Laura Jo Phillips (28 page)

“It’s too bad that you brought Xanti back with you.  I’m not sure what possessed you to do such a thing, but again, it is what it is.  The Xanti have brought the future to Onddo and that is what I wanted, so I won’t complain.  Those damn welfare ships bring nothing but platitudes and a little food.  We needed much more than that and now we have it.  But, boy, you can’t run off now when you are about to become really useful.”

Slater shook his head slowly, struggling to understand what Magoa was talking about.  But there had been too many revelations.  Magoa was his sire?  Magoa had arranged for him to leave Onddo?  Magoa had meant for him to do the things he had done?  It was planned?

“I know you aren’t following all of this, but you take some time and think on it, and you will.  That’s one of your strong points.  You’re not fast, but you do tend to get where you need to go eventually. 

“Right now I’m in a bit of a rush.  So, get this straight Slater, my boy, you are not to board that welfare ship and leave.  You go back out into the wild and you wait for me to come to you.  It’s going to take me a few days, maybe even several days.  I am very busy after all and I have that damned Xanti following me around every minute of the day so I’ll have to shake him off first.  Now, are we clear?  Do you know what you are supposed to do?”

Slater blinked again.  Do? he wondered.  What was he supposed to do?

“Come on now son, don’t make me wait, we are out of time,” Magoa said impatiently.

“Um, yes, I am to stay on Onddo and wait for you,” Slater said, not quite certain, but vaguely aware Magoa had something like that.

“That’s right,” Magoa said.  “Now, you stay here for a bit until I’m gone, and then go back to that cave you’ve been holed up in these past few days.  I’ll come see you soon.”

With that, Magoa turned and slipped away into the brush.  One moment he was there, the next gone.

Slater remained frozen for long minutes after Magoa left, his brain filled with wonder and awe.  The great Magoa had not only spoken to him, but had known his name.  The fact that he was also Slater’s sire was simply too much for Slater to process so he set that aside for later.

Finally he realized that he was still holding the form of the crewman, which was draining energy he might need to get back to the cave.  He released the form and leaned back on his tail for a moment, trying to think.  It wasn’t easy to do with so many surprising things rolling around in his head.

After awhile he decided to focus on the moment.  He looked around, saw that the area was clear, and began working his way back the way he had come earlier that morning.  He forced himself to think of nothing other than his surroundings and getting out of the area without being spotted.  Only when he was back in his cave, safe and sound, would he pull out all of the astounding things that Magoa had said to him and try to understand them.

Chapter
32

Summer was amazed at not only the sheer size of the
Vyand
, but also the beauty of it.  Everything about it was big, clean and soothing, with muted colors and matte textures.  She would have guessed a military transport such as the
Vyand
would be all shiny metal surfaces and bright flashing lights, but that was not the case at all.  Even her stateroom, which was easily several times the size of the third-class compartment she’d had on the
Cosmic Glory
, had the look and feel of a high end hotel room.  Especially the bed.  She had never seen such a huge bed in her life.

She wondered briefly if she were getting special treatment.  Surely this was a room meant for important people, such as visiting dignitaries, or high ranking officers.  She decided she didn’t care.  So they gave her a nice, big room.  What was she gonna do?  Complain about it? 

After she finished putting away the few things she had brought with her, she went back out into the passageway, then paused uncertainly.  Ran had mentioned that they would be in rooms near hers, but she didn’t want to start knocking on doors.  As she stood there a door opened next to hers and Maxim stepped out into the hall.

“Do you like your stateroom?” he asked.

“Yes, I do,” she replied.  “It’s very beautiful, but I am a little worried that I might get lost in that bed.”

“Oh, lets hope not,” Maxim said softly, a faint smile playing around the corners of his mouth.  Summer spent a long moment staring at his mouth before she realized what she was doing and jerked her eyes away.  She struggled to find something to say, but came up empty.

“Would you like a tour of the ship?” Maxim asked.

“Yes, I would,” Summer said quickly.  Anything’s better than standing here thinking about that sexy mouth, she thought to herself just as Ran and Loni both joined them in the hall.  Three sexy mouths, she thought, followed by mental images that made her want to run back into her room and try out that gigantic shower.  With just the cold water.

“Summer would like a tour of the ship,” Maxim told them.  Loni tilted his head the tiniest bit, but Summer felt his smile. 

Maxim placed one hand lightly on Summer’s elbow and guided her down the long, curving passageway towards the elevator.  “We won’t be able to give you a tour of the entire ship,” Maxim said.  “There are some areas that are off limits to civilians, such as the fighter bays, armories, and ammunition stores.  We could show you the engine rooms, but I doubt that would be of much interest to you.”

Maxim looked at Summer questioningly, and she shook her head.  “No, I don’t really need to see that,” she agreed.

Ran reached out and waved his hand over the sensor to call the elevator.  “The areas for military personnel are not, strictly speaking, off limits, but I don’t think the barracks or crew mess hall are of interest either.  Therefore we will stick with the bridge, the rec deck, and other common areas.”

“Rec deck?” Summer asked, smiling.  It seemed strange to hear a slang word coming from Maxim.

The elevator doors slid open and the four of them stepped in.  “There are five decks on this ship,” Maxim said.  “We are currently on level two.  This is where officer quarters, guest quarters, meeting rooms, the situation room and map room are located.  Deck three is the rec deck, which holds the activity rooms, training rooms, cafeteria, ship’s library and store.  Deck one is the bridge, transport room and the science labs.  Deck four is medical and crew, deck five is engineering, ammunition, fighter and shuttle bays.  We will start with the rec deck, then move up to the bridge.”

Ran pressed the button for Deck 3 and the elevator hummed softly.  A couple of seconds later the doors slid open and they stepped out into another passageway.  This one was brighter than the previous one with shiny flooring instead of carpet, lots of large plexi-glass viewing windows into various game and training rooms and a more relaxed feel. 

“As you can see, the passageways curve, following the shape of the ship,” Maxim explained as they walked down the hall.  “Running along the outside edge of the deck are the cafeteria, several game rooms and training rooms, the laundry facility and, in the center, the Roar Room.”

“Roar Room?” Summer asked.  “What is that?”

“Its official name is the Shift Chamber,” Ran said with a grin.  “A few years ago some of the human crew members dubbed it the Roar Room and it stuck.  We like it, so we have come to use it as well.”

“Oh, its a room where you can go to shift into your alter forms then,” Summer guessed.  “Is that something you have to do often?” 

“It really depends on the Clan,” Maxim replied.  “In general, we all prefer to shift regularly.  Since we shift into such large creatures, it is necessary to have a large enough space for them included in the design of our vessels.”

“Can I see it?” Summer asked.

“Certainly,” Maxim replied.  “I warn you though, there isn’t much to look at.  It is just a very large room with thick padding on the floors and walls.”

“Why padding?”

“To protect the floors and walls,” Maxim replied.  “Clan Jasani alter forms have claws, talons, fangs, horns, and a lot of strength.  The padding is replaced regularly.  It is much easier to replace padding than it is to replace floors and walls.”

“Where is Darleen’s room?” she asked curiously, wondering why she hadn’t asked that before.  Once they had boarded the ship from the skyport, Darleen had gone off with Doc, and the Katres had shown her to her room.

“We offered her a room near yours,” Maxim said.  “But Doc asked that she be given a medical personnel berth near his own as he wants to continue treating her injuries.  Darleen agreed, so she is on the med-deck.”

“I’m curious.  Why is it that Doc is here?” Summer asked.  “I thought he worked on the Dracons’ ranch.”

“He requested that he be included for a number of reasons,” Maxim replied.  “Partly because he knows the most about Controllers and is therefore best equipped to care for any women we recover.  Partly because he wants to continue treating Darleen.  And partly because he has his own personal issues with the Xanti.”

“Oh.  Well, for Darleen’s sake, and the women we rescue, I am glad he came with us.  What about Lio?” she asked, feeling a bit guilty that she hadn’t thought of him since coming aboard either. 

“He’s fine for the time being,” Maxim replied.  “He has a bunk in the crew quarters and they will keep an eye on him.  Since the Controller can now allow him to go to the bathroom when needed, and sleep when needed, the crew can just pick him up and move him if they need to.”

Summer nodded, glad that she had figured out how to get the Controller to allow those necessary physical functions, while still restricting other movements.  It had gotten to be such a pain always worrying about Lio that she had considered disabling the Controller and just turning him over to the council.  Every time she had thought about doing that she’d gotten the strongest feeling that it would be a mistake.  Now, thank goodness, it wasn’t a problem.

After touring the recreation deck, the Roar Room, the bridge and a few other interesting areas of the ship, Summer was ready for a break.  Maxim must have realized she was getting tired and hungry because he led them back down to the rec deck and, much to her relief, to the cafeteria.  After a big meal and a couple of cups of coffee, Summer felt much better.

“Hello, Chandler,” Ran said to a dark haired teenager who was clearing a table near them.

“Hello, Mr. Ran,” Chandler replied happily.

“I did not know you were working on the ship,” Ran commented.

“Well, Mom wasn’t thrilled about it,” Chandler said with a wry grin, “but Mrs. Lobo said it was only for a short trip while school is out, and promised I would be safe, so she gave in.  After all, I’m just a mess steward, its not like I’ll be piloting fighter jets or anything.  Yet.”

“Everyone has to start somewhere,” Ran said.

“Yeah, but that’s okay with me,” Chandler replied.  “I’m just excited to be on a real ship.”  Chandler put the stack of dishes he was holding into a nearby bus cart and wiped his hands on his apron.  “Would you like me to get you some more coffee or water or something?” he asked.

“I would like some more coffee, please,” Summer said with a smile. 

“I apologize,” Ran said.  “Summer, this young man is Chandler Petrie.  He and his Mother own the hardware store in Granite Falls.  Chandler, this is our Arima, Summer Whitney.”

“Its very nice to meet you, Chandler,” Summer said.

Chandler bowed, his face flushing red with sudden embarrassment.  “Its nice to meet you as well, Miss Whitney,” he said, suddenly feeling shy.  “I’ll um...I’ll go get that coffee,” he said, then sped away for the coffee pot.  Summer noted that he limped slightly when he walked, but he obviously didn’t let it slow him down.

Maxim could not help feeling mildly surprised at Summer’s reaction to Chandler.  He knew that she was nothing like Mara.  He had determined that many days earlier.  But it was still a nice surprise to him when she smiled at the boy and spoke to him so politely.  Mara would never have tolerated being introduced to
the help
, and she would have had some very scathing things to say about the boy’s limp. 

Maxim sighed inwardly.  Every time he thought about his mother something dark and ugly rose up inside of him.  And it wasn’t just because of what she had tried to do to Princess Rayne either, though that had made it worse.  He had been angry at Mara for many months now and while he understood his feelings of suspicion toward her, he did not understand the depth of his own anger.  That he had transferred some of that anger to Summer from the moment he’d met her was something he wasn’t sure he would ever fully understand either.  Or forgive himself for. 

Maxim smiled to himself as he watched Chandler blush before hurrying away for the coffee pot.  He watched as the boy took a moment to select the fullest, freshest pot, then hurried back, obviously trying to hide his limp.  He silently agreed with the boy.  Summer was definitely worth the effort to impress.

Even as fast as he was, Maxim could do no more than watch with surprise as Chandler stumbled just as he reached the table.  He didn’t fall, or drop the pot, but the hot coffee did slosh out over the rim of the pot and splatter on the table, the floor, and Summer’s arm. 

Summer jerked her arm out of the way and stood up quickly.  She reached for a napkin and dabbed at the coffee on her arm, her face calm, though Chandler looked horrified.  Maxim rose from his chair and reached for Summer’s arm, relieved to see that there were only a few small pink areas.  Though Summer gave no sign of it, Maxim was sure that the mild burn had to hurt.  He glanced up to see that her attention was on Chandler, not herself.