Cornering Carmen (23 page)

“I saw some of the other women being sold to traders who would come to drop things off at the mines,” Mel said quietly. “We were afraid they would sell me, especially if they knew I was a woman. I worked with horses at a farm near our home and was always good with animals so I worked with the Pactors. They aren’t much different from mules in the way they act.
Gramps
thought it would be good if I acted like I couldn’t speak and was not all there in the head,” she continued touching her temple with the tips of her fingers.

“When the mines ran out the Antrox decided I was too old to do much. Mel overheard them and hid in the tunnels where they couldn’t find her. She knew the tunnels backwards and forwards from the years of running errands. They couldn’t find her so they left us behind,” Cal said. “When the men on board the
Horizon
showed up, I had to take a chance. We were down to less than a week’s worth of food and water. Mel and I decided it would be best if we continued pretending she was my grandson with a handicap. It’s kept the men on board from looking at her,” he added.

“I don’t want them looking at me,” Mel said forcefully. “I saw what the males did to some of those women,” she said
,
flushing as she looked at Riley. “No offense, ma’am.”

Riley laughed and shook out her heavy mane of blonde, curly hair. “Darling, those insects didn’t know what to do with me! I had those bastards shaking in their long underwear!” She said with a wink. “I don’t think they were too happy with the trader who dropped me off at their place. Once we get home things will be better.”

Carmen looked startled at Riley. “Home? I thought you had ‘five’ mates with four of them not counting?
” S
he asked with an amused grin.

Riley snorted in a very unladylike manner. “I just said I’d take the five hemorrhoids so they wouldn’t end up on someone’s plate for breakfast, lunch or dinner. But like all good hemorrhoids, they have continued to be a pain in my ass and it is time for them to
pass
on and be flushed down the nearest toilet, as my dear Grandma Pearl would say,” she said with an exaggerated sigh and one hand clenched over her heart as if she was making the ultimate sacrifice.

Mel giggled and glanced at her Granddad. “That sounds just like something you would say, Gramps.”

“Unappreciative little whippersnapper,” Cal said affectionately.

The door to the repair bay opened suddenly and Cree walked in. Mel immediately slammed her hat on her head and jumped to her feet, heading for the crates again. Carmen watched Cree’s face darken as his gaze followed Melina. A look of strain tightened his mouth into a straight line before he tore his gaze away to look at Carmen.

“My lady, your mate wishes to see you,” Cree said carefully. He cleared his throat before he looked at Riley. “Your mate as well, Lady Riley. Lord Vox said quote, “tell her to get her beautiful ass to our living quarters now’.”

Riley snorted and tossed her head in dismissal. “Tell him quote ‘my beautiful ass is quite comfortable where it is and he can shove his…” Cree choked
on a cough
as Riley continued to tell him what he could repeat to Vox. “Oh, never mind. Tell him I’ll be there when I’m damn well ready.”

Cree bowed stiffly before glancing toward the crates where Mel was hiding. “Yes, Lady Riley. Carmen?” He asked.

“I’ll come with you. See you later, Riley – Cal,” Carmen said with a smile. “Bye, Mel,” she called out as she stood up.

Cree’s eyes searched the darkness before he turned and escorted Carmen out of the repair bay. Carmen laid a gentle hand on his arm to stop him. Cree was surprised at the compassion he saw in the human female that had changed so much since his first meeting with her.

“We Earthlings are not always what we appear to be,” she said looking into the golden flames of Cree’s eyes in concern. “We don’t give up our hope of returning home easily. Cal and Mel want to return to Earth.”

Cree stiffened before he shrugged. “Why should I or Calo care if the old man and the boy want to return? It would be better off for all if they did.”

Carmen opened her mouth to repeat her comment about all not being as they appeared but thought better of it. From the closed look on Cree’s face, it was obvious he did not want to discuss it anymore. She glanced at the door to the repair bay with a frown. Things could become very complicated if he or Calo found out that Mel was actually Melina.

Several days later, Carmen stared out the viewport in the lounge area aboard the
Horizon
lost in thought. Her life had changed so much in such a short time. She gently brushed her fingers along Harvey’s smooth head. The gold symbiot could sense her emotional distress and had stayed close to her all day. She let her fingers caress his head, needing the touch to help calm her.

She was no longer nervous about being in space which was a good thing considering they were going to be away from Valdier for several more months. That didn’t mean she was ready to jump into one of the small shuttles anytime soon, she was just more comfortable on the larger warship. There was plenty to do on board to keep her busy. She and Creon worked out each day at different times due to his work schedule. Sometimes when they couldn’t meet up she would coax Cree or Calo into a sparring match by baiting them. Most of the time when he was working, she studied the history of Valdier and worked on learning their language. She also chatted with her sister a few times. Their relationship was slowly improving. It wasn’t quite what it had been before Scott’s death but it was better than it had been in the past three years.

Creon had stopped by during a brief break in his work to tell her that Kelan had found Trisha. She had been taken to a hostile moon known for its dangerous inhabitants. He had reassured her that Trisha was unharmed and safe aboard the
V’ager
. She didn’t know all the facts about what happened, just that Trisha and Kelan were safe and they were headed for Earth.

He and Ha’ven had also talked with Mandra and Adalard, Ha’ven’s younger brother as well. They had met up with an informant and were heading to an isolated moon on the outskirts of the Curizan star system. The
Horizon
was on its way to meet up
with
them. It would take a couple of days at full speed.

She had sadly said goodbye to Riley yesterday. One of the Sarafin warships had met up with the
Horizon
and Vox, Riley, and the rest of the crew from the freighter, minus Bob and Fred, transferred over to it. Vox’s warship was traveling beside the
Horizon
to Raffvin’s hidden base. The Sarafin King was not about to let a chance at retaliation slip through his fingers. Riley was going to stay on board the
Horizon
but Vox had refused to let her. She didn’t go quietly. In fact, Carmen was pretty sure everyone within three star systems could have heard her. On Vox’s side, there was a lot of cursing, followed by a wide variety of threats that Riley blew off. Riley on the other hand was more into throwing a few wild swings and anything else she could get her hands on. Carmen decided she was in desperate need of a few pointers after she belted ‘Fred’ upside one of his heads and her fist got caught in ‘Bob’s’ gelatin body. She suspected that was one of the reasons those two unusual aliens decided it was safer to stay aboard the
Horizon
rather than transfer with the others. Vox finally had to tie Riley up and thrown her over his shoulder before they all departed in a hurry. She had tried to help her new friend but Creon had caught her and pinned her down when she went after the huge cat shifter.

She raised her hand and laid it against the cool, clear glass, staring with unseeing eyes at the darkness on the other side. It mirrored the way she was feeling on the inside. She closed her eyes against the depression that was threatening to take her down its dark, cold path again. She had been down it so many times over the past three years. She had hoped that she was finally able to resist it but the dark hold of pain and grief appeared not to be done with her yet.

“What troubles you,
mi elila
?” Creon’s soft, concerned voice came from behind her.

Carmen wiped at her face self-consciously, trying to make sure she wasn’t crying. “Nothing,” she said, glancing quickly over her shoulder at him with a forced smile before turning back around to face the dark cloak of space.

His dark frown showed she had not been very convincing. He walked toward her. Once he was standing behind her, he wrapped his arms around her drawing her closer to his warmth. They stood like that for several minutes before he brushed a light kiss against her ear.

“Perhaps you have been overdoing it lately?” He suggested. “Between your studies, your visits to Cal, and working out you have not had much rest,” he said.

She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said distantly.

“You forget you are also carrying our younglings,” he insisted. “This will take much out of you, as well.”

Carmen leaned back in his arms and wrapped her hands over his. “How would you know that?” She asked with a small, sad smile as her head rested against his chest.

“I asked
Dola
,” he confessed sheepishly. “I wanted to know everything there was to know about a female who was with young. She told me it
was
different for each female, and even each youngling, but that there are some things that happen frequently to all females during their breeding time.”

“Like?” She asked curiously.

He moved his hands down to cover the slight rounding that was appearing under her loose shirt. “Like you would become tired more easily. You might become emotional at times. If you do, she said I must always agree with you,” he added
teasingly
before continuing. “You will go through a period when you might become sick all of the sudden,” he said resting his chin on the top of her silky hair. “She also warned that it might be worse for you because our species do not carry as long as yours does.”

“Well, that explains why I was puking my guts out earlier,” she mused before her shoulders slumped. “I want to go home, Creon,” she whispered.

Creon’s arms tightened. “We will return to Valdier as soon as we have killed Raffvin. We will be joining Mandra and Adalard in a few days. With the combined force of Curizan, Valdier, and Sarafin warships there is no way he can defeat us,” he assured her.

Carmen bit her lip and shook her head. “I want to go home. Not to Valdier but to Earth.”

Creon’s body stiffened and his arms tightened around her. “Your home is now on Valdier, Carmen. You can never return to Earth,” he said in a soothing voice.

Carmen lowered her head so he couldn’t see the tears forming in her eyes in the reflection of the glass covering the viewport. She made to step away from him but his arms tightened, refusing to let her go. He reached down and tilted her head back far enough to look into her glittering eyes.

“Why is it so important for you to return? Your life there is no more,” he said with quiet frustration.

She closed her eyes briefly before opening them to look up at him sadly. “It will always be a part of my life,” she whispered before pulling away to walk toward the door leading out of the lounge area.

Harvey brushed up against him as he followed Carmen, leaving threads of gold that wound up his arms. Images of Carmen and another man burst into his mind. The scenes flashed rapidly. He saw her laughing with the man who must have been her first mate. She was very young and the boy was holding out an ice cream for her. He was small and had a black eye and a missing tooth. The scene flickered to years later when the boy was standing grinning at her with flowers in his hand this time. The next showed the two of them dancing slowly with multi-colors lights swirling around them. He could see the look in the younger man’s eyes. Love shone brightly as he awkwardly rocked back and forth. The scene changed to the man holding Carmen. She was weeping softly near what appeared to be fresh graves. He was holding her protectively near his body while others stood around talking. It was the last scene that finally broke through his resistance. The scene of the slightly older man lying on the ground bleeding. His eyes were filled with grief as he stared at Carmen with love, regret, and acceptance. His lips moved and Creon knew what he was saying without hearing them. He had told her he loved her and was sorry. The image changed to
a
man standing over his body and pulling the trigger while Carmen’s anguished screams filled the humid night air.

*.*.*

Creon muttered a curse before he quickly strode after her. He had been nervous about telling her about Kelan taking Trisha back to Earth. He had even debated about telling her but decided he wanted no secrets between them. He had talked to Ariel for a little while last night after he and his brother had talked. She had asked how her sister was doing. She was worried as it was coming up to the anniversary when her first mate and unborn child had died.

“Watch her carefully,” Ariel had warned him. “She gets very depressed as it draws closer. She…” Ariel’s voice died away as she bit her lip and looked down.

Creon could tell she was trying to control her emotions. “She…” he prompted.

Ariel looked up and he could see the tears streaming down her cheeks. “She almost took her own life the first year. She overdosed on the sleeping and pain pills the doctors gave her. I was worried when I couldn’t get hold of her. Something told me I had to find her immediately. When we found her, she…” Ariel took a deep breath before she continued. “….
she
was
lying
on the stone bench in front of their graves with a serene smile on her face, as if she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was with them. It was freezing outside and she didn’t have a jacket on. She had swallowed almost a full bottle of the pills. Paul, Trisha’s dad, was with me when we finally found her. He carried her back to the car and we rushed her to the hospital. She spent a little over a month in the psych-ward. When the docs released her, she left the country. She barely talked to me for the next year and a half. Even now, she is distant. She doesn’t trust me any longer,” she said, crying softly. “I love her so much, Creon. She’s all the family I’ve got left and I didn’t want to lose her too.”