,
“
or did she find a compatible lover? If it was the former, I am sorry for it. But that doesn
’
t mean she didn
’
t agree to come here in the first place.
”

“
And
…
and the women
…
when we were in our pods,
”
I went on, running out of steam.
“
They looked just as scared shitless as I was. They looked
— ”

“
Well, but of course they were frightened,
”
Mireena gently cooed.
“
They had never been in a capsule like that before, shot through space at such incredible speeds. I was terrified my first time in one of those contraptions.
”

“
But
…”

“
I know, Ms. Bryce. We owe you quite an explanation. Or, at least, my son does.
”

I was baffled. But then I remembered the women from the market, and the woman I
’
d seen with her Qeteshi companion on the road to the village. They had looked contented, happy, even. They had
wanted
to come. I wasn
’
t rescuing anyone with that distress signal. Only myself. And in the process, I might be leaving my Odrik to die, might be leaving Fegar to rule over the entire community, his brutality reigning.

“
Please,
”
I said at last,
“
please help Odrik. I
’
m begging you. Don
’
t let them kill him.
”

Mireena finally looked up at Odrik and the pyre behind him and gave one sharp nod of her head.
“
Very well. We shall hear his case. Bring him forward.
”

Tymer turned and gestured, translating for his mother so that the executioner, with a look of baffled bewilderment, brought Odrik down from the platform. It was then that Fegar barreled through the crowd.

“
You cannot do this!
”
he shouted.
“
He is my prisoner. You have no jurisdiction here.
”
Fegar turned his eyes on Tymer.
“
Tell the woman what I just said.
”

“
I can understand you just fine,
”
she hissed.
“
I just can
’
t speak your foul language, and you weren
’
t smart enough to get the in-ear devices from the pods. Tymer, translate that.
”

Tymer blinked his wide blue eyes and stammered out part of the translation, purposely neglecting to include the bits about their language being foul and the idiocy that had precluded the retrieval of their in-ear translators.
“
And since he is your prisoner,
”
Tymer added at the end,
“
you
’
ll come with us as well.
”
It was then that Odrik and the executioner reached the group of his. Mireena turned her eyes on him and smiled.

“
What is your name?
”
she asked Odrik.

“
Odrik Nuh
’
ar,
”
he said.
“
And that is Fegar.
”

“
Fegar Gael, the Chieftain of this tribe.
”

“
A usurper and peddler of bombast.
”

“
Yes, yes, gentlemen,
”
Mireena said, giving a wave of one delicate hand.
“
We
’
ll work all of this out in due course. But the day is hot, too hot for my tastes. So if you
’
ll kindly accompany me
…”
Mireena gestured to the vehicles, and we followed her toward them.

When Fegar blinked, oblivious, Odrik glared at him and said, in sharp Qeteshi,
“
Get on.
”

Odrik and I rode with Tymer and Mireena, where Fegar rode with the guards, and we darted back toward the shuttle. I should have felt comforted, or somehow put at ease, but I didn
’
t. Instead, I could feel the tension radiating off of both Odrik and Tymer, and I wanted to know why, precisely, I had ended up here.

Once back at the shuttle, Mireena and Tymer stepped aside to allow the two ambassadors to go before them, and then they headed inside, and the three of us followed them, with the guards taking up the rear. The shuttle was larger than I had originally thought, with wide corridors and a space that looked rather like a boardroom into which we all filed. The guards remained posted at the door; the rest of us took our seats. Odrik and I sat side by side, close to the exit. Fegar sat across from him, as though they were a squabbling couple going through a divorce, and I suddenly found the entire thing absurd. Tymer sat on the other side of me, with his mother across from him and the ambassadors at either end of the table.

“
This is Ro Petathera,
”
Mireena said, gesturing to the aging Qeteshi.
“
And this is Rebecca Quimby.
”
She gestured next to the human woman.
“
They are both members of the Echelon. We asked them to join us today since they are representatives of the sentient species on this planet
— ”

“
That we know of,
”
Tymer interjected.

“
However, I outrank them, so all requests should go directly through me.
”
Mireena leaned forward in her chair and rested her hands on the table in front of her, lacing her fingers together. She looked every bit the overbearing CEO, and we, her underlings.
“
Tell us, Ms. Bryce: why did you send the distress signal?
”

“
I thought,
”
I began,
“
that I was
…
going to rescue people.
”
I slouched, my hands in my lap as I realized how silly it all sounded. But if it meant saving Odrik
’
s life, my ego could take the hit.
“
I didn
’
t know the women here had consented to their own abductions.
”

“
Relocations.
”

“
Nuance. Which brings me to my first question: why, when everyone else knew exactly what was going on, was I not shown a similar courtesy?
”
Mireena and Tymer shared a glance between one another, a sort of staring standoff that ended with Tymer demurring.
“
Why was I just
…
just
taken
from my life?
”
I eyed Tymer then; he would not meet my gaze.
“
Why did you do that to me?
”

“
My son,
”
Mireena began,
“
is new to his position. He is naive, and inexperienced. He allowed himself to be ruled by his heart
—
or, perhaps, by an organ somewhat lower.
”
I doubted very much that Tymer possessed the capacity to blush, but he did have the good grace to look abashed. Odrik, however, shot his eyes like daggers at Tymer and held them there.
“
It wasn
’
t until after you were aboard the
Atria
that I came to understand you hadn
’
t consented to your journey, and his immediate supervisor made the call to send you to this planet, as planned.
”
Mireena gave a small sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose between her index and middle fingers.
“
To her credit, it would have been
…
just
awful
for you if we
’
d sent you home.
”

“
I
’
m not sure I agree
— ”

“
All those poor people, raving about abductions. No one ever takes them seriously. And eventually, they begin to doubt the truth of it themselves. No, if I had been in Tymer
’
s supervisor
’
s position, I would have done the same thing.
”

“
Fine, but what do you plan to do with me
now
?
”

“
Well
— ”

“
You were my first acquisition,
”
Tymer interjected, finally venturing to look at up me.
“
I followed protocol, but I
…”
I leaned forward and peered at him. Oddly enough, I wasn
’
t angry. Why wasn
’
t I angry? He cleared his throat and continued.
“
I
…
was worried. If you found out what I was sent to Earth to do, I thought you would think
…
that I didn
’
t
…
that is, er
…
I never wanted to give you the impression that you didn
’
t mean anything to me. All right?
”

I blinked at him and, in that moment, I couldn
’
t help but look to Odrik, whose stern expression bespoke how much he hated the notion that Tymer might covet what was his. And I was his, wasn
’
t I? Insofar as I was anyone
’
s, I was his. And he was mine.

“
So you
…
just decided to take me with you into space?
”

He shifted in his seat.
“
I knew you were a match for the program, so I thought if I brought you with me I could hide you when it was time to send the women to this planet. You seemed so at ease on the
Atria
, I thought I
’
d have all the time in the world to explain myself. To
…
to make a case for myself.
”

“
A case?
”

“
I thought
…”
Tymer bowed his head again and didn
’
t attempt to finish his sentence right away. So I took the opportunity to cast furtive glances from Mireena, to Odrik and the ambassadors, and back again. Rebecca Quimby was rolling her eyes; Ro seemed utterly nonplussed and maybe more than a little irritated that he
’
d been called away to deal with
this
; Fegar was growing more and more incensed by the instant; Mireena
’
s expression was an odd mixture of regret and frustration; and Odrik
…
Well, Odrik I couldn
’
t read. He had simply locked his eyes on me.

“
What did you think, Tymer?
”
I urged, my tone perhaps a little sharper than I
’
d intended.

“
I thought
…
if you liked me back
…”

“
The Echelon is a democracy,
”
Mireena interjected,
“
whose leader is voted into power, and serves up to three ten-year terms, consecutively. But like anywhere else in the galaxy, a family that has risen to power often stays in power.
”
She looked fondly on Tymer then, and I thought for a moment she might reach out and take his hand. But she didn
’
t; it would have been, I believe she thought,
uncouth
.
“
Tymer has been groomed from the moment he was born to take over my position. That doesn
’
t mean he
will
, of course, only that he will be better prepared than anyone he may find himself running against. And he knows that it is in his best interest to align himself with a species other than his own, to showcase how
open-minded
he is about the rest of the galaxy. How he doesn
’
t necessarily believe that the Europax are inherently
better
than, say, earthlings or the Qeteshi, et cetera.
”
Europax. I guess that
’
s what Tymer and Mireena were. From Jupiter
’
s moon, Europa? That was my best guess, but I didn
’
t dare interrupt her for clarification.