TAKEN: Journey to a New Home (22 page)

  “Mmmm, what did I do to deserve this?” she asked in soft husky whisper.

  “You’re you,” he said with a smile in his voice and continued to nip at her neck.

  “I’m glad you noticed,” she whispered in his ear and nipped at his earlobe. She brought her hand up to stroke his nape spots and he growled low and deep making her smile against his neck. He pulled back to look at her. He lifted her in arms and carried her to the oversized chair. Sitting with her in his lap, he opened the box on the table she had failed to notice. Inside the box a set of cuffs similar to the ones Taylor and Moz were wearing. This pair was deep bronze color and had stones that were a deep garnet red in swirl pattern.

  “I thought the color would look fantastic against your skin and the stones are the same dark red as your hair,” he said softly. She looked up at him and saw a tender look on his face. “I almost lost you yesterday. It was a feeling so heavy on my heart I thought it would crush me. I love you. If anything ever happened to you my heart would stop beating.”

  “Dezek,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry it took me so long to tell you how much I love you. I was scared. Things like this don’t happen except in fairy tales where I’m from. But yesterday when I woke in the suPonick ship again it was almost more than I could bear. I know now this is real so you don’t need to do this.”  

   “Yes, I do,” he told her with a smile. “I bought them at dinner on Saneera. I was going to take you up to the observation deck to watch one last sunset and sunrise and ask there. My plan took a little detour.” She laughed and kissed him. “Will you wear this so everyone knows your mine,” he asked in his deep voice.

  “If you’ll match me so I don’t have to fight off the Dorics.” She laughed when his brows went up. “We looked in the computer to see information about the planet and people. Those women can’t have
my
dragon,” she said with mock growl. He laughed and snapped the cuff into place. She took the other from the box and closed it around his thick wrist and pressed her lips to it. “I love you.” He started kissing her again and then groaned.

  “Rose said we have to get upstairs. Fazon just dropped to one knee in the dining room and proposed to Wendy. He’s putting the cuff on now,” he told her. She smiled big and laughed.

  “So much for Mister Big Bad!” she said as she jumped up. She was smiling as she pulled him out of the chair. When they got to the dining hall, chaos and good cheer reigned. They arrived just in time to see Axon had proposed to Holly and was still on bended knee. She started to cry after they placed the cuffs on one another and he opened another box. Inside the box were two dainty little cuffs that matched her cuff. One for each of his daughters he told her from bended knee, so that they would always know they were his little women. Lunch ran a little longer than usual.

***

   It took nearly five full weeks to reach Ixdora. Ixdora was about the size of Earth with an extremely humid hot climate and a red sun which produced many plant and plant based goods. Due to the red sun Humans without extreme protective measures could not function on the planet as they would severely burn in the harsh red light. This restricted the women from visiting the surface. None of the women were anxious to the leave the ship after their last outing so the restriction didn’t chafe anyone. Ixdora was also one of the places in the galaxy with its own population of unscrupulous characters which was the other reason Dezek would never allow them on surface.

  The Dorics, as the people referred to themselves, were a shade of pale turquoise blue with varying shades of orange eyes and hair that was either white or black. When viewing the database, the women realized these had been the pale blue creatures in the cell with other group of humans in their room on the Mirkndak ship.

  Upon arrival Samantha and Jasmine made a request that they increase the amount of Dori seeds that would be purchased. The seeds once toasted were very much like pecans in texture and taste and they had several recipes for them. On the ship they were used as a snack food and recently Samantha and Jasmine had chopped them to use in the Tuppa rolls that were a big hit. Unfortunately the seeds could only be purchased from Ixdora. The famous seeds were Ixdora’s number one export. The seeds were enjoyed by many races and could be eaten raw or cooked although the women found them bitter and astringent in their raw state. The shrub like plant the seeds grew on stubbornly refused to grow anywhere but its home world much to Moz’s and every other cultivator’s frustration. No one despite all the science could determine why. So there was lively discussion as to the amount to purchase. Moz and Vax offering up personal credits to pay for the difference finally convinced Dezek to increase the order by four since the seeds would keep well in stasis storage. Moz and Vax couldn’t wait to taste the item called pralines that Samantha and Jasmine wanted to make.

  Ixdora also yielded many fabrics and fabric dyes made from various plants that again stubbornly would only grow on the home world and were its second largest export. The fabrics were soft yet extremely durable and came in a variety of weights and weaves. The fabric colors were bright and intense due to the native dyes. The fabrics were sought after throughout the known galaxies for use as clothing especially for children. The dyes were often purchased to color fabric made on other worlds. The supply order from home contained requests for both.

  It was Ixdora’s last export that had always made Dezek weary: females. Dorics were compatible with several other races as mates. Since Dorics gave birth to twice as many females as males the planet was practically teeming with females. It was known that before their civilization had advanced to space travel and modern efforts that the early ancestors of the Dorics lived in groups where one male kept as many seven females. As their society advanced into modern eras, females demanded their mates to be monogamous. This change in lifestyle however did not change the birth ratio on the planet. Therefore many female children were abandoned and raised in government run homes. Rumors swirled around the planet that the government frequently sold the females who reached a certain age in these homes to either brothels or to those who specialized in feed stocks. Selling sentients as feedstock was banned by the Coalition Treaty and all members were forbidden to engage in the practice but that didn’t stop it from happening on planets and with races that hadn’t joined the Coalition. The government always denied these reports and no one had ever seen evidence of it lest Ixdora should lose her status in the Treaty but the rumors persisted.  

  Unfortunately the high female population meant that whenever traders arrived at the ports, there were always scouts looking to arrange pairings or sales for parents who, while they didn’t abandoned the female children, couldn’t find them mates either and were looking to send them off world with alien mates or as domestic slaves in hope of a better life. Leaving the ship meant a near gauntlet run to get to the supply yards through the ambitious scouts. The government claimed attempts to keep them in special section for those looking for that type of good but everyone who came to the ports knew better.

  Dezek sent Moz and Axon accompanied by Fazon and Rev to fill the supply orders. He knew all four were mated and like him had taken to wearing the cuff on their left wrist that indicated they had mates. Their women were wearing the matching cuff. The cuffs had been purchased on Saneera with each male taking a few minutes away during dinner that first night to visit the jewelers in the hotel. The cuffs had begun to appear once the four women who had been taken were retrieved from suPonicks with Moz beating everyone to the punch. Taylor had appeared at breakfast the next morning with hers. Fazon and Rev were big enough that very few people would challenge them no matter their status.

While Vax could be useful in trades, Dezek never let the younger male off the ship while docked at Ixdora. More than one male had been jumped and woken to find himself married to a Doric female with no memory of the event and the ‘happy’ parents demanding the groom honor the contract and take the daughter away. Getting out of these pairings was a nightmare of galactic proportions. No one took leave on Ixdora unless he was actually looking to get mated. Dezek knew that Vax had purchased a mating cuff set on Saneera but he had decided to wait until Rose started her eighteenth year to present it to her. Vax was ever mindful of Sienna’s opinion of him. It made Dezek and Rev laugh privately that Vax was better behaved for Sienna than he ever had been for his own mother.

  Dezek worked on his course for the next leg of the trip while he waited for the four to return. Bast and Zorn sent a mental message that the seeds had arrived and were being loaded by the dock crew. Three hours after the seeds arrived, the four men returned with news that that the fabric and dye lots were arriving right behind. The men wore looks of extreme irritation as they checked in at the bridge.

  “Problems?” Dezek asked.

  “Nothing unusual for Ixdora,” Fazon reported. “Some of those guys must be pretty desperate to get rid of their daughters. Some of the ones in fabric district are just barely wearing any fabric.” He snorted shook his head. Bast sent a message the order had arrived and would be completely stored shortly.

  With fabric and dye lots stored in the hold Dezek gave the order to depart Ixdora. Every male on board breathed a sigh of relief as they pulled out of the planet’s atmosphere. Dezek finished his reports and sent them on. He smiled as he thought about his next destination. In eight weeks they would reach Phenessia. Usually stops at Phenessia made his spots itch. His mother was from Phenessia and every time they stopped here his mother asked him visit his grandmother. Translation: his mother demanded he visit. The visit was a parade of eligible females his grandmother ‘just happened to have visiting her’. But this time he had a weapon better than anything he’d ever thought of before. He had Sienna.
NaLada Palai wouldn’t know what hit her
he thought as he laughed to himself.

  The morning they arrived at Phenessia Dezek woke alone reaching for Sienna. Her side of the bed was cold. He reached for her mind in same instant he heard her vomit. He was out of the bed instantly, running into the lavatory. She vomited again as he reached her side. Sliding his arms around her, he supported her weight leaning her against him.

  “What happened?” She shook her head and he helped her stand at the sink. He used the small dispenser to get her a glass of water and a glass of mouth rinse. When this was done, he slid his hand under her shirt. He deepened his link with her and soothed her stomach. He was smiling when she straightened from rinsing her mouth and looked in the mirror at him.

  “You find something amusing about me being violently ill?” Her growl would have given his own a fair race. She scowled at him and started to pull away.

  “I’m not smiling because you don’t feel well,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Well, since that’s the only thing happening in here, I don’t see what’s funny,” she scowled again. He gently lifted her into his arms and carried her back to bed. He laid her down and stretched out next to her. The heat from his hand continued to soothe and relax her. The nausea began to fade.

  “Are you feeling better now?” he whispered softly against her temple.

  “Yes, thank you. I guess the utruskan hearts didn’t sit well,” she told him. Utruskan hearts were a knobby little vegetable with a dark brown skin that once peeled away revealed a bright yellow flesh. The taste was a lemony squash flavor. The hearts had ripened on the vines Moz was growing and they had cooked them with last night’s dinner. 

  “I don’t think it was the hearts, either.” He whispered as he nibbled her ear. “So tomorrow you should wake me when you wake up nauseous.”

  “I won’t be sick tomorrow. I am not eating the hearts again,” she told him snuggling into his shoulder. “They were good but not good enough to repeat that.” He laughed softly and stroked her back. After a few minutes she frowned against his shoulder. “Why do you think I’ll be sick tomorrow?” she said pulling back to look at him. He grinned.

“My mother is going to tell you it’s because my son is her revenge on me for being a troublesome child,” he told her smiling wide. His eyes were bright with laughter.

  “Your…Oh, god, are you telling me I’m pregnant?!”

  “You are my beautiful princess. You are.” His kissed her lips gently and then kissed away her tears. “These are happy tears, aren’t they?”

  “Yes, yes. I’m having your baby.” She was laughing and crying both now. He held her close.

  Two hours later he was still smiling when entered the bridge. Gval gave his summary report and then the night crew exited. Fazon and Rev came out of the lift as the night crew boarded. Fazon raised a brow at his captain.

  “You have a goofy grin on your face,” the big man told him.

  “I do.”

  “Going to share?” Fazon asked. “Bet I can guess.”

  “Do tell,” Dezek said with good humor.

  “Sienna’s pregnant. I told you, I always know. It’s the damnedest thing. It drove me crazy when I was younger. All my friends would be making eyes at some female and I’d be embarrassed as hell at their behavior because I knew she was pregnant,” he said shaking his at the memory.

  “How long have you known Sienna was pregnant?” Dezek was curious.

  “About the last four weeks. That would make her about six weeks along. I usually can tell at about two weeks.” Fazon looked around the bridge at the smiles and smirks. “I mean it. The first joke and I’ll pound you into galactic dust.”

  “I hate to break up nursery hour but I’ve received clearance for docking at spaceport Nystra. Dock 137 slip 2,” Kern interrupted the threats.

  “Sound landing notice and proceed.” Dezek and Fazon got back to business.

  After completing docking and customs procedures, Dezek was completing leave coordination with Fazon and Rev to make sure the ship was secure and adequately manned at all times. An incoming message interrupted.

  “Fazon, I have an incoming message for you,” Kern reported reluctantly.

  “From?” Fazon said puzzled.

  “Your mother, the message is coming in from planet side,” Kern told him grimacing and flinching simultaneously.

  “What!” the big man bellowed in surprise. “My mother is here! You have got to be kidding me!” Kern flinched again.

  “Why don’t you take it in my side,” Dezek suggested pointing to the small room off the bridge where he conducted captain’s duties that were confidential. Fazon took a deep breath and rolled his eyes and proceeded to the side. “I’m going down to catch the ladies in Hydro and go over the rules. Rev you have the con.”

***

  “Hello, Mother,” Fazon addressed his mother on the view screen.

  “Hello, my darling boy. I’m so glad you’re here,” Deka told her son smiling. “Are you coming to dinner at NaLada’s tonight?”

  “I’m not sure yet, Mother. Dezek is working on the leave schedule now. I didn’t realize you were going to be here visiting your mother so I didn’t request first night’s leave.” Fazon lied without regret and waited for the complaints to begin. They were standard fair for his mother. He still had to prepare Wendy for his mother and grandmother. No way was he letting her walk into that mess without sufficient warning.

  “So Dezek is still in charge? This is why you should be captain of your own ship by now. Then you would be able to come and go when you wanted. I still think your father could get you posted as the next captain if you would just let him,” Deka criticized. It was an old argument between them. Deka simply couldn’t or wouldn’t understand that Fazon had no wish to be a captain. He enjoyed his job. He had no wish to change it for the pressure of Dezek’s chair. Deka also didn’t understand that just because you were captain, it didn’t mean you had free reign to do as one pleased. There were always others to think about as captain, but of course thinking of others would never occur to his mother. Fazon realized he had missed her statement. “I’m sorry, Mother, an announcement distracted me. What did you say?”

  “I said let me know if you can come tomorrow then. Tryska’s daughter, Sange, just came of age and I want to introduce you. She’s a lovely girl. She’s very smart and very talented. I think the two of you will get along very well,” Deka smiled as she tried to polish interest in her best friend’s eldest daughter. Fazon locked his jaw and tried not to grind his teeth, hiding his cuffed hand behind him. He had hoped his father would be present as a buffer when his mother found out he was mated.

  “Mother, I hardly think a young woman who is just now sixteen years of age is someone I’d have much in common with. I’m thirty two, Mother.” Fazon explained yet again his first problem with Tryska’s daughter.

  “Don’t be silly. She’s very mature besides you like younger people. You must you spend so much time with that young useless Vax,” she told him waving off his concerns with the flick of a bony wrist.

  He thought the age made a better excuse than having to explain to his Phenian mother that he simply wasn’t attracted to Phenian females. While they were tall enough for a man like him, he simply couldn’t see the attraction. The Phenian female form was very, very thin. They had little or no curves and were flat chested unless pregnant. Fazon liked a woman with soft curves. He could admit it: he was breast man. The delicious curves were the reason he had first been attracted to Wendy. She was slightly taller than the average human female which was a good thing but it was her voluptuous body that turned him on high. Then he had quickly discovered her quick wit and quirky humor that made him laugh often enough that he was getting strange looks from the crew these days, who were used to his slightly grumpy demeanor. So the second day after he met her when she turned up in the gym and ogled him right back, he knew he’d found his forever girl. Some women were put off by his size. He was a huge male by lot of standards. She had confessed one night that his size turned her on since she was considered a plus size at a size twelve in human standards as well as being a little taller than average and his size made her feel dainty. He had promptly informed her he liked that plus. He liked it very much. So much so he had knelt on one knee and asked her to wear his cuff in the middle of lunch the day after they retrieved the four that were taken on Saneera.

  He had sworn Vax to secrecy after he’d asked for help on how to proceed with the cuff. He knew he was a little rough around the edges and was frequently a chauvinist as Wendy told him humans called it. So much so his strong friendship with the extremely sensitive younger Vax seemed strange to many, especially his mother. But he could easily call the younger man his best friend despite his mother’s disapproval and assertion that Vax wasn’t good enough for her son’s choice as best friend. He had a feeling his mother wasn’t going to like Wendy either as he said goodbye.

***

  Dezek found all of the women helping Moz pick vegetables in Hydro. It was their standard to start the day here. He was fairly certain the yellow “sunlight” was what drew them even if they didn’t realize it. Lar-Kevel would suit them perfectly.

  “Good morning, Ladies. Moz, I need to borrow your help for a few minutes.”

  Moz nodded in understanding. This was another conversation that might be difficult. 

  “Why don’t we sit at the tables and I’ll get the ladies a cool drink while you start,’ Moz told him and proceeded to the tables and the small dispenser on this deck. The group of women followed Moz and he took Sienna’s hand in his and brought up the rear. Moz put the glasses and pitcher on the table and took a seat next to Taylor after helping Samantha and Holly ease into chairs instead of the table bench. The two women’s pregnancies with twins had become too much to comfortably sit on the bench. He smiled knowing Moz was taking good care of the women when they were with him which was often. He was fairly certain that Moz’s gallant behavior toward the women had surprised most of the crew considering his playboy antics previously. Dezek knew Taylor had a lot to do with this change. Vax passed him with a shoulder pat and slid in next Rose, kissing her temple.

  “We’re currently docked at Nystra which is a major port city on Phenessia. It isn’t the capital but it is one of the largest cities on the planet. The Phenians are very selective on who they allow to dock planet side. The bulk of galactic traders dock at one of the five space stations orbiting the planet. You are safe here but I’d still feel more comfortable if you were accompanied by a male if you decide to visit the city or shops.
Phenessia has a yellow sun like Earth. It exports agriculture and mineral products. Phenian is an ancient culture so some of their museums are a sight to behold. Again every male will be in gold tone camouflage and present ourselves as Saavins.” He took a deep breath before he continued.

  “My grandmother, who is called NaLada Palai, lives here on the planet as my mother and Moz’s is Phenian. NaLada by the way is like Nana to you. She has invited all of you for dinner and I would like you to go if you want. But you need to know that even my grandmother doesn’t know what we truly are.”

  “Wait, your grandmother doesn’t know you’re actually green?” Sienna was astounded to say the least.

  “No. Every mate is sworn to secrecy.”

  “But what about the children?” Taylor asked with a puzzled frown.

  “Our children never leave the planet or are seen by off-planet relatives until they age at least five years. At the age of five most children can successfully camouflage for four to five hours at time,” Dezek explained. The women looked stunned. “I know this seems odd but considering the thousands and thousands of us that died at the hands of the unscrupulous, I think you can understand.”

  “I guess I need to meet your grandmother now then,” Taylor laughed and rubbed her still flat stomach.

  “Damn, you guys really know how to keep secrets,” Natalie swore with a laugh.

  “Does anyone have any questions?” Dezek paused to see if there were any. When he got none, he continued. “Blanca, you are aware that Tek’s mother is my aunt and so NaLada Palai is also his grandmother?”

  “Yes, he told me. He also invited me to dinner,” she smiled. The teen had become a much better person since the first day much to his surprise. He and Sienna had wondered privately how much of her behavior had been a cry for help or the need to fit in with rich kids who parents came vacationing. Everyone could also see the relationship between Blanca and Tek was slowly blooming. “He said I’d like her and that she’s very nice.”

  “She is very nice and she’ll be delighted to meet you. Ladat Tansa, his mother, will be over the moons to meet you,” Dezek teased the teen. “She was starting to worry he’d never be interested in anything that didn’t fly or drive!”

  Blanc laughed, “I know he told me.”

  “Can I ask a question?”

  “Sure Natalie, what did you want to know?”

  “I thought Lada meant Mom?”

  “Ah, it’s a subtle difference. Lada, L A D A, means Mom but Ladat, L A D A T, is a translation that means honor mother, who would be your mother’s sister, or in your language aunt.”

  “Okay, cool good to know.”

  “I guess now that all of you seem to have picked up quite a bit of our written language we need to start working on the spoken,” he told them.