Upon the Threshold (5 page)

She grabbed a pair of scissors that were lying on the stand just inside of the door and walked farther into the room. Holding her breath, she pulled the curtain that covered where she hung her clothes and stepped back in shock. Everything there had been shredded as well.

Seeing no one in the room, she chewed her lower lip. “Shit.” She muttered the old Earth term. She couldn’t tell her dad she knew who had done this because he would ask how, and that was something she wasn’t willing to give up. Too many of their people would be angered at the fact that the Droushanian were watching them.

Wiping her tears away, she took a deep breath and stepped outside of her quarters. Turning her face to the Droushanian camp, she nodded and then started to walk toward her people’s community center, where she knew her dad would be. She would leave it to the guards to figure out who had entered her home without her approval and destroyed everything she had.

* * * *

Pressing his fists to the console, Kraven stared at the monitor and watched Elisabeth. She was upset. He could see it in the lines of her body and the tightness of her face. Something had occurred in her quarters, or she’d found something there. It was clear in the way she held herself as she walked out of her quarters. That she’d come back out without a mark on her or harmed in any outward appearance meant nothing.

There were many ways to harm another.

Why he cared at all was something he would have to investigate later. Along with his odd reaction to the tiny human female. Her scent, on the night breeze, had teased his nose and made his body harden. This was not the way a Droushanian male should ever react to an alien female.

This was not the way
he
should react to any alien female. His life had a very set plan, one laid out when he’d been nothing but a child, long before he’d even had sight of puberty and turning into an adult male.

And yet… Something about Elisabeth Washington brought out urges from within that could well be very dangerous. Not only to her, but to any around him. Every Droushanian male held untold power inside of himself. It came with their darker natures and the Beast, as it was called on his world.

He would have to watch himself around her, catalog everything. If it was merely a reaction to a new race, he would need to alert the scientists. If it was her…

If it was her, he would have to ensure he was never around her again.

* * * *

Elisabeth went to the commons room. Seeing her dad standing there, she approached him and quietly asked to talk with him privately. When they were alone, she turned and began to speak.

“Dad, while I was delivering the gifts to the Droushanians, someone broke into my quarters and destroyed everything. Nothing was left untouched. They even killed my plant.” A plant that was rare, which had survived their trip in one of the stasis pods. “I don’t know who would do something like this.”

Okay, so she was blatantly lying to her dad, but she knew if she mentioned the Droushanian could see into their settlement, life would be very difficult. The trust would be broken where she didn’t think that destruction of trust was deserved. She was glad to have the Droushanians watching over and protecting her people, but she had always seen things differently from others.

“For what purpose?” Markus asked with a frown marring his features. Clasping his hands behind his back, he began to pace, a pose that Elisabeth knew all too well. “Why would someone do that to your quarters? Perhaps we should go and see the damage done?”

“Of course, Dad. I also think that we should bring along the guards so that they can begin their investigation and find who did this?” She offered because she wanted them to do the research and find the man whom she knew had broken into her quarters.

“Yes, I will get the captain and ensure that he starts his search immediately.” Markus nodded absently. After making a communications call to the captain of the guard, Markus said, “Let’s head to your quarters, and you can tell me about the Droushanian?”

“Of course, Dad. They were very peaceful. Quiet. They simply want to ensure our protection,” Eli said honestly.

* * * *

Watching his friend, Lukkis had to wonder if he should be worried. Kraven was acting oddly, out of sorts really, and definitely not like his normal self. And yet, if Lukkis hadn’t known Kraven so well, he would never have noticed.

It was little things really. So small that the crew and members of their landing party didn’t realize anything was wrong. Which was good. No need to have them all questioning the one leading them.

But Lukkis was Kraven’s friend, and as his friend, Lukkis would get to the bottom of it all. One way or another.

With that in mind, he moved closer to where Kraven was standing, staring out of the view screens to the multitude of colors they revealed through various levels of scanning. “A moment,” Lukkis said, keeping his voice low.

Kraven shot him a look and nodded.

Tipping his head in a bow, Lukkis led him away from the others and into the private room the commander of the vessel could use for meetings or just to have a bit of privacy. Inside he made sure the door lock was engaged before turning to look at his friend.

“What’s wrong?” Lukkis asked. Blunt, to the point, and yet it left a lot to be interpreted. He wouldn’t get overly direct unless Kraven avoided telling him the truth.

“It’s her,” he said quietly.

Well, all right. Not exactly the answer Lukkis had expected, and yet it made perfect sense. “How so?” he asked.

Kraven jerked his head in a shake. “Unclear. There is just something about her that…” He trailed off and huffed out a breath. By the expression on his face, one he’d never let the others see, Lukkis knew Kraven was frustrated, annoyed, and baffled.

“What about her?” Lukkis prodded. He needed to know what was going on, and quickly by the sounds of things. Lukkis knew what his Beast was telling him; he just wasn’t certain if Kraven’s Beast was thinking along the same lines as his.

His friend began to pace, sharp, measured strides from one end of the room to the other. Something he did when he was trying to work out a problem internally, to better see the issue at hand, and hopefully, to decipher a solution.

Lukkis waited. He could prod more but knew it wouldn’t work. Kraven was in a mood where additional questions would either have him closing down or coming at Lukkis with fists and claws flying.

Changing position slowly, the better not to bring his agitated friend’s attention to him, Lukkis leaned a shoulder to the wall next to Kraven. Letting out a breath, Lukkis crossed his arms over his chest and settled in to wait.

It took a while longer than he would have thought for Kraven to finally stop pacing and face him.

“She rouses the Beast,” Kraven said.

Shock had Lukkis’s mouth dropping open. That had been the last thing he’d ever expected to hear, especially from Kraven. Pushing from the wall, Lukkis strode right up to his friend and stared into his pale blue eyes, the same color as a lake near Lukkis’s home.

“What exactly do you mean by that, Kraven?” Best to know the extent of damage this woman might be causing. Best to know just how bad it could be. For then Lukkis would know best how to eliminate the problem. Permanently.

Chapter Five

Eli looked down at her pack and nodded. It had been a very long four months. The investigation into who had trashed her apartment had proved fruitless, but so far she had been able to keep herself in check, meaning she hadn’t gone back to the Droushanian camp to see Kraven and Lukkis again. Sadly, Parker, the man she had seen breaking into her quarters, was able to slide by without any repercussions in the least. He became very handsy with her, wanting to touch her at the oddest times, and that only served to fuel her temper. In the meantime she had snuck out a few times to see Lukkis and Kraven, but when no one met her along the way, she got the hint.

It only took ten times.

Now she was going on a scouting mission. She was going alone because so far there had been nothing that had caused their camp or their people trouble. As far as their people could tell, there were no animals on the world, other than the ones that they had been creating and putting out into the wild.

Today she was going to go check on the wild horses, beautiful creatures that seemed to take to this new world with a startling vengeance. They had acted as if they had been bred there, which in a way they had been, since it was the human scientists that had grown them from DNA, but still. They had been bred to thrive in this new world after all.

Once she was certain she had everything, she walked out of their camp, waving at the sentries who stood guard there, and headed off over the now-green hills that had a hint of snow covering them.

Turning her face up to the skies, she smiled. Snow. They never would have believed that they would have snow in this new home. It was utterly amazing. It was a true wonder, everything that they were learning about their new home—that was certain. Now if only she could figure out a way to go back to the Droushanian camp and maybe have dinner with the commander and weapons master.

She snorted. “Yeah right. They don’t want to see you again. Didn’t you catch that hint the last ten times you went?” she mumbled to herself as she walked along a path that would lead her to where the wild horses had made their home.

* * * *

“She’s leaving the town, sir.”

Kraven lifted his head at those words. His attention went straight to the display, and he saw that Elisabeth was indeed leaving the human town. She had a pack over her shoulders and looked to be planning a bit of a journey.

But he caught the look on her face as she glanced their way. It was a look that mirrored much of what he’d been feeling since first meeting her and forcing himself to stay away.

Nodding, he waved a hand. “Track her and let me know when she reaches whatever her destination is.” Forcing his attention down, he continued to work for a time longer on the reports that were due.

Finally, he got up and left the data pad behind to have the reports he had been working on uploaded and sent to their home world. Checking on a few more things, he kept an eye on the sensor display and saw Elisabeth still moving. He left the others to continue their work, and strolled in an unhurried manner to his quarters.

After putting on a thermal jacket, he went outside the ship to track down Lukkis. Not that hard really. Kraven knew where his friend was at all times if he wasn’t eating or sleeping.

Sticking his head into the workshop area that was being used for tending to all their weaponry while on the planet, he motioned for Lukkis to join him outside. Away from the other three Droushanian in the enclosure. Best that they didn’t know what Kraven was about to say could lead to trouble eventually.

Stepping back, Kraven moved away from the building so his line of sight in all directions was clear. “She left the human town,” he said, quietly of course.

Lukkis, smart male that he was, didn’t even have to ask who. “You know this will only cause trouble. Kraven, you are promised to another. To do this thing that you are thinking with her…”

“You think I don’t know that? I’ve stayed away from her for this very reason. But the Beast is not giving me any peace these last many dawnings. I wake thinking of her and fall into a restless slumber thinking about her. It’s only getting worse, Lukkis. Either I need to get her out of my system entirely or …” He trailed off, shoving a hand through his dark hair.

“Where is she going?” Lukkis asked.

“Toward the quadrant they are holding the animals they call horses within.”

“Out of range of the sensors, thanks to that large rock outcropping. We can get there before her if we come around it from the southern ridge.”

That his friend was willing to assist in this lunacy made him feel mildly better. Nodding, he buckled up the thermal jacket. “Whenever you are ready,” he said. Lukkis wouldn’t take long to get ready for their journey. Even with the advantages of their people, they’d have to push themselves to get there.

* * * *

When Eli arrived at the place the horses had called their own, she stopped to marvel at the sights before her. Taking a deep breath, she smiled. This was why her people had come here. This was only one of the many reasons they were on the right path. They had tossed aside the old ways, the ways that had caused the destruction of their home, and instead focused on ensuring that life would continue. That animals and plants would abound alongside of humanity.

Lifting her viewer, she began to count the horses, smiling when she saw the smaller foals and making notations. They were breeding on their own after the four months they had been on planet. Amazing. After such a short time too. That meant an accelerated pregnancy, but the foal looked perfectly healthy to her.

Once more, she lifted her viewer and continued to count, lost in the moment of sheer happiness that there was life where none had been before.

The sound of someone running reached her, brought her out of the daze she was happily working in. Turning, she saw Lukkis running right at her. As her eyes went wide, he ducked and hefted her up and over his shoulder, barely slowing down as she now bounced along over his back.

On one of those bounces, she caught sight of Kraven, one big-ass blade in his hand as he stabbed…something. Something that was big with even bigger teeth which looked very, very pissed off. Something that was pretty much in the exact same spot she’d been in moments earlier.

Everything came to a halt, and then she was upright again, her head spinning. Only Lukkis’s grip on her arms kept her from falling straight onto her ass.

“Stay here,” he ordered her. He made to move off, then seemed to reconsider and pressed a weapon, like a gun, into her hand. “Point and shoot. Don’t mess with any of the buttons. Just point and shoot if you need to.” With that he was racing back the way they’d just come, straight for Kraven and the animal he was fighting. No, wait, there were three there now. One on the ground trying to crawl away and two others going in for the kill.