Taken (Calliston Series - Book 1) (10 page)

"That is a good idea," Tarn said. "Take the U-man with you. He needs to see more of the city."

Normally, S'rea would have argued this with her father, but it suddenly struck her how old and tired he looked. Their journey, the attacks, the debates and the poisoning had finally caught up with him. He was not the strong male he once was.

"Yes, father," she said, and then left him, rather surprised, in his library.

* * *

Viktor stared out the window of the ground vehicle as they sped toward the research center where S'rea worked. The Lyrissian sat as far away from him as she could. He had thought it strange that, after telling him to stay away from her last night, she told him this morning to come with her. It was no stranger than the conversation he had shared with Tarn while they were alone at breakfast.

Tarn, for reasons unknown to Viktor, had carefully explained the Lyrissian mating rituals to him. All of the nuances and apparent rules. Viktor assumed it was because he had heard about his incident with Karo and was worried he might get his daughter into further trouble with the Lyrissian.

It all seemed to hinge on the female and on ways of getting her to submit to the male intent on mating with her. Viktor had diplomatically kept his mouth shut by stuffing it full of raw meat.

"We are here," S'rea told him as the vehicle stopped.

Viktor stepped out and took in the sight of the large glass building that shone and sparkled in the sunlight. S'rea led him to the short, squat building behind it. It looked truly pathetic in comparison. Like an iceberg, the bulk of the building was below street level, with S'rea's laboratory almost at the very bottom.

They passed many Lyrissians on the trip down. S'rea was constantly stopped by other females, who passed on their congratulations regarding her niece's successful mating. Others asked questions that to Viktor seemed to be in a completely different language. All seemed interested in him, but no males even bothered to acknowledge S'rea as she strode past them. Viktor wondered if she had rejected all of them. None appeared to suffer from injury, but a few of them sported visible scars.

"You have a lot of friends," he said after they bade farewell to a young female, one who kept touching her neck.

"They are colleagues," was her reply. They didn't speak again until they reached her level.

Viktor had expected to find S'rea was a solitary researcher. He was surprised to find her level bustling with activity. He was not surprised to find every one of them was female.

The moment they realized S'rea was in the room, they converged on her, waving tablets, yelling questions. Viktor was pushed aside and forgotten, so he leaned against the wall and observed the insanity.

"Where is Fai'a?" S'rea demanded.

"Mated," was the reply from several females.

S'rea sighed. "I suppose this place has fallen apart since then," she said. It wasn't a question, and it turned out to be correct.

Viktor smiled as she set to work ordering the females about, assigning a new hierarchy and obtaining summaries of current projects. The projects varied widely, from their equivalent of archaeology to astronomy, biology to geology. Her arrogant answer to his question of her area of expertise might not be arrogant but accurate.

Once everything was sorted, Viktor was noticed. Questions of
who
or
what
is that
were asked.

"This is a guest of my father," S'rea explained. "He is the U-man peacetalker."

Viktor pushed away from the wall and introduced himself. "Ladies," he said, and almost groaned at the number that started to fondle their bare necks.
How do the Lyrissian males put up with it?
he wondered. He found it annoying.

S'rea glared at them, and thankfully they stopped.

Viktor spent the morning in S'rea's laboratory getting acquainted with the females she worked with, or rather those who worked under her. They seemed thrilled that he was interested in their projects, and even though he did not understand half of what they said, he listened carefully. He got the feeling that most of the males around here didn't.

One female opened a small handheld device and waved it around him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Scanning you," she said, and showed him the device. It was a smaller version of the scanners Bill used in his medbay. In some cases they were leaps and bounds ahead of Alliance technology, in others not so much.

"What does it tell you?" he asked.

"That you are different from a Lyrissian male. Genetically there is approximately a two percent difference," she said. "Superficially you have no ridges but have a lot of…is that hair?"

Viktor looked over her shoulder at the perfect naked replica of himself on the display screen. His eyebrow rose at the sight. "Body hair," he told her.

"What an unusual place to have hair," she said, and tapped at the screen. The naked replica of Viktor was replaced with that of a naked Lyrissian male.

Viktor choked. Bill had been correct: Lyrissians were mostly covered in ridges, even their genitals. That was far more than he needed to know or see.

"That is the laboratory technician from upstairs," the female said.

"I see," he said, and wondered if S'rea would lose this female to mating as well.

"Want to see a female?" she asked.

Curiosity got the better of Viktor and he nodded.

She turned and scanned the nearest female, which happened to be S'rea. S'rea plucked the scanner from the female's hand and pocketed it. The female quickly made herself scarce.

"We can go now," she told Viktor.

"Is that some light reading?" he asked.

"Current project updates and copies of all the information we have on the Orka," she said of the dozen folders she carried. "I thought you might be interested in the latter."

"I would, actually," he said. "Know thy enemy."

"Indeed."

* * *

S'rea had an ulterior motive for taking the portable scanner that Tin'a had used on the U-man. The young female had achieved something she had forgotten to even attempt: scan the U-mans.

The peacetalker had said,
Know thy enemy
, and he was correct. She knew much about the Orka but her knowledge of U-mans was limited. What she did know was what she had learned from her own interactions with them, from the low-level access to the Callisto's database and reports her father had received due to his position.

S'rea looked again at the small replica of Viktor and shook her head. She didn't know what it was that bothered her. They were different in some ways, but the same in others.

She closed the folder she had been making notes in and looked out the window. It was dusk, but if she hurried she would have time to visit her mother's memorial. She used to do it every night, but it was something she had not done since she had accompanied her father when they had left more than two months ago. Now was the time to go.

* * *

Viktor stood at the kitchen window. He had found something similar to peanut butter and was eating it by the spoonful. A movement outside caught his attention. It was S'rea, and Harom was nowhere in sight. It looked like S'rea was escaping her father's home, alone. Concerned, Viktor followed her.

* * *

S'rea paused at the gates to the memorial. She straightened her robes and composed herself before she stepped inside.

It was darker in the memorial than it had been outside. S'rea did not need light to guide her along the route, which had long been etched into her memory. She had been coming here almost every night since her mother had been viciously mauled in front of her by the Orka so many years ago.

S'rea was aware of someone else in the memorial, but then it wasn't a private one and many ancestors were remembered here. Who was she to expect privacy in a public memorial? She did her best to ignore them and soon lost herself in her own thoughts regarding recent events.

It was the loud click that alerted S'rea, but by then it was too late. A tight band of cold metal now adorned her neck. She reached up fingered it. Her eyes went wide in alarm. It was an Orka device.

"S'rea," a familiar voice whispered in the dark, making her shiver. "You cannot reject me now."

"I will," she growled. "Every time."

He barked loudly. "You will take me willingly," he told her, and depressed the button on the remote he held in his hand.

S'rea clawed at her throat and screamed.

* * *

Viktor admonished himself for losing S'rea. Not only that, but he was lost on an alien world that was at war with the people he represented. He was beginning to think following S'rea was a bad idea—until he heard the scream.

It came from the gateway several meters back the way he had come. Viktor sprinted to it and hurtled inside into the darkness. He picked his way as quietly as he could through the long room, straining to hear something. Anything.

He didn't expect the bark of laughter at the far end of the room. It was hollow, and one he had heard just last night. Viktor swallowed hard. He couldn't see what was going on. What if S'rea wasn't there? What if she were and had come willingly? Maybe they were making some kind of deal? Tarn had mentioned those this morning, ones that benefited other members of their family.

Viktor was second-guessing himself. S'rea had already told him to stay away from Karo, and he didn't want to have his arms broken—or worse.

"Well?" Karo asked.

Viktor held his breath, waiting for the answer.

"Never," S'rea spat. Again she screamed out.

Viktor clenched his fists. He couldn't do anything, though, not while he couldn't see. Tarn had made it clear that if he confronted Karo and lost, which he certainly would in these conditions, then Karo could take S'rea. Viktor usually respected alien cultures, but this was ridiculous and abhorrent.

S'rea whimpered. Whatever Karo was doing to her, Viktor would give back tenfold. He willed his eyes to adjust faster to the dark. Blurred outlines started to form in the distance, so he looked around for a weapon.

* * *

S'rea was on the floor, her legs unable to hold her through the pain. It was unbearable, like spikes being shoved into her neck, and molten liquid burned through her veins.

"I did not expect you to last this long," Karo said.

S'rea couldn't tell if he were impressed or annoyed, and frankly didn't care. She had other things to worry about. "I would rather die than mate with you," she panted.

"You do not have to die," he said, and pressed the button again. "Just pass out."

Pure agony engulfed her again as she writhed around on the floor of the memorial. She fought to remain conscious. If she lost that, then she couldn't stop him.

"S'rea?" Karo called out when she didn't move. He nudged her with his foot, but she didn't respond. Delighted, he said, "Finally, you and your father's position will be mine."

* * *

Viktor, finally able to see, surged forward. He raised the urn he had snatched from a recess in the wall and smashed it over Karo's head.

Karo had been poised over S'rea's body, ready to claim her, when Viktor attacked. The impact unbalanced him and he fell onto S'rea, who made a noise.

Viktor knew he had to strike while the Lyrissian was down. He concentrated his attack on Karo's unprotected areas. Places he didn't have ridges. Ones that he could reach. His head and backside.

Karo roared and struggled on the floor. Try as he might, though, he wasn't able to get to his feet. Viktor was relieved to find S'rea was conscious and grappling with Karo. There was no way he would be able to take the Lyrissian down, not on his own. She must have been faking unconsciousness.

Viktor stopped his assault long enough to pat Karo down for the remote. "I've got it," he yelled, and backed away for another urn. It wasn't necessary, though. He watched as Karo was flung across the room and bounced off a wall. S'rea staggered to her feet and followed him.

"You will die," she told him.

Viktor had to pull her away from Karo. She had inflicted so much damage upon him that Viktor couldn't even recognize the Lyrissian.

"Let go," she hissed, and tried to finish what she had started. But Viktor wouldn't do what she wanted, even after she slapped him so hard his feet went out from under him and she fell on top. He wrapped his arms around her in a bear hug and held on until someone arrived to investigate the disturbance.

"What is going on?" someone called from the entrance.

"Get help!" Viktor yelled back. "Get Tarn."

Whoever it was ran.

"Shhh," Viktor whispered in S'rea's ear. Her chest heaved against his, but he knew she wasn't crying. She was seething. She was murderous. "He can't hurt you or anyone else."

"He should die," she said.

"He should," Viktor agreed, "but you're not going to do it. You're better than that. You're better than him."

"I know I am."

Viktor smiled. "There's my arrogant girl," he said, knowing she would be all right.

"Why did you not use the dagger?" S'rea asked.

Viktor frowned at the question. "I didn't bring any dagger," he said, and then his brain finally caught up with his body. He was very erect. "You should get up."

S'rea climbed from him and swayed. Viktor was up in time to catch her, erection forgotten. He steered her to the gates back into the outside world under artificial lighting. They sat together on the side of the roadway while more Lyrissians came out to see what had happened.

By the time uniform-clad males arrived, Viktor had removed his suit jacket and draped it over S'rea. He had no idea if Lyrissians went into shock, but she was unusually quiet, and that worried him.

Her father arrived next, and Viktor got up to let him know what had happened.

"Did she kill him?" he asked quietly. Viktor shook his head and waited in silence. He got the distinct impression that Tarn would not have been upset if she had. Karo, it seemed, had gotten off lightly.

Tarn nodded. "S'rea's sisters will take her home," he said, and left Viktor to talk with the officials who were taking Karo away for treatment.