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SOLAN GAVE OZ A LOOK when he caught him sneaking into the shower in the morning. There was no way his fellow soldier hadn’t heard him and Emily last night. Oz would gladly stake his claim for all to see. His arm felt empty and he was ready to get it marked, displaying for all that he was a Matched man. But that didn’t mean he would let Solan—or anyone—make comments about his Match.
And Solan didn’t.
The morning was too sedate and Oz wanted to do something about that, but after a quick breakfast he and Solan did a sweep of the house to make sure there was no incriminating evidence left behind, and after Emily was ready the three of them made for the shuttle that would take them to the ship.
Emily was quiet, too, but they’d woken each other up to gentle kisses and touches, and if it had been any other day there would have been another round of lovemaking as well. Once his Match was safe he’d keep her in bed for a week and teach her every pleasure he knew. Then they’d discover more together.
But they had to get her off the planet first and then Oz and Solan had a job to finish. Grace had to be ready to get out, and they couldn’t stay on Kilrym for much longer.
No patrols flew overhead, and he didn’t see anyone on the ground either. Solan flew straight for the sky, and after a few rocky minutes they broke through the atmosphere.
Emily gasped.
Oz looked over and smiled when he saw the look of wonder on his Match’s face as she took in the open space all around them. He’d traveled like this dozens of times, not to mention all the training runs he’d done at the Academy. But she’d never been conscious for any space flight, so even one as simple as this was something to marvel at.
He reached over and laced their hands together and gave her a squeeze, sending a hint of his spark through their bond. It wasn’t enough to spark outside their bodies, given the heightened oxygen levels in the shuttle that would ensure an explosion, but it was an acknowledgement of what she was seeing. What this meant for her.
“I never thought I’d see something like this,” she said.
“There are wonders you could never imagine that I’d like to show you.”
She smiled, and then it dropped. She must have remembered why she was in space in the first place.
He had to tell her the truth. “Emi—”
“Docking in two minutes,” Solan’s voice broke through. “Begin checks.”
He might have thought the man was doing it on purpose, but there were safety procedures they needed to go through to make sure they didn’t get hurt and no damage came to their shuttle or the ship.
He kissed his Match’s hand and then got to work, confirming with Solan that everything was prepared for docking.
It would all turn out fine, he told himself. Cru might be upset, but he wouldn’t do anything to actually harm Emily or her fellow humans. He was a bully, cruel and petty, but he still had a line.
Oz hoped he had a line.
They pulled into the dock and any hope for a reprieve was dashed the moment he, Solan, and Emily stepped out of the shuttle. The ship was nothing special to him, a standard orbiter built to Apsyn specs. It was registered to a company on Kilrym that allegedly monitored communication satellites, but if anyone bothered to search through all the layers of companies and identities, it would become clear that no one actually used that communication company. But it gave them the freedom to sit in the sky without fear of an Apsyn patrol blasting at them.
It also meant they had no exterior weapons and only a weak shield. But that was a worry for another time.
Emily was looking all around, her eyes wide, but her gaze snapped forward when Cru cleared his throat.
Captain Scofoyl was the prime example of the Synnr military. He stood as straight as a rod and his expression gave away nothing. Back home plenty of people wanted to be on his arm, and Oz knew that he’d been offered more than one marriage contract based on his looks alone. But Oz didn’t think anyone who spent more than five minutes with the man would want to be tied to him for life.
Oz pitied whoever ended up Matched with him.
“You’ve brought another human,” said Cru. He wasn’t scowling, he was too professional for that, but his face was pinched as if he smelled something unpleasant. “Jori informed me of your excursion. Would you care to tell me why you have refused my calls?” The promise of violence lay heavy in the air. As captain he could discipline them how he saw fit, and his whip lay heavy on his belt.
Oz stayed quiet. If he spoke, a whipping would be a good outcome. Solan knew how to handle Cru. Most of the time. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his communicator. “It was damaged. Hasn’t picked up a call in two days.”
Cru narrowed his eyes as he took the communicator from Solan. He studied it for a moment before looking away. “I’ll have our tech look at it.” That shouldn’t have been a threat. And yet his free hand rested on his whip. “Take the girl to the others. Then we meet on the bridge.” He turned away and left the three of them alone.
Emily waited until he walked through the door and it closed behind him to speak. “So he’s your captain.”
“I can buy you ten minutes,” Solan told them. “But don’t delay. He’s already upset and he won’t get better.” He didn’t give Oz any time to answer, instead taking off after the captain.
“What’s going on?” Emily asked, biting her lip, her brow furrowed with worry.
Oz wished he could hold her close and kiss her until that worry disappeared, but nothing he could say would fix things he couldn’t control. “The captain will have things to say to Solan and I. Let me take you to your friends.”
“How do you know where they are?”
“It’s not that big of a ship.” He led her down the hall to the sick bay and was unsurprised to find all four of Emily’s friends sitting in the hallway outside where Lena was hooked up to the machines that were keeping her alive and hopefully healing her wounds. The four humans sprang to their feet and mobbed Emily.
Oz wanted to stay around them. It would be much preferable to what he’d have to put up with from his captain. But the minutes were ticking down and he couldn’t keep Cru waiting.
He tried to get his Match’s attention, but she was listening intently to something Luci was saying, so he turned and left.
She’d be okay.
He’d sacrifice anything to make sure of it.
***
OZ SEEMED TO DISAPPEAR between one breath and the next. Emily looked up when Luci took a breath while explaining the flight from Kilrym to the space ship and found that she’d been left alone. She tried not to feel hurt.
She failed.
But the hurt couldn’t last long, not when Zac, Joel, and Luci each had plenty to say. It was like they’d been separated for weeks rather than two days.
“What happened with you?” Zac asked. There were bags under his eyes. None of them looked like they’d slept well. Given Lena’s condition and the turmoil of the last months, that was hardly surprising.
Emily blushed. She couldn’t help it when her first thought went to where she’d spent the night before and what she’d been doing.
Joel nudged her shoulder and grinned. “Sounds like you have something to share.”
They’d all sat on the floor once they finished their hellos. There was a small bench, but it wasn’t big enough for any of them. And, apparently, they’d been given a room with four bunks to sleep in, but they wanted to be near Lena in case something happened.
Emily looked down at her hands. She could feel the spark under her skin, could remember Oz’s touch, the taste of him. But admitting all of that felt like some kind of betrayal. She’d grown closer to Oz in two days than she had to any of the humans in six months. The feelings she had for him were growing so quickly that she was seriously considering giving up any opportunity to go home. What would her friends think of her?
“What’s wrong?” Luci asked when Emily was quiet for a long time.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Emily forced a smile. “Not now that we’re all together. Oz and I ran into some trouble down on the planet, but we managed to make it here in one piece, so I’ll count that as a win.”
“I may not be the valedictorian of the class of 2013, but even I am smart enough to hear that you’re holding something back.” Luci crossed her arms and gave her a hard look.
But that wasn’t what Emily caught onto. And neither did Zac.
“2013?” they both sputtered.
Luci’s face scrunched up. “My graduation year? This year?”
“I graduated in 2013,” said Emily, and she’d since been through both undergrad and law school.
“It’s 2007!” said Zac.
All four of them looked at each other. “I graduated a long time ago,” said Joel. “But last time I checked it was 2016.”
2019. 2013. 2016. 2007. What year would Lena think it was? And how was that possible?
Emily stood up and started pacing. She needed to move. The spark in her veins flickered and she knew it would take almost no effort to set something on fire. What a difference a few hours made. Now that she knew what it felt like, it seemed she could summon her new powers at will.
“It’s only been six months since I was abducted. I thought we were all taken six months ago.” If she knew the layout of the ship she’d storm the bridge and demand answers from Oz.
But Oz wasn’t the one who had abducted her. He might end up being just as confused.
“Have you all been prisoners for longer? How long have the Apsyns had you?” Had Zac really been at their mercy for more than a decade?
But the others were shaking their heads. Emily had more questions, but movement through the window into Lena’s room caught her eye.
She was moving on her bed.
Zac was the first to move, and the rest of them followed close behind him, rushing for the door and into the room. There was a heavy antiseptic smell, not unlike hospitals back home. If Emily ignored the fancy screens and what looked like a robot in the corner, and if she let herself forget they were on a space ship, it was almost like a hospital back home.
Lena’s eyes were open by the time they circled around her, and for a moment she didn’t seem to recognize anyone. The fog cleared and she tried to sit up.
Both Emily and Joel held her down as gently as possible.
“You’re okay,” Emily told her. “You got hurt during our escape, but you’re fine. We’re all fine.”
Well, some level of fine. She wasn’t forgetting the temporal conundrum they were facing, but those were questions that could be answered later. Right now they had to see how Lena was doing.
“What year did you graduate high school?” Luci asked.
Emily glared at the girl. “Not the time,” she hissed.
Lena looked even more confused, and she didn’t answer. Probably a good thing.
“The last thing I remember is getting out of the facility.” Lena’s voice was raspy, and before Emily could look around for water, Joel was handing a bottle over.
Lena took a few grateful sips before putting it down. “Thanks.” That sounded a lot better.
“A lot has happened,” Emily said.
“We’re on a space ship,” Luci added.
Lena looked even more confused. “What? How?”
They all tried to explain at once, spitting out words like Synnr and Apsyn, Zulir, Kilrym, Osais, and Lena just looked lost. Four people could not explain this all at once, especially when they all had different parts to say.
“Wait!” Emily put her hands up. “I’ll talk, then you all can add in whatever you want when I’m done.”
Lena looked grateful, and the others didn’t argue.
Emily did her best to start at the beginning, explaining the conflict between Apsyns and Synnrs as she understood it, and letting Lena know that the Synnrs were their friends. She went over Matching, and that she was actually starting to understand, and the theory that Apsyns were experimenting on humans to reap the benefits of a Match without the bond.
By the end her own throat was sore, and she almost asked if she could have a sip of Lena’s water. But then Luci took over, talking about the ship and blushing when she mentioned a Synnr soldier named Ax.
Interesting.
Zac and Joel didn’t have much to add, and by the time they were done nearly half an hour had gone by.
“Is there a doctor or something?” Emily asked. “Should we be telling someone that Lena’s awake?”
“No doctor,” said Joel. “Jori said she’d wake up when the machines were done with her. Or...” He cleared his throat. “She’s awake, so that’s good.”
“Sounds like you all had quite the adventure,” said Lena. “And I’m sick of laying down. I want a shower. And then I want to meet these so-called nice aliens.” She sat up, and this time no one stopped her.
Emily looked her over. Her color was good, and she didn’t seem to be in pain. And even if that hadn’t been the case, Emily doubted anyone could stop Lena from doing what she wanted when she was conscious.
“We’re not supposed to bother them,” Luci warned.
That got both Lena and Emily’s attention. “Who told you that?” she asked. Oz might have left her on her own, but she didn’t think she was supposed to avoid him now.
“I think his name was Jori?” Luci shrugged, her face scrunched up as she thought about it. “He wasn’t the captain, but he was in charge when we got here.”
“I’ve heard things about the captain.” Oz didn’t like him, so Emily wasn’t exactly an unbiased source. “He’s not supposed to be great. So be careful if you’re talking to him.”
“Did Oz tell you that?” Zac asked curiously.
“Why?” Emily didn’t want to sound defensive, but it came out that way.
“Didn’t you hate that guy?” asked Luci.
“I don’t hate Oz,” Emily said. But how would the humans know that? They hadn’t been on the best of terms when Solan took them away, even if they had come to an understanding. “I don’t.”
“You sigh every time you say his name,” Lena pointed out. “I don’t think you hate him at all.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ten bucks says he kisses you the next time you see him,” Lena bet.
“I don’t have any cash,” Zac complained.
“You’re all being weird.” And this conversation had gotten off the rails. “Let’s go find the aliens. I have questions.”
