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?

  Chapter 7

  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.

  Krissa sniffed and swallowed. "Please."

  Karik's glare could have burned her to a crisp.

  In that distracted moment, Torik's emotions set him to action, and he sent the captain flying away, releasing his hold on Krissa. Torik knew he would likely pay for attacking Karik, but it was to late. And now, he felt relief at having taking a stance against the same injustice that the Tah'Na had inflicted on them.

  Theen caught their captain and helped him regain his balance.

  "We must not become them." His words had no effect on Karik, except to invoke further rage. Torik tensed, ready for the attack, which came a second later than anticipated but was more vicious than he'd prepared to take. Karik was strong and swift. The uniform without the armor stopped deadly claws from tearing through flesh but allowed the pain of each blow to ache.

  "Torik!"

  He avoided another blow and returned the attack. In the process he caught a glimpse of Theen holding Krissa's arms behind her back, keeping her out of involvement and safe for the moment.

  Karik was in prime fighting shape and more experienced than Torik. After a brief wrestle and several hard blows against each other, both of them bled, but Karik didn't let up. In the end, Torik's legs gave out, his head pounded, and the room blurred.

  "Stop it!" Krissa's voice came from somewhere. "Don't kill him. Please…I'll do whatever you want. Don't kill him."

  In that, any lingering doubts about her vanished. From what Torik had seen, she would sacrifice herself for him. She was different. The others would see for themselves what he had seen since their first encounter.

  The blur that was Karik shifted away.

  Torik lay still, too sore to move but relieved to not have the challenge taken to finality. "Leave…" He winced at the ache in his ribs and tasted blood when he caught his breath. "Leave her alone…Karik."

  After a few seconds that amplified his fears of what the captain might be considering for her fate, footsteps rushed towards him.

  "Torik." Through the aches, he felt a gentle brush along his face. He didn't have to see her clearly to recognize her voice and the uninhibited emotions. "I'm sorry. This is my fault."

  "No." He turned his head but winced at a sharp pain in his neck. "I tried to convince Karik. He won't listen."

  "No. It's me. I know. Whatever it is I can do, just tell me."

  "You…are enough." But if he could save their world another way, without sacrificing her, he would. Krissa didn't deserve the fate awaiting at the hands of the Tah'Na.

  Chapter 8

  Two pairs of legs stopped next to Krissa. When fuzzy hands reached down for Torik, she stepped back to give them room to help him.

  His words haunted her, along with the fear that Karik would snatch her to finish what he had started. Torik could no longer defend her.

  No one had defended her like that, but against his own captain meant more to her. Part of her wondered why Karik had let him live. Was it mercy buried in that mass of anger or practical reasons?

  Whatever it was, she breathed easier that Torik was still alive; beaten but alive.

  She stayed close to the two helping Torik past the dining area to a room with an assortment of alien medical equipment, where they set him on a cot and locked into place a piece that covered him from chest to knees.

  His groan when he breathed plucked at her sympathy so that she almost couldn't bear to stay in the presence of his suffering, but she forced herself to endure. From a few feet away, she watched the other two slide several pieces of equipment around him. Not sure what they did but trusting that they were helping Torik, she stayed out of their way. If their medicine worked as well on their own kind as it had on her, he should feel better soon, her only solace from the guilt of him being hurt while defending her.

  Above the glowing lid hovered several images that could have come from her biology class, one of the only science requirements for her degree. It must have been some sort of scanner that showed his insides without invasive procedures.

  But she hated blood and guts and everything that was a part of it. The outsides of creatures she could deal with, but the insides nauseated her. She tried not to watch the changing images, but a red flash of one briefly made her look to see it change to highlight the white of bones.

  "Fractures." Korr's fingers tapped on a panel on the opposite side of Torik.

  "Will he…be well?" She clasped her hands to keep from fidgeting. Torik was her only ally on that ship, and, despite her frustrations of him not answering all her questions, she didn't want to see him suffer.

  "He will recover." Korr spoke without looking up from his work.

  His words were hardly reassuring.

  "He must," she said.

  Although his face was contorted in pain, Torik's mouth briefly formed a smile that broke that agony. Too soon, he was wincing again.

  Theen twisted from his work on Torik with a frown to her.

  "What can I do? This was my fault."

  "Stay back," he said while entering something into the controls on the covering over Torik.

  That she could do, but she wanted to be there for him, to have the reassurance that he would be all right.

  They know their own kind. He'll be fine. Just breathe. She inhaled deeply and let it out slowly to calm the anxiety inside her. Torik would be all right.

  What about Karik?

  She shouldn't have thought of him. Her breath quickened with her heart, the fresh fear lurking inside.

  In that instant, she wondered that she had a heart, but she supposed some sort of circulatory system was a requirement for life. Of course, she had a heart, and lungs, and digestive system…

  She wasn't human.

  What was she?

  Why were they afraid of her?

  All the questions of her life flooded back to antagonize her in their relentless fury.

  Krissa stared at Torik, who lay with his eyes closed while the other two worked. He couldn't tell her. Because he was that afraid? It didn't make sense if he was so kind. I would never hurt you, or maybe you knew that.

  She pursed her lips and caught the glance from him with a distinctly unsettled feeling.

  Memories of her life on Earth passed through her mind in the quiet wait, taking her back to events she would rather forget and the many assurances of her adoptive parents that she was special. Had they known?

  In what seemed seconds later, the lid clicked and popped up from Torik. She blinked away the ponderings to focus on him. His attempt to sit up resulting in much wincing tugged at her sympathies to bring her to his side to assist him.

  The other two removed equipment from his vicinity.

  "Easy," she said while bearing some of his weight. "You are injured."

  "I know." His somber voice ended with a grunt, despite the clamped jaw, and he finally sat still, not yet dropped from the exam bed.

  "What is this?" she asked in curiosity of the lid hanging aside from the bed.

  "Scanner and regenerator."

  Such technology that she hadn't thought possible. No wonder he could heal a twisted ankle in a day, and her head in the next.

 

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