DarkWind: 2nd Book, WindDemon Trilogy (13 page)

She lowered her head, unable to meet his eyes, “Did the gods tell you I would fall in love with you?” she asked.

He was quiet for so long she raised her head and looked at him. What she saw etched on his handsome face made her heart skip a beat. He was staring intently at her, his eyes dark with an emotion she could neither dismiss nor mistake. She began to tremble.

He held his hand out to her. “Come, Lady,” he bid.

She did not hesitate. She did not question. She went to him, stretched out beside him on the cot and reveled in the feel of his strong arms enfolding her.

“I will make a vow to you, Sweeting,” she heard him say. “I will love no other for as long as there is recorded time. And when time is no more, I will love you still with all that is my heart, my soul, and my body.” He placed a gentle kiss on her brow. “A Reaper’s vow is forever, my lady, and when we mate, we mate for eternity. No other woman will I allow to lay hands to what belongs only to you nor will I put my hands to another.”

A thrill of heart-aching joy rippled through Caitlin and as his palm molded around her breast, she sucked in an excited breath and clung to him, her body shuddering with delight.

Helen looked
up as Caitlin came into the mess hall. The other women stopped talking as the woman they considered their leader went over to the molecular duplicator and poured herself a cup of coffee. When Caitlin sat down with her coffee at a table by herself, the women turned in their seats and stared at her. Several silent minutes passed as Caitlin just sat there, staring across the room, before Helen could stand it no longer.

“Well?” Helen asked. “You looked pretty damned relaxed. What happened?”

Caitlin took a sip of her coffee then put down the cup. “I believe I now belong to Khiershon Cree.” She lowered her eyes. “Body and soul.”

“Just great.” Pat got up and swung her chair around so she could sit facing Caitlin. “And what exactly does that mean, Cait?”

Caitlin shrugged. “I don’t know. He says we...” She stopped as McGregor strode imperiously into the room. She looked up at him, expecting more animosity from the man.

“We just intercepted a signal from an Amazeen ship,” he said, his eyes steady on hers. “They have just exited the wormhole.”

“Is that damned thing a revolving door or what?” Marti inquired, sitting taller in her chair.

McGregor ignored her question. “We would prefer those bitches not blow us the hell out of the heavens.”

“What do you want us to do?” Caitlin asked, coming to her feet.

McGregor said nothing for a moment then decided Caitlin-who was staring back at him with a worried look-understood the position she and her crew was in.

“Hail them and let them know you are a Terran medivac and pose no threat to them. Let them know you are a ship of women.”

“And if they want to board?” Marti asked.

“You’ll let them and we’ll exterminate every last one of them!”

“No,” Caitlin disagreed. “You’ll hide.”

McGregor took a step closer to her. “Woman, my days of hiding from the gods-be-damned Amazeen are over and done! I will never hide from them again!”

“Be cool, Iyan,” Barb warned. “We’ll handle it.”

Caitlin was shocked to see McGregor’s expression soften as he turned to look at Barb Fuller. There was grudging respect in his eyes and he nodded slightly, his only acknowledgement of the warning, then turned to Caitlin.

“Hail them, ask who they are, and then wish them gods’ speed on their journey.”

Caitlin put her hand on his wide chest and pushed gently. “Then move so I can do that, Captain.” McGregor looked down at her hand, then at her face. The right side of his mouth lifted in what might pass for a smile then he took one step back. “A softer touch than that which connected with my face, Lady.”

“A softer tone of voice than that which has connected with my ears up until now,  milord,” she retorted.

The tall man shrugged then stepped aside, sweeping his arm out in an invitation for her to precede him.

“You clean up nicely, don’t you, McGregor?” she challenged as she walked past him and smiled when she heard him grunt.

“I’d better come along,” said Helen.

“I think we all had,” agreed Cathy. “Whoever is on that ship will need to see a roomful of women, won’t they?”

McGregor looked at Atherton and cocked an eyebrow in acknowledgement of her understanding of the situation. He almost smiled at the wench, but caught himself in time. Squaring his shoulders, he followed closely behind Caitlin.

“When we get to the bridge, make yourself scarce, Big Boy,” said Marti.

“I will stay out of line of the vid-com,” said McGregor.

“We call it a vid-link and you’ll stay in the corridor out of sight,” Caitlin ordered and half-expected the man to balk, but when she looked around and up at him, he only nodded in agreement.

“We’re being hailed,” the young man sitting at the communications console informed McGregor.

“Leave us,” the Captain said. His gaze scanned the bridge, hitting each male. “All of you.”

“I suggest you allow us women to take over the control of the ship, Iyan,” Caitlin told him as she took her place in the Captain’s command chair. “We know her better than you which is why Khiershon abducted us.”

McGregor’s jaw tightened at the use of his given name, but he did not reply. He stood just inside the room, watching as the women went about seating themselves at the various stations on the bridge. “You know what to say?” he asked, nervous as the hailing continued.

“Aye,” Caitlin replied. “Helen, open the channel.” She didn’t turn to make sure McGregor had slipped out into the corridor.

The screen pulsed dark blue, then an image settled harshly on the vid-link screen surface.

“Holy shit,” Pat said as the tall, titian-haired woman appeared. “Tell me that ain’t a roller derby queen!”

“Greetings,” the unsmiling woman decreed. “I am Thalia Chakai, the Captain of the LRC Alluvial. To whom am I transmitting this missive?”

Caitlin’s face was equally impassive. “I am Captain Caitlin Kelly of the United Space Alliance Medivac Command. My ship is the Orion. How may I help you, Captain Chakai?”

“You are Terran?”

“We are from many planets,” Caitlin responded. “Earth is our home base. From where do you come, Captain?”

Chakai lifted her chin in pride. “We are Amazeen!”

“Amazing?” Caitlin questioned, deliberately mispronouncing the name. Had she seen the look of horror pass over Iyan McGregor’s face, she might well have lost her nerve. “You’re a new race, aren’t you? An amazing race of beautiful women. From where do you come, Captain? I’ll bet you’re from Scorpio Five, aren’t you? I’ve never been there. Tell me: Is it true what they say about Scorpion women? Are they really-?”

“Amazeen!” Chakai snapped. “We are Amazeen!”

“Guess that’s one of the mining colonies I’m not familiar with.” Caitlin sighed. “Do you-”

“Why did you wait so long to answer our hail?” the Amazeen captain shouted.

“You are an unknown entity, Captain. We had to ascertain whether you were friend or foe. We are a vessel of women and as such prey to those more powerful than us.”

“How many males are on board your vessel?” was the waspish challenge.

“We are an all-female crew,” Caitlin answered. “How many males are you carrying in your crew?”

Chakai’s eyes widened. “We have no males on board our ship!”

“Just out for a turn about the sector, are you?” Caitlin drawled. She sat forward in her chair. “Wanna come over and play with us, Captain?” She licked her lips. “You look like a woman who could use a little fun.”

It was as though Caitlin had reached through the vid-link screen and slapped the Amazeen captain. The woman recoiled, horror filling her dark green eyes. With her chin even farther in the air, the tall woman looked down her regal nose and pure venom filled her voice.

“We,” Chakai emphasized, “are not of that bent, Lady!”

“Oh,” Caitlin said, disappointment rife in her voice. “We were so hoping you would transport over and we could have a little, ah, party. I am especially fond of redheads. I could show you some tricks I learned on Venus that would-”

“You are disgusting!” Chakai proclaimed and the link between the two ships was terminated.

“So much for the ol’ boldly going where no man has ever gone before, huh, Cait?” Helen quipped as she closed their end of the connection.

“They’re speeding away like someone put a firecracker up their butt!” Barb laughed. “They’re at warp 4 and climbing!”

“That was a very dangerous thing you just did,” McGregor said as he walked up to Caitlin’s chair.

“Did you want her to board us, Captain?”

“How did you know she wouldn’t blow you out of the sky?”

“I didn’t.” Caitlin sat back in the chair and let out a long, nervous breath. “But if what Khiershon tells me is true of the Amazeen, I took a chance they would not harm a crew of other women.”

“I pray to the gods that bitch and her crew do not take a swing by Montyne Vex.” 

Caitlin hoped so, too.

Captain Chakai
looked at her second-in-command. “I feel as though I should take a sonic shower to rid myself of the slim of that Terran’s lewd suggestion.”

“I, too, feel disgust, Captain,” Lieutenant Cirolia Sern admitted. “Such sinfulness is most distasteful.”

“Increase our speed, Ensign Deon. I wish to put as much distance between our ship and theirs as possible.”

“Do you think they were heading for the wormhole?” Major Akkadia Kahmal asked.

Captain Chakai shook her head. “The Terrans do not know of the anomaly.”

“But would they know of Montyne Vex?” Major Kahmal asked.

“It is on their solar charts, but that part of the Sinisters, as they call it, is strictly wasteland.”

“Do you think they will have explored the planetoid?” The Major’s voice seemed filled with concern. “Ventured into the caves on the plateau at Deckle Point?”

“Unlikely,” Chakai replied. “The caves are vast and unless you know exactly where you are going, you will become lost quickly. As for Terran exploration of the planetoid, there is nothing there to mine and the soil is not conducive for growth. If it can not be used, abused, and disposed of easily, the Terrans want no part of it.”

“I am surprised they are this far from their normal trade routes,” Lt. Sern remarked.

“They were a Medivac ship,” Captain  Chakai reminded her second-in-command. “My thoughts are they were heading for the mining operation on Gemini Prime. Terran vessels do not venture into the No Man’s Land of Sector Nine.”

“Perhaps we should raise the planetoid and check on our sisters,” Kahmal suggested.

“And take a chance the Terran ship will intercept the hail?” Captain  Chakai demanded. “That would be a foolish mistake!”

“We are not that far from Montyne Vex. Let us journey there and make sure...”

“And lead that loathsome crew of degenerates to our sisters?” the captain gasped. “Most assuredly not!”

“The Captain is right Major,” Lt. Sern put in. “The Terrans are sitting right where we left them, no doubt watching to see where we go. If we tack toward the planetoid, they will want to know why.”

“They will think we have a base there,” Captain  Chakai stressed. “We dare not let them know there is something on Montyne Vex we wish to keep hidden at all costs!”

“What do you think she meant about the women of Scorpio Five?” Lt. Deon asked. “Isn’t that where they mine plutonium?”

“Perhaps the women there are mutants!” Captain  Chakai chuckled.

“Aye, perhaps they have six teats each!” one of the crewmembers joked.

Major Akkadia Kahmal tuned out the conversations on the bridge of the Aluvial, aggravated by the joviality. She was distinctly uncomfortable about leaving the Terran ship in their wake. She was worried about whether or not the Terrans had reconnoitered Montyne Vex and if they had, what they might have found on the desolate planetoid.

“Our sisters will have sealed the entrance to the containment cell as soon as they began to question the young Reaper, Akkadia,” Lieutenant Melankhoia Chanz said as she joined her friend.

“I believe they would have unless in their excitement at capturing him, they were lax in their security.”

“They would not have been so foolish.”

“I know. It’s just that I am worried about Kaelia,” the Major said softly. “She is the last of my family.”

“My only sister is there, too,” Melankhoia reminded her.

Akkadia Kahmal nodded.

“They will be there waiting for us when we return from our mission to Terra,” Melankhoia insisted. “They will rejoice with us when they see our fugitive in chains just as we will rejoice with the information they will have to give us.”

“I pray they have been able to extract that information from the young Reaper,” the Major sighed. “I dread going home to Amazeen without being able to tell our Queen the whereabouts of her errant daughter.”