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IT TOOK OZ NINE MINUTES to make it to the bridge, and Cru glared at him when he walked through the door. Apparently Solan hadn’t been able to buy quite enough time. “Give me a reason I shouldn’t have you thrown in a cell for disobeying a direct order,” Cru demanded.
Everyone was there. Solan, who was favoring his left leg as if something had happened to the right, Jori and Crowze, who were standing off to the side and out of Cru’s sight, and Ax, who had his arms crossed like he was ready to hit someone, though Oz wasn’t sure who. Tension hung thick in the air. If this had been a bar, there would have been a fight. It could still end that way, but no matter who threw the most punches, Cru would win.
Unless he was dead.
But not even Oz would go that far.
He scrambled to think of an excuse and swallowed hard when he noticed that Cru had his whip out and was running it through his fingers like some sort of toy. Oz didn’t want to feel the smack of leather on his skin, but he knew it was coming. And before he could get an excuse out, Cru struck, flicking the weapon at his leg until it whipped against his pants and tore a small hole.
It hurt, and Oz was a proud man. He didn’t want to give Cru the satisfaction of seeing him ache. But he was also a smart one who’d been under Cru’s command for months. Giving into a little humiliation was the quickest way to appease the captain’s temper.
His leg stung, but it probably wouldn’t even bruise. Cru saved his severe beatings for places far away from the bridge where there were no cameras and no witnesses.
But Oz was already on edge from the last few days and he couldn’t stop his wings from unfurling to defend himself. He didn’t realize his mistake until gasps went up around the crew.
“You’ve bonded.” He was pretty sure it was Crowze who said it, though he’d be a fool to take his eyes off the captain.
Oz wasn’t ashamed of it. He wanted everyone on the planet and the moon to know that Emily was his. But he hadn’t thought through how to break the news to the captain. Bondings didn’t normally happen so quickly.
“Who?” Cru demanded. “I didn’t realize you’d grown so chummy with your Apsyn friends.”
“My Match is no Apsyn.” He would have spit at the thought, but that would have earned another smack of Cru’s whip.
Cru was confused, though he tried to hide it. And after a moment he realized what Oz had to mean. “A human? One of the unauthorized humans on the ship? Which one? Give me a name.”
Oz wanted to protect Emily. He’d tear Cru’s whip out of his hands before he let the captain harm her. But there were only five humans aboard, and it wouldn’t take much for him to figure it out. “Emily,” he admitted. “The one I arrived with today.”
Cru coiled the whip up and placed it back in its holster. He was quiet for several moments, quiet enough that Oz was worried. He wouldn’t harm her. He couldn’t.
Right?
Cru turned away from Oz and looked at Jori, a calculating look on his face. “Have the humans tested for Match compatibility, Jorissan. Perhaps they can be useful after all.”
Oz looked over at Jori, whose face had drained of color. “Sir?” he asked, voice cracking.
“You heard me,” the captain snapped. “I want their DNA in the system before dinner. It may take days to transmit the data.” He took his seat and then called up a file on the holoplayer. “We’re retrieving the asset tonight. She sent word that she’s ready. Oz and Crowze, you’ll accompany me. Let’s see that we have no more mishaps. Yes?”
The last thing Oz wanted was to go on a mission with his captain, but there was no getting out of it. Once he was dismissed he followed Jori out of the bridge and ran to catch up. “Wait!”
Jori waited. He looked pained. “Think before you tell me to ignore the captain’s order,” he said.
Oz didn’t speak immediately. Jori was right. His first thought was to demand that the other man ignore Cru and do the right thing. But actions had consequences. “We can’t just put them in the system without their consent. Matching is a serious matter.”
“Says the man who apparently Matched and bonded in a day?” Jori shot back.
No one but he and Emily knew the exact timeline, and now was not the time to explain it.
“This isn’t how we do things,” Oz insisted. “We give people a choice. If we take that away we’re no better than the Apsyns we’re fighting.” He had to cross his arms to keep from gesticulating madly. His spark was ready to shoot out, to hurt whatever threat was out there. But he couldn’t attack Cru, and Jori didn’t have a choice either.
“Testing isn’t Matching,” said Jori. “And Matching isn’t bonding. No one is saying that choice will be taken from them.” But he didn’t sound convinced. They both knew how insistent people could become about potential Matches, and how precarious the humans’ position might be once they reached Osais. He took a deep breath and glanced back over Oz’s shoulder as if Cru would appear out of nowhere. “I’ll go as slowly as possible, but this is going to happen. Given how long it can take to get results from the lab, though, we probably won’t know about any Match potential until we’re back home.”
It still left Oz unsatisfied, but he had no other choice, not unless he was going to physically incapacitate Jori. “Do what you must. I’m going to say goodbye to my Match before I leave.”
“Last I heard all the humans were congregating in the medbay near their wounded friend.” He paused and then spoke deliberately. “I’m going to check their quarters first. Let them know that I’m looking for them.” He walked away while Oz was still parsing what he was saying.
So maybe Jori was more willing to work around orders than Oz thought.
Oz rushed to the med bay and was surprised to find Lena sitting up with the rest of the humans surrounding her. They all stared at him for several seconds as if they were shocked to see him.
“We were just coming to find you,” Emily finally said. “The others have some questions.”
“A lot of questions,” Luci added. “Like what year is it?”
“Luci,” Zac cut her off. She looked unrepentant.
“I’d answer whatever I can,” he said, “but I’m afraid my time is short. I’d like to speak to Emily for a moment.” He didn’t know why he phrased it as a request. It must have been talking to Cru that put him in a weird frame of mind. He grabbed his Match’s hand and tugged her out of the room and down the hall a bit so they couldn’t be seen through the window.
“Is something wrong?” Emily asked, face a mask of worry.
Oz couldn’t have that, even if she had cause. He kissed her gently, but it quickly transformed into something hot and desperate. He wanted to push her up against the wall and have his way with her, he wanted her imprinted on his skin when he went back down to the planet.
But he forced himself to pull away, though he couldn’t stop the smug grin on his face when he saw the way Emily’s eyes had darkened to a stormy gray.
“That was nice,” she said, tongue darting out to lick her lips, “but what’s going on?”
Business. He had to be all business. “I’m going back down to the planet on a mission. It should be quick.”
She grabbed onto his hands and held tight. “So soon?”
“Yes. I’ll be careful,” he promised. He couldn’t give her anything more than that, even if he wanted to say he was sure he’d return uninjured.
Emily seemed to realize that. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath while nodding. “Never thought I’d fall...” She trailed off and he had no idea what she’d been planning to say. “This sucks. I don’t want you to go. And I don’t want you to get hurt. Does it get any easier?”
“I wish I could answer that.” He kissed her again, but this time he kept it gentle. “I need you and your friends to do something while I’m gone.”
“What?” She sounded confused, but willing to go along with him.
“Split up.” Maybe Oz couldn’t stop all of the humans from being put into the Matching system against their will, but he could make things difficult.
Now she looked even more confused. Oz’s communicator beeped, and he saw that Cru wanted to meet before they left for their mission.
“Why, Oz?” she asked. “Are we in danger?”
“No.” Before he could explain further, it beeped again. Cru would be getting impatient. “Jori has been assigned to take some information from you. I want you all to understand better before he does the test. But even if he finds you, you’ll be unharmed. It’s just...” His communicator beeped a third time. “Split up. Make it hard for him to find you. He’s going to your quarters now.” He kissed her forehead and left. If he waited any longer Cru would be reacquainting him with his whip again.
Oz hoped he’d given her enough information, but judging by the confused look she gave while he walked away, he’d only made things worse.
***
EMILY WATCHED OZ WALK away, her mind a whirl of confusion. What the heck was that about? Testing? What did they need to be tested for? And why did he want them to avoid it?
She could sit around all afternoon and question it, or she could do as she asked and get the group to split up. And since Oz had no reason to lie or trick her, she decided to follow his confusing instructions.
For now. They’d have words once he got back from his mission.
And she didn’t want to think about the danger he was running into. Getting her friends to follow his instructions would help.
She rushed back to the med bay and found everyone basically where she’d left them.
“What was that about?” Lena asked. If it weren’t for the fact that she was wearing a gray robe that must have been procured from somewhere, it would have been impossible to tell that she’d just been in a two day long coma.
“Something weird is going on. We’re not in danger, but Oz said we should split up and try to avoid Jori. He’s been ordered to do some kind of medical test on us and Oz says we shouldn’t do it.” Or that’s what she thought Oz had said. Judging by the looks of her friends, they were just as confused as her. And when she saw Zac get ready to speak she knew everything could get out of hand quickly. “I know it’s weird and you don’t have much reason to trust him, but I do. Whatever’s going on, he’ll explain when he gets back.”
“From where?” asked Joel.
“He’s being sent on a mission. Back down to Kilrym. You saw we only talked for like two minutes, I don’t have a lot of information. So will you trust me?” She was desperate. What if they didn’t?
The four shared a glance. Then Lena took charge. “I don’t want us on our own. But we split into two groups. Zac, Joel, Luci, you three stick together and try to avoid Jori. Emily and I will do the same. Take an opportunity to explore the ship, but don’t cause trouble. We don’t want to get locked in our room.”
Relief flooded through Emily. Luci looked ready to protest, but her companions were already moving, leaving Lena and Emily alone. Once Lena was certain they were gone, she seemed to shrink a bit, slumping down and leaning against her bed.
Emily rushed over to her. “Are you alright?”
“I am,” Lena said through gritted teeth. “Just a bit winded. Let’s move.”
Maybe it would be better to leave Lena in the med bay, but Emily knew if she suggested it Lena would do whatever it took to hit her with something. “Something weird is going on,” Emily said.
“You’re just realizing this now?” Lena shot back.
They walked down one hallway and then another. It was all gray and blue, boring and disorienting. Emily had no idea where they were going or who they might encounter. There was probably a map of the ship somewhere, but no one had shown her how to find it.
“When were you abducted?” Emily asked.
“About six months ago, you know that.” Lena shot her a strange look before pausing when they came to a split in the hallway. Everything looked the same to Emily, so she let Lena choose her path. They walked past several identical doors before Lena stopped and tried to open one.
Locked.
“But when was six months ago?” Emily prodded.
“April. Why is this important?” Lena kept trying the doors and finally one opened into what looked like a small lounge area. No one was in there, so they both entered and shut the door behind them. “We can hide out here for a while. No need to keep walking.”
She must have been tired, if the sweat plastered on her brow was anything to go by. But Emily knew Lena wouldn’t say it unless she was a breath away from falling over.
“April what?” What was so difficult about this question?
“I can’t remember. I had just filed my taxes, so maybe the seventh?” Lena sounded frustrated.
“What year?” Emily wanted to shake her, but that was probably not great for a woman who’d just been in a coma.
“Oh. 2006, of course. Why?”
“Because it was 2019 when I was taken. Six months ago.” And that was another year to add to the mystery.
They were both quiet. Emily was beginning to realize that she might have woken up on Kilrym six months ago, but she no longer had any idea how long it had been since she’d left Earth. And she had no idea if there was even a home to return to.
