His by Right (17 page)

           
It'll be that moment when I'm not thinking about it, when I'm not anticipating it, that something will happen. Just you wait and see.

            She took to walking the corridors to help pass the time, and to give herself something to do. If she got lost, there was always a crew member hurrying by whom she could ask directions. She also figured out how to get the replicator to produce her shift in a longer length, and to make a decent hair brush and toothbrush. For once, since her initial kidnapping, she felt more like herself.

            It was in the middle of week two, when she and Bajud were sharing each other's dinner company in the main hall, that he got a call to report immediately to command. Excusing himself, he rushed away. It wasn't unusual for someone to be paged during their meal, but this time Meredith felt a tingle go up her spine. Too excited to finish, she activated the return on the tray, then went directly to the meditation room, as she liked to think of the quiet study with the rainbow of drippy lights.

            Another person was already inside, stretched out in one corner, but that didn't bother her. It was rare to find the room totally unoccupied. Taking an opposite wall, she curled up on top of one of the larger pillows and tried to calm herself as she focused on the misty doorway.

            Ever since that night Neeveer told her his son would be sending her back, her heart leaped into her throat whenever she heard him being ordered to duty. This time, though, this time she knew this was the call she'd been praying for.

            Minutes later, Bajud walked into the room and spotted her on the pillow. "Come with me to navigation."

            She half-ran to keep up with him. He may have been shorter than his father, but his strides were just as long. They traversed many corridors, finally stopping in the middle of one. "In here," Bajud gestured, and entered first.

            Meredith walked through the mist, and gasped. Instinctively, she clutched the Alcatian's arm to keep herself from falling.

            There was no floor. At least, it appeared that way. To her eyes, there was no room, only space. Wide open and endless space. Stars and nebulas floated about her, passing over and through her, as she stood gaping in wonder. A comet blazed by her head. Common sense told her it was all an illusion. That she was still inside the ship, and everything she was witnessing was merely a projection. Unfortunately, her mind refused to listen, and it took her several rapid heartbeats to overcome her fear.

            A handful of men moved about a center console situated not too far away. Bajud guided her over where Neeveer was conversing with another Alcatian. Sending the man away, he looked at her, his eyes taking in the floor-length, pomegranate red gown. At the way the string of evadium pearls reflected the scarlet color like drops of blood.

            "We think we have located your Earth. Come."

            They seemed to float between rotating planets and their moons, toward a small star cluster located at the furthest end. The Milky Way resembled a fried egg, with the yellowish bulge in the center, and whorls of white surrounding it. As they drew closer, Meredith noticed the familiar flat spiral of her own solar system lying on the far edge. At least, she hoped it was that galaxy.

            "A scout ship was ejected from the mother ship we have been tracking, and disappeared inside this system. Can you describe to me which planet is yours?"

            "It's a green and blue one, with an atmosphere. Third one from the sun."

            "What color sun?" Bajud inquired.

            "Yellow."

            "Any unusual planets or phenomenon?"

            She did the quick mental chant she'd learned in grade school. "Miss Venus eats many juicy strawberries up north. Two, three, four, five. The fifth planet is massive. Huge. The sixth has rings. Oh, and there's an asteroid belt between Earth and Jupiter, too. Jupiter's that big fifth planet."

            "The Gajamora system," a third voice commented. Meredith glanced up to see another Alcatian standing on the other side of Neeveer, and noted he also wore a gray uniform.

            Neeveer nodded. "That was my guess. Extremely remote. I am surprised the Orturgians ventured that far away from the main commercial lanes."

            "Orturgians?" She repeated.

            "The ones piloting your whoreship."

            "What do Orturgians look like?"

            "Tall. Multi-legged. Purple. Highly intelligent. Not prone to warfare."

            The description almost made her laugh out loud. During the time she was aboard the whoreship, she had thought of Gleeth as both her captor and her pimp. And, damn it, she'd been right.

            Bajud came up beside her. Something blue gleamed in his hand. "I have the coordinates. When should we leave?"

            "Soon," Neeveer told him. "We will reach perigee within fourteen
jareg.
After that, we will have to swing around that sun to maintain escape velocity and resume our current trajectory." He never glanced at Meredith as he spoke. "You will need to be aboard the survey vessel and be ready to launch at six-eight
jareg.
"

            Bajud took a half step backwards and bobbed his head. "Come, Merry." He touched her arm to get her attention, but she was focused on the man with his back to her. A back that, beneath the uniform, still bore the marks her nails had dug into him that morning when they had made love.

            "Merry."

            When Neeveer never turned to see her leave, she finally gave in and followed Bajud out of the navigation room. They walked in silence through the long, seemingly endless hallways, finally reaching a location where the Alcatian stopped and pointed.

            "Your room is down—"

            "How soon are we leaving?" she interrupted. "Give it to me in terms I'll understand. After another sleep cycle? Before my next meal? When?"

            Bajud looked off into the distance for a moment. "Very soon. I suggest you go get whatever you wish to take."

            Her eyes widened. "That soon?"

            "Hurry, Merry. I need to program the ship. I will be back for you when it is ready to launch."

            He turned and left at a swift pace. Meredith watched him go until he disappeared around a corner, then found the doorway to the bedroom she shared with Neeveer.

            There was literally nothing here that was hers. Everything she owned originated from the ship. What clothing and other articles she'd had when she'd been kidnapped were on the whoreship. Still, she knew she couldn't arrive back on Earth with nothing. Dialing up two more shifts, she wrapped her brushes inside them and brought the ends of the fabric together where she could wear everything like a sling over her head and across her chest. When she was done, she sat down on the edge of the bed to wait. It wasn't long before Bajud entered the room. He eyed her bundle but didn't comment on it.

            "Come."

            Her body felt like it was made of disjointed ice crystals. Pain stabbed her with every step. Her stomach constricted so tightly, she wondered how she managed not to pass out.

            She should be jubilant! She was going home! She was going back to Earth! So why the hell did she feel so goddamn miserable?

            She glanced over at the Alcatian leading her down the corridor, and a knife slid into her heart. She liked the young man, but her soul was crying out for another to be in his place. At one point, she glanced behind them to see if maybe Neeveer was following at a distance, perhaps to watch them leave, but the hallway was empty, and another piece of her heart withered, froze, and fell away.

            The interior of the survey ship was small, but about twice the size of her bedroom. She could not see any kind of viewing port or window, just a circle of four chairs facing each other. Bajud helped to strap her in before taking a seat across from her.

            The lights lowered, and suddenly a panorama of space sprung up in front of her. Gasping, Meredith stared as the scene shifted slightly. Bajud kept his hands on the arms of his chair as he focused on the view before them.

            "
Sen Akarr
ready for release," he intoned. She could see no sign of headphones, yet it was evident they were being monitored.

            "Releasing ship. Safe journey," a voice intoned from all around them, and she recognized it as Neeveer's voice. He
was
watching her departure in the only way he could, which managed to give her some small comfort.

            The ship jiggled, bounced twice, and immediately Meredith could feel herself freely floating, held in check only because of the straps binding her to her seat. Bajud never removed his hands from his chair's arms, but she noticed the vista between them shifting and tilting, moving slowly but inexorably around them.

            There was no sensation coming from the ship other than a faint vibration in the floor. She was focused solely on the three dimensional representation of her solar system growing closer. In the distance, a pale yellow orb blazed, and she realized it was her sun.
Her sun.
It was all she could do to dig her fingers in the arms of her own chair and resist reaching out at the planets expanding as the ship neared them.

            Tears rolled down her cheeks when she caught sight of the tiny blue marble appearing to her left. Her Earth. Her home. It was like a miracle. The nearer they got, the harder it was to breathe.
Soon. Soon!
Her feet would touch ground and grass. She would taste the air, feel the sun's rays, and hear the sounds of a world that were like life's blood to her.

            Once the ship passed Mars, Bajud made some small adjustments. At first, it appeared they were going to fly directly over Earth, bypassing it. She glanced at the Alcatian.

            "What are you doing?"

            "Establishing an orbit."

            "Why? Why aren't we going on in to land?"

            For the first time, she saw a perturbed expression cross his face. "I do not know where to leave you. You need to acquaint yourself with the layout and show me where you want to be left."

            He was right. She had assumed he knew where to take her, and realized she needed a moment to think about it first. Did she want to go back to exact place where she had been kidnapped? Did she want to resume her old life? Her old job? Her old identity?

            What had happened since her disappearance? Were people still looking for her? Or had they declared her dead? Just how long
had
she been missing?

            Not only that, but if she chose to go back to the way things had been before her abduction, how many people would believe her story, anyway?
Well, you see, I was kidnapped by an alien species called the Orturgians, who ran this whorehouse in outer space.

           
She squeezed her eyes shut. No. There was no way she could return to her old life. But she could reinvent herself. She could start over. Start fresh. Other people had done it. Why couldn't she?

           
This is the chance to start afresh, Merry, in a place that's never heard of you. A place that will give you a brand new beginning. Think of it like being placed in the Witness Protection Program.

           
Opening her eyes, she saw Bajud staring intently at her. Between them, Earth revolved like a giant beach ball.

            "Can I..." She made a motion with her hand, as if to touch the planet.

            Bajud nodded. "It is only a hologram. You will not affect the ship's controls."

            Staring at the orb, she quickly recognized the outlines of the continents. "I recognize where we are. This is the wrong side of the world. I come from an area on the opposite side."

            He didn't reply. The ship continued to soar miles above, traveling at a speed she couldn't begin to fathom. Soon, she recognized the UK and western end of Europe and Africa, followed by the Atlantic Ocean, until finally the east coast of the United States came into view.

            "Can we get any closer?"

            "It is daylight. I dare not descend any further until we move into the dark side. Is this where you want to land?"

            Her eyes caressed the eastern seaboard, especially around the Virginia area where she'd been born and raised. She loved it there, but returning where she had disappeared would create too many problems. There would be too many questions asked of her that, even if she answered them truthfully, could cause her a lifetime of misery.

            "No." She shook her head. "Take me to the west coast." The western end that was still shrouded in nighttime.

            The ship zoomed away from the dawning light and dropped through the atmosphere, burning past clouds. Meredith identified the areas that were California and Nevada, their major cities lit up like Christmas lights, even at this time of night. Where would be a good place to lose one's self? A place where no questions would be asked of a stranger new to town?

            "I know where you can land this thing." She glanced at him. "We can land, right?"

            "Yes. Where?"

            "Here." She pointed to a large patch of light near a body of water. "It's called Las Vegas. It's surrounded by desert. You'll be able to drop me off and leave without anyone seeing us for hundreds of miles, especially in the dark."

            Bajud noted where she pointed. Without commenting, he focused on their destination and took the ship down.

* * *

            He was cold, his body numb, which was good. With Merry gone, he was empty.

            Once the ship landed, he left  navigation to return to his chambers, moving through the corridors like a lifeless star, devoid of light and warmth. Once there, he threw himself onto the bed to inhale the last shreds of her scent, gathering the bedclothes against his body and twisting them in his fists.