Water World Warrior: A SciFi Alien Mail Order Bride Romance (TerraMates Book 1) (16 page)

What was that about a research trip? He wasn't doing research to save the planet. It was piracy!

I didn't know if I could be with a man who would keep such a huge secret from me. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes, as I watched them steal all the supplies from the government ship. I supposed, as the woman had said, that he would sell them and make a profit. No wonder he could afford such an expensive house.

Nathaniel, how could you? I thought, watching as he turned towards the ship. He had a hard, bitter look in his eyes.

Was this the same man who had saved me and been grateful when I woke up, and he realized I wasn't dead? Was this the same man who had made love to me last night with such tenderness?

I couldn't reconcile the Nathaniel before me with the Nathaniel in my dreams, and I was very confused. Was he even a scientist? I knew about a man named Nathaniel Lachlan that was a scientist and a hero on his planet because he had been working to save them all from the rising waters. Perhaps they both had the same name, and he had pretended to be the scientist. That would explain why he didn't look like his TerraMates picture.

I had to admit that I had not done my research properly. Everything had happened so fast. It was unusual for me to go into a situation blindly. But I had missed the fact that the Vandwans were fucking mermaids. Who knows what else I overlooked?

Maybe he had pretended to be the other Nathaniel Lachlan to buy a bride, and get out of trouble with the police. Now it was all making sense. He needed me so they wouldn't arrest him.

I frowned and leaned back against the wall of the storeroom. My legs were getting cramped, and I stretched them out. But what about the past three days? Why would he bother to try and convince me that he loved me?

It didn't make any sense.

The only thing I could think of was that part of his feelings may be real. The hope made me feel better until I realized that he had deceived me about everything else in his life.

Even if Nathaniel had told me the truth when he said he loved me, it didn't matter. There was no way I could be with a man who could lie to me like that. And look at how he was acting with those people.

Even if he had been so sweet to me, could I condone how he was acting now? The crew of the government vessel was afraid of him and what he might do. It wasn't right to act like that.

It also wasn't right to steal.

I had a tiny flicker of hope in my heart. Was there an explanation? I should give him a chance to explain himself. I would see him tonight and confront him.

I would see if he was a chronic liar, and if it was possible for him to tell the truth about anything.

ASHLYN

It's all well and good to make plans, I thought to myself, but then the fucking pirate goes and screws them all up.

We had sailed and sailed at what seemed to be a very fast speed, based on how it felt and the creaking noises that the ship was making.
After sunset, we moved stealthily into a little cove. I watched it all from my mast cameras — the second one was uncovered so I could see everything. The crew moored the ship and Nathaniel lowered a rope ladder to a rowboat. He left with Vess and a couple others.

He left!

The rest of the crew were all either in bed or the common room playing a Vandwan card game, from the sounds of it.

I was so mad that I decided to follow them. In hindsight, I could see that it wasn't the best decision but at the moment, it seemed brilliant. I crept out of my storeroom, keeping an eye out for anyone. They were all holed up in their rooms.

Soon I was swinging on the rope ladder. When I got to the end of it, I realized there was no boat because Nathaniel had used it. I looked around. The water was crystal clear and seemed safe.

I was only wearing a pair of stretchy shorts and a tight-fitting tank top. It was damn hot in the hold. I looked at the shore. I thought I could swim for it. It wasn't far.

I dropped into the water and began to swim. I wasn't in a rush until I saw something in the water that was shadowing me. My heart sped up, and I went into a front crawl, swimming for all I was worth. Was it a shark? Or something worse? I had no idea if this part of the ocean was behind The Barrier.

The faster I went, the faster the shadow went and I started to panic. I looked at the shore. It had looked closer when I was on the boat. I guessed I was twenty meters away, which I could swim if I hurried.

I swam as hard as my body could, as the shadow began to rise towards me, getting closer and closer. When I got to the beach, I leaped up and ran up onto the dry sand. I didn't stop until I was standing in the trees.

When I turned around, I saw a fin swimming away in the open water.

My throat was raw, my side was aching, and my muscles felt like mush. I suddenly sat down, unable to stand a moment longer.

After my breathing had calmed, and I had convinced myself I was still alive and the shark had not eaten me, I was able to stand up. There was only one path, and I decided to follow it and hope it went to civilization. I didn't feel like going on any adventures after the shark scare, but I wasn't going to swim back out to the ship.

It took about twenty minutes, but soon I saw a small town. I stood on the outskirts and watched, wondering if I would stand out from the locals. I wore Vandwan clothing, but that didn't mean anything. Could I blend in enough to find out where Nathaniel had gone?

Then I saw him. He was meeting a woman. A beautiful woman with dark hair! I felt a flare of jealousy.

Don't be stupid, I told myself, he's a liar and a pirate. He's probably got a woman in every port. You don't want to be with a guy like that.

But my heart disagreed.

I decided to follow them at a distance. He wouldn't be looking for me here. They were so interested in their conversation that they weren't even looking at anyone around them.

Were they going somewhere together right this minute? He had his hand on her elbow in a protective manner. I wondered if she was an old lover.

What if I was merely the latest in a long line of women? I cursed myself for a fool.

Then I remembered his eyes when he had made love to me. You couldn't fake that. Not when you were so close to someone. Could you?

I didn't know. I felt like I didn't know anything anymore.

I followed, trying to stay out of sight and far enough back without losing them. They went into a house that bordered on the forest, and I went around until I could hide in the woods behind the house. There was a large patio in the backyard, and they came out to sit down at the table. The woman placed a drink in front of each of them, and they began to talk.

NATHANIEL

"First of all, what the hell's wrong with you, Nat?" Freya, my sister, said.

"What do you mean?" I said, irritated that she had noticed so quickly. "I'm fine."

"You are the opposite of fine," she said. "More like not fine. What happened with TerraMates?"

I know she asked on purpose, and I kept my face neutral.

"I married her, showed the authorities proof, and took her back to my house. We spent three days together and then I came on this raid."

She was studying me.

"Show me," she said. Just like Ashlyn had said, show me, when she had wanted to see my underwater breathing organs. I frowned and pushed the memory back under the bitterness, where I was keeping all my thoughts of Ashlyn.

I flipped my forearm over and she took it in her hands, maneuvering it in the light until she could see our picture. I looked down at the two of us on the day when we got married.

Ashlyn looked beautiful. Like an angel or a dream. I looked stupidly happy.

I looked back up at my sister but she wasn't looking at the picture anymore. She was looking at me.

"You care for her," she said. It was a statement of fact.

There was no use lying to Freya.

"I did. But she left. She's probably halfway back to Earth by now."

"You married a human?"

"It's called TerraMates, what were you expecting? It was supposed to be a marriage of convenience," I said. I was getting defensive.

"It was supposed to be?" My sister raised one eyebrow. "But it wasn't?"

"I'll tell you the truth, Freya. I fell for her pretty hard. I thought she felt the same way, but she left me."

"She left you?" she asked. "When?"

"Today. I went back to say good-bye to her, and she left to go for a walk."

Freya was looking confused.

"I had to go without taking proper leave," I said, bitterly. She hurt me when she didn't give me a good-bye kiss. "When I saw her computer, there was a receipt on the screen from TerraMates. She transferred a lot of money that she got for marrying me."

"The agency pays the women to marry random guys?" Freya said.

"'TerraMates fairly compensates the brides for their endeavors,'" I quoted. "I guess she didn't care about me as I cared about her. Once she got her money, she disappeared."

I ran my fingers through my hair, a sure sign that I was upset, and continued with my tale of woe.

"I talked to my maid from the ship. All her stuff was gone, and she left a goodbye note. She didn't even have the decency to say goodbye in person." Damn, that had pissed me off.

"But you didn't talk to her?" Freya said, getting to the heart of the matter like always.

"Well, no."

"You don't know for sure that she left you. You're making assumptions. If I had told you this morning that she was going to leave you, would you have believed me?"

"Never in a million years."

"Then maybe she didn't leave, Nat. There are plenty of reasons why her clothes could be gone. What if something happened to her on that walk? A human on Vandwa? Things can happen to a woman alone."

I stared at my sister.

It hadn't occurred to me that something bad might have happened to her. I had been so caught up in what it looked like that I never imagined that she might have had an accident.

She sat back, nodding.

"You've got it bad, little brother," she said.

"Tell me about it, Freya. I thought she was the one," I said, placing a call to have one of the staff search the island and the waters around it.

"You better figure out where she is and talk to her before you destroy a relationship in your mind."

I felt on edge until my maid told me she wasn't anywhere on or around the island. I felt relieved that she was safe, but it was difficult for me to reconcile that emotion with bitterness, so I shoved it aside.

If she wasn't lost or hurt, that made it more likely that she left me.

Freya and I had dinner and were sipping wine, discussing the refugee situation.

"Did you offload the new supplies yet, Nat?"

"The crew is supposed to be doing that right now."

"It's been almost three weeks. Some of the families were getting hungry. The kids are all looking so skinny. It breaks my heart and makes me angry at the same time. How can the government let this happen?"

"All we can do is what it's possible to do. I get the diverted shipments and bring them here to the people that they were intended for. You distribute them and make sure the people have what they need. What else can we do in a system that's full of corruption?"

"Where was this one going?"

I sighed.

"To the Wai refugee camp. Again."

"Those fucking rich bastards," she said, slapping her knee, lifting her hand and flinging it up in a Vandwan gesture of contempt.

"I'm sure Jori doesn't know anything about it," I said, but the words didn't ring true. I was afraid our little brother knew all about it and might have a hand in it. He liked luxuries. When the island where he lived had disappeared underneath the rising ocean, and he relocated to a refugee camp, he hadn't wanted to give up all the special things to which he had grown accustomed.

One way the rich of Vandwa were fueling their lifestyles, even in the refugee camps, was by stealing shipments meant for other camps and selling them for a profit.

Both Freya and I had offered to let Jori come live with us, but he had refused. I thought I knew why. Was it because in the refugee camps of the rich, the lifestyle was lavish and the party never ended? It was all paid for by the government, of course.

Meanwhile, the ordinary people suffered.

Freya looked at me.

"I know you want to believe that he doesn't have anything to do with this, Nat. I do too. But the evidence is becoming overwhelming. This has to stop."

"I know, Freya, but what else can we do?"

"You could find out who's behind this, Nat. If we knew who in the government was diverting the ships in the first place and who was paying them off, we could expose them and put an end to the corruption."

What she was asking was impossible, because I was afraid Jori would be at the bottom of it all.

"You could go back to your work, Nat. Your real work." She put her hand on mine. "I know you were close to a solution. I know you miss it."

I stared at the ground. I did have an idea to counteract the rising water levels, but I didn't have enough time to work on the design. I needed to take measurements and build a prototype to see if it was feasible.

It was a possibility. It was an idea that could save our world. If it were successful, we wouldn't have to move a whole planet full of refugees. But I couldn't go back to my work considering the current situation.

It was foolish, selfish thinking. I couldn't go back to fiddling around in the lab while people were going hungry.

"Freya, these people need us. They need to eat. It's the right thing to do."

"I know, Nat. We will, as long as we have to. But I have a feeling that you're reluctant to investigate because you're afraid it's going to be Jori."

"That is just what I'm afraid of, Freya. He's our flesh and blood. How can I expose him and send him to jail?"

She shook her head.

"We all make our choices, Nat. If he's making wrong ones, then he will have to face the consequences. We can't shield him from that. Maybe we babied him too much. But we don't know for sure; maybe he's innocent. We won't know unless you find out."