The Lereni Trade (7 page)

Now that she knew she wasn't from
Earth, she wondered if it's self-sizing was a result of advanced
technology, or if the stone was even from Earth.

She'd thought the symbols etched into
it were some sort of inspirational glyph, but now a new suspicion
dawned on her—alien script. Yet that didn't explain why she'd found
the symbol in an old language buried in over four thousand years of
dust, a language studied by so few that only scraps were available
on the 'net, unless her species had been to Earth
before.

"Protection," she murmured the
translation while studying it. A part of her felt closer to her
mysterious birth mother to know that she had left it as a keepsake,
apparently a message that she had been loved enough to give her an
object symbolizing the protection her birth mother had felt for
her.

But it didn't explain why that mother
would give up her child.

Krissa wiped her eyes and studied the
bracelet that she hadn't removed in so long that she had nearly
forgotten that she wore it. It had become a part of her, her only
link to her birth family and one she couldn't bear to part
with.

Aliens. Somehow, she could accept
that. It didn't scare her.

The realization lightened her heart
and she breathed away the last of Torik's betrayal.

Feeling eyes burning through her, she
quit examining the stone and looked up to catch Theen glaring at
her suspiciously.

She supposed she would find out soon
enough about her parents, if that's where the Lereni were taking
her.

What if they weren't?

Her heart gave a heavy thud against
her chest.

Now she had to know.

Torik!
She jumped to her feet and followed his trail to the rear
corridor.

"Torik!" she called, doubtful if he
would tell her but feeling that she had to try. She wasn't mad,
only frustrated that he wasn't open with her, like a friend should
be.

The shuffle of movement came from the
pantry area. Uncertain who it might be, she waited.

Torik soon stepped through the door,
sullen and hopeful at the same time, or maybe she was
misinterpreting Lereni expressions. She was still new to this. He
said nothing.

"I…" She glanced behind but, around
the edge of the corridor, could see only a hand on the table. Not
wanting to speak in the open, she pushed Torik back into the food
storage, kitchen, pantry, or whatever they called the
room.

Inside, she led him to the table and
sat on the chair opposite him.

"I…think..." She searched her limited
vocabulary for the right words to express herself, but they were
difficult to find until she learned more. "You are…good; but Karik
and them are wrong."

"I am bound to duty."

"I seek my family. You help
me."

He dropped his eyes, a guilty look
keeping him from meeting her gaze. Krissa reached out, hoping to
entice him to reconnect, and wrapped her fingers around
his.

"Torik. I am alone, sad. Help
me."

For several seconds, he stared at her
pink hand on the fuzz of his.

"I cannot."

"Why?"

"Do not ask me." At that, he withdrew
his hand and started to rise.

Without thinking, she snatched at his
sleeve to stop him.

"Wait…Tell me…about Leisil." He had
only briefly mentioned their homeworld while he had taught her
their language.

She had struck a chord with that
request; he paused and turned with a hurt look on his face. "It is
not what it once was."

"Tell me," she said to keep him
talking about his homeworld in the hopes of gleaning some scrap of
knowledge.

Slowly, he sat back down, but his eyes
went to the door for a second. When no one entered, his shoulders
dropped.

"Leisil was beautiful but always hard.
Clans fought for resources. Those who won accepted the losers into
their clan. Those who were unsatisfied with their clans separated.
Injustice was not tolerated. Those who fought without honor
were…disposed by their clans.

"When the Tah'Na came, they took over
all resources, limiting the clans to make them beg for survival.
And they disposed of the most violent, most honorable warriors…like
Karik's father and brother. They made the females their servants,
promising to release them only to mate with the tamest males. They
brought peace, but at a price." His claws curled a scrape on the
metal top of the table. "The only good was to unite our people
against their atrocities."

"I am sorry," she said for lack of
words and reached out to offer her sympathy in a touch. This time,
he set his free hand over hers, his lips twitching into an attempt
at a smile, which failed.

"Do the Tah'Na still…" What was the
word?

"Yes. We must pay for our freedom, beg for scraps. They
control all food, medicine, water, power…
all
resources, to control us." The latter came
out in a growl.

She shuddered and waited on
him.

After a length of silence, he finally
said, "They are cruel masters."

"And…Karik believes I'm a threat but
you take me to save your world?"

His eyes focused sharply on her and he
sat back, withdrawing his hands from their connection.

"I…What can I do?" She begged for
scraps now, scraps of information.

He rose to his feet and she jumped
into his path, her hands on his chest.

"Torik. Please. I want to help. You
deserve better than Tah'Na dominance." Apparently, he wasn't going
to give up his secret about her. "You are my friend…I
think?"

"I know you cannot tell me." Although
she wished he would open up. "I do not like it, but…I understand. I
trust you." If only he would trust her.

Cheek muscles shifted and he avoided
her eyes as if ashamed.

"I just want…to belong." Something she
hadn't felt anywhere, except with him. "Stay by me. You are the
first…" Person, she wanted to say but bit her tongue. "No one has
treated me like they cared, not like you."

Slowly, those strange green eyes slid
to her.

"You care. I see in you. You are
better than the others." He had a gentleness about him, rather than
the rough edges of the others on that ship.

"I am…" She dropped her hands from
him. "Confused. I do not know what you want of me. That is
frightening. But you have not hurt me."

"I have said too much." He excused
himself past her as if not hearing any of what she had
said.

What did he want? What did they want?
Why was she there?

Krissa dropped into the chair and
stared after him, her thoughts tangled. Why couldn't he trust
her?

It wasn't fair to Krissa. Seeing the
pain on her face, especially one as plain as the human face she
wore, tugged at his strong sense of morality. He couldn't tolerate
her pleas and wanted very much to tell her the truth, to answer her
questions; but his duty and his honor forbid him from saying
anything.

That permission could only come from
Karik, but he would never give it without a good reason. Torik
could disobey and tell her, but that would only make matters
worse.

In the face of her disappointment, he
had to leave her, to escape the shame burning through his
chest.

It did nothing to ease his mind.
Rather, being away from her only fed his guilt.

He had to speak with Karik. There had
to be another way.

He marched past Theen still at the
table—there was little else to do during long voyages than to study
or exercise—and made a line for the command center, where Karik
liked to separate himself from them and their cargo.

Pressure doors opened and closed at
each end of the short corridor. In an emergency, the command deck
could serve as a lifepod.

Karik stood before the navigation
display and peered briefly over his shoulder before returning his
attention to the course outlined on that display. Past him, through
the viewport sections, the rift swirled and smeared with the lights
of stars blurred together.

"How is the
Seres
?" Karik asked.

"Sad. Lonely."

An amused scoff from the captain
sparked outrage inside, but Torik restrained the urge to lash out
in a challenge to Karik's authority. He could not win in a
fight.

Instead, he spoke in a calm voice:
"She wishes to help us."

The air around Karik thickened as he
turned, a scowl on his face and his ears lowering in threat. "What
have you told her?"

"Nothing about herself. She asked
about our world. I told her the Tah'Na are cruel. She understands
injustice."

"She is
Seres
—manipulative and deceptive. She is working her power over
you, Torik."

"No, sir."

Karik straightened and stepped around
the stations to confront him, several inches taller and many inches
thicker in the bulk of ready muscles.

"Are we not worse than the Tah'Na for
keeping the truth from her?" Torik prompted.

"This is different. She could threaten
our safety if she understood."

"
Could
, sir. She volunteers to support us."

"A trick. She would say anything to
get what she wants. She recognizes that you are soft and is using
that—"

"No, sir. I understand the dangers of the
Seres
, but she was not raised among the Onduun. Is not an
individual the sum of genetics
and
culture? She doesn't know what she is. Perhaps, if
we gained her sympathy…"

Karik snorted. "Sympathy? Where were
the Onduun when the Tah'Na conquered our world? They have no
sympathy for Lereni."

"She was not raised
Onduun."

"She is still one of them! And the
animals of that primitive world are no better!" The fury on Karik's
face chased out the rest of his objections. The captain would not
be convinced. But he was right about that world—the pair of males
attacking her had proven that they had reached her in
time.

"It's clear to me that you are far too
close to her. Her words have poisoned you."

"No. She's a sentient being, an
individual like you or me, not an object."

In a flash of anger, Karik stepped
threateningly close, his eyes gleaming with hatred. "I don't care
what she is! The Tah'Na have sworn to release our world if we bring
them the daughter of Naperi. That is all that matters. Keep that in
your head, Lieutenant." He stormed out in a huff.

After a second to recover his courage,
Torik pursued. Karik was wrong about Krissa. She wasn't dangerous,
nor was their world the only concern. One planet for one
individual. There must have been more to the trade than the Tah'Na
had indicated. That was a small price for the resources they gained
from Leisil. There must have been much more than anyone was telling
him.

Realization struck him—this was what
Krissa felt.

When the second door opened, he
faltered.

"Let me go!" Krissa pleaded in Lereni.
"Please…"

Karik dragged her to one of the
storage bins on the side of the hold, her attempts to pry his iron
fingers from her arm futile.

She was his friend, and he was hers.
"Karik—" Torik took a step towards him, intent on protecting her
from the captain's rage, but halted at the threat in those
eyes.

"Her treachery must be ended. That
tongue is poison. I do this for all of us."

"Do what? What are you doing to me?"
Fear carried her words. "What did I do?"

"Nothing," Torik assured her while
hurrying to prevent whatever punishment Karik intended. "He's
afraid."

"So am I." Tears glinted from her
hairless cheeks.

She was his friend, and he was
hers.

Torik swallowed his fear of
challenging Karik. No more could this go on. He stepped between
them and the open bin, his palms out to stop Karik from finding
whatever he sought. "Let her go, Karik. She's not hurting
anyone."

"She's turned you into her mouth on my
crew. That is mutiny against your world."

"No." Or maybe he was right, but she
wasn't the threat that Karik imagined.

Torik paused at the appearance of
Theen and Korr approaching. If he could convince them…

"You're being irrational," he said.
"We've all lost loved ones to the Tah'Na. She had nothing to do
with the conquest and domination of Leisil. Let her go. You're
anger is for the Tah'Na, not her."

Karik's eyes flicked aside at the
other two, who stopped a few steps behind him.

"We'll work this out. She can't hurt
anyone here," Torik said.