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I’d expected the ship to land on Aurelia, but Prince Lomax was ferried via shuttle. While we orbited the planet, a boxy spacepod detached from the ship and zipped toward the surface. Jessie, Kat, and I watched from the observation lounge.
“He’s gone. I’ll never see him again.” Kat wiped her teary eyes.
We’d seen little of her since yesterday morning. She and Lomax had spent every waking hour together.
“I’m sorry,” I said.
Jessie and I hugged her.
Kat balled her hands into fists. “Why couldn’t I have met him when we first arrived at the palace? We would have had a month together.”
“Parting would have been harder rather than easier.” I tried to alleviate her sadness with logic. “You would have been more attached to him.” Judging from her reaction now, Kat formed attachments rather quickly.
“Then maybe he wouldn’t have left at all,” Kat said. Every little girl’s dream—marry an alien prince.
“He has responsibilities. He must attend the summit,” Jessie said.
The look she shot me suggested we were thinking the same thing. One intergalactic incident was enough. Holly and Aeon’s bond-mating had hit Araset like an asteroid strike, carving out a crater of uncertainty. Everyone was talking and speculating on who would succeed the current monarchs.
Our friend Giselle Cartier also hooked up with an alien. Unlike Aeon and Holly, Joule and Giselle’s union hadn’t caused so much as a ripple because Joule was a slave trafficker without a reputation, livelihood, or kingdom to ruin. Nobody cared if a criminal married a human.
In reality, Joule worked undercover with the LOP, as did Giselle who was his new partner. It was hush-hush; Giselle had sworn us to secrecy to protect their cover.
“Maybe Lomax will seek me out after the summit?” Kat said.
Foolish hope led to greater hurt. “He can’t do that, Kat,” I said. “It’s not permitted.”
Jessie shook her head. “The League of Planets still has an embargo against New Terra. No one can visit or contact anyone on the planet.”
Kat sniffed. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to my cabin. I need a little time to feel sorry for myself. This hit me harder than I expected.”
“If you need anything, let us know,” I offered.
“Thanks.”
“That embargo is bullshit,” Jessie railed as soon as Kat left. “What right does the LOP have to decide nobody can contact us? New Terra is not a member of the league and therefore is not subject to its rules. When we get home, I’m running this up the flagpole. New Terra needs to know what’s been happening. I don’t trust the LOP.”
The galactic oversight and policing organization supposedly protected the galaxy and its various lifeforms, but, in the short time I’d been off New Terra, I’d witnessed some rather Machiavellian behavior. And if savvy, smart Jessie distrusted the LOP, then that meant concern was justified.
Jessie worked for the New Terra Department of State. She’d been a bit cagey, but I’d gotten the impression she ranked at the top of the organizational chart. Her past reluctance to discuss her job had aroused my curiosity. I eyed her and took a stab in the dark. “Do you know the president of New Terra?”
She shrugged. “Doesn’t everybody know of the president?”
“That’s not what I asked. Have you personally met the president?”
She hesitated. “Met her? Yes. Can I sashay into her office and plunk my ass down? No. Can I place a call and get connected to her?” The corner of her mouth quirked, and she bobbed her head. “As long as the Secretary of State okays it.”
“So you work directly with the Secretary of State?”
“He’s my boss.”
“So you are...”
“The deputy Secretary of State.”
“Get out!” I gaped. “You never said a word.” My tech support job with Art Smart, the artificial intelligence company, was pathetic by comparison.
And what do you do?
I help people turn their lights on and off in their smart homes. Yep, that’s my job. Unlocking doors. Turning lights on and off. What about you?
Oh, I’m the deputy Secretary of State.
She glanced around as if checking to see who might overhear. “I haven’t said much about my job because I’ve been trying to gather intel on the galactic situation. If the LOP and the Arasetans realized how connected I am on New Terra, they would be far less open around us.”
“No wonder you’re eager to return.”
She nodded. “Our people need to know how slavers lured us away with the Star Cross space cruise, the operation of the alien species trafficking cartels, the existence and the role of the LOP—and how the league has kept us in the dark about all of it. Aliens have been stealing people off our planet for quite a while. The LOP claims they’ll protect us, but you’ve seen how well that’s gone so far.”
Yeah. The organization had done such a poor job combatting trafficking, it was almost like they were colluding with the traffickers—or at least had people inside the organization who were.
“You’re right. We shouldn’t and can’t rely on them to protect us.” We’d been expected to accept a lot on faith, to disregard the evidence of our own experience. What guarantee did we have that they were transporting us to New Terra now? We’d been told we were going straight home—and then the ship had detoured to Aurelia. If they lied about that, what else might they lie about?
Where was the proof that any of the Star Cross passengers and crew had been repatriated?
“You won’t say anything to anybody about me being deputy Secretary of State?” Jessie said.
“Of course not.” I zipped my lips.
“Not even Kat.”
“No. I won’t. She means well, but...”
“She’s a little naïve and too trusting,” Jessie finished my sentence.
“We’d be smart to keep our eyes and ears open while we’re on this ship,” I suggested. “This is our last chance to learn all we can about the LOP.”
“We’re on the same page.” She nodded. “They granted us limited access to the galactic net. In the time we have left, I’m going to do some research and find out what’s been said about New Terra, other planet nations, and the trafficking trade. The information will have been curated and redacted for public consumption, but it will still be info we didn’t have, and maybe something slipped by the censors.”
“Good idea. I wish we had translators so we could understand people’s conversations.” I wasn’t above eavesdropping. “Maybe I should have been a little nicer to Nadir. He could have translated for us.”
“Is he still following you around?”
“Stalking me, you mean? I haven’t seen him since yesterday.” I’d remained on my toes, keeping watch in the corridors, lounges, and the mess hall but hadn’t spotted him. At the palace, he used to pop up everywhere. Was it mere coincidence I hadn’t run into him, or was he avoiding me? I had ordered him to go away, but he’d never listened to me before. I’d bet under that thick, shiny fur, Nadir’s hide was made of rubber. Insults bounced right off him. I hadn’t expected him to capitulate so easily.
“Why do you dislike him so much?”
“Besides his blatant contempt for humanity?” I said.
“You’d prefer pretense?”
“Of course, not.”
“I admit he has a bit of an attitude—”
“A bit?”
“But, you can’t fault his behavior.”
“I can’t?”
“Behavior speaks louder than words. Anything and everything we requested at the palace, he got for us. He was very helpful when we planned Holly’s bachelorette party. From what she says, he also assisted with the bond-mate ceremony,” Jessie reminded me.
“He wears a cape,” I pointed out. Always formally attired with that ridiculous cape swinging from his shoulders, Nadir never appeared in anything but dress leggings, a starched tunic jacket, and boots so shiny he could use them to peek under a girl’s skirt. Not that I was accusing him of that. He was an overdressed, pompous jerk, not a perv. He buffed his horns and tusks to a high sheen and curried his fur until it gleamed. There was never a single tuft of fur out of place on his horned head. His grooming was impeccable. Too impeccable. It wasn’t normal.
She hooted. “That’s your objection—his cape?”
“It’s pretentious.” I sniffed.
“Did you ever consider maybe he’s required to dress that way? It might be his uniform?”
“Well...well...when we got rescued from the slave ship, he tried to send Holly back to New Terra knowing Aeon loved her.”
“Holly asked to be sent back. She didn’t think she had a future with Aeon. You can’t fault him for doing what she asked him to do.”
“Why are you championing him?”
“Methinks you doth protest too much. Perhaps you don’t dislike him as much as you claim.” Jessie eyed me.
“You’re wrong. Totally wrong.” How could she think such a thing?
“You know what else?”
“I’m afraid to hear it.”
Jessie leaned in. “I think...Nadir likes you, too.”
“Ew! Ew!” I clapped my hands over my ears. “What a mean thing to say.”
Jessie laughed.
“I’m out of here. I can’t listen to this anymore.” I started to flounce out of the lounge then paused and peered over my shoulder. “Meet for dinner at the mess hall tonight?”
She nodded. “If you get there first, grab an out-of-the-way table. I’ll fill you in with the preliminaries of what I learn from my research. I’ll touch base with Kat.”
“Good plan,” I said.
I still fumed a little as I stomped along the corridor, keeping an eyeball peeled for my nemesis who I most assuredly did not like and who held me in equal, if not greater, disdain. I mean, the man went out of his way to be annoying. Except for today. I hadn’t seen hide nor fur of him all morning. Nor yesterday after our discussion in the lounge.
Leave me alone. Could those have been the magic words to get him to vamoose? I’d uttered some version of them multiple times in the past.
Probably he had royal business to attend to. He did have an important position. I’d concede that much. I peeked into the mess hall. A couple of crewmembers were on break, but there was no sign of Nadir. Where can he have gone? The notion I felt anything but animus was preposterous. Normally perceptive, Jessie was way off base on this one.
It floored me she was the deputy Secretary of State. The things you never knew about people. She was smart about not telling Kat. Kat was bubbly, nice, sweet—the exact opposite of me. At twenty-five, she was only four years younger than me, but she was at least a decade more gullible. She’d believe anything, tell anybody anything. She needed a keeper. It was a good thing Jessie and I were with her, but watching over Kat made me miss Holly all the more.
A pang of heartsickness shot through me that I was leaving my very best friend in the whole galaxy—and I would never see her again. I bit my lip and pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth to halt the tears. I didn’t cry when I hugged her goodbye; I wouldn’t cry now because if I started, I wouldn’t be able to stop.
Don’t cry. Don’t cry. I needed a distraction, something to keep myself busy so I wouldn’t brood. I could assist Jessie with research, but scrolling on a computer didn’t appeal. But...I could record some vid of the ship and its many alien species to support Jessie’s report to the authorities.
There were a lot of different alien species aboard—the two-headed LOP officer, er, officers, approaching from the end of the corridor being just one example. What were they called, hematites, hermaphrodites—no, Hermots. Dressed in a maroon uniform trimmed in gold braid, the officer had one body but two heads: one feminine, one masculine.
“Excuse me. Am I allowed to explore the ship?” I asked.
Their eyebrows arched, and they glanced at each other. The female said something to me in an incomprehensible language, which led me to assume they didn’t understand my question. Not everyone’s translator was programmed for Terran Universal.
“Never mind; not important.” I smiled innocently, realizing it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission. What if they had said no? This way if I got caught doing something against the rules, I could plead ignorance.
I hurried to my cabin to retrieve my borrowed handheld. We’d been given the multipurpose devices to use during our stay in the palace. I should have returned mine before leaving Nomoru, but nobody had asked me to, and I’d forgotten about it.
Our loaners were rudimentary compared to what the aliens carried, but, even stripped down, our handhelds were a marvel of tech New Terra didn’t have.
I’d shoot some vid of the LOP ship and the aliens aboard for Jessie to give to the New Terra State Department in case anyone doubted our stories about what had happened to us.
