Petr's Mate (3 page)

Chapter Two

Samantha
was shaking. First Dillon lost his ever-loving mind, but then these
huge
men boarded their craft. No, that
wasn’t right. She looked up into the eyes of the man that had knelt before her.
She knew that two men had taken off after Dillon while one held a weapon at her
head,
but this man was different. He
was a
leader
,
if the way the others bowed to him was any indication. She didn’t understand
what he was saying. His words made no sense at all to her but then he said
something else. It sounded a bit like
medical
only with
a thick
accent, like a combination of
Italian and Latin, melodic and beautiful. Her teeth were
chattering,
but the jacket that he wrapped
around her was starting to chase the chill from her body.

His
scent surrounded her, affecting Sam in a way she was so uncertain about.
“Samantha,” she said, pointing to herself. “Doctor Samantha Henry, United
States, Earth?” She saw the
confusion
on his face, his very handsome and striking face. His eyes were a
bright,
vibrant green and his hair was
white blond and military short.

She
looked just past him then and saw the men being carried from the decking of her
ship. “Oh
God
.
He’s l-lost his
mind,
”
she stammered, the shaking once more taking hold. Shock, she realized. “Dillon.
He was going mad before but now he’s completely lost it.”
God,
why was she trying to tell him? She
tried in Italian, the same words. She tried the other languages she knew and to
no effect. “How do I communicate to you when we don’t speak the same language?”
She leaned her head back against the wall of the craft, hitting her head a
couple of times, tears flowing freely down her face.

She
’
d seen the damage, the skeletons
of the remainder of her crew, and knew that this was more than crossing into an
inhabited galaxy. This was her lost to time. She looked up at the console and
asked the computer, “Computer, what is the date?” She didn’t know if the thing
had enough power to tell her or not, but she had to try. She had to know what
she was facing, aside from men who were practically giants to her.

When
the screens that had been flickering went
black,
she rested her head
against
the wall and cast her gaze to
the man before her. He looked kind and gentle as he watched her with care. Sam
knew,
however, from the
time
around SEALs and Rangers that while he
might look soft he was probably deadly as well. He had that look to him, the
look of a predator, of a man that could and would kill if the situation called
for it.

He
tipped his head slightly, his expression telling her he was trying to figure
something out. Suddenly the two guards
close
by with their weapons both jerked to
face the same direction, on full alert. A woman all in white, with a large
case,
said something in a tone that had the
men looking to the one before her. A nod from him had the weapons lowering.

The
woman came in closer to Sam, going off in the language the man had spoken in
such a way that Sam was pretty sure she was telling the guy off. He didn’t seem
bothered by it. Vaguely amused, but otherwise unaffected. He said something to
the woman that had her attention on Sam. Out came some device that reminded Sam
of the inoculation guns back home. A sharp
jab,
and Sam felt woozy.

“You could have checked her over
before sticking her, Doctor.” The man’s words suddenly made sense even though
the situation didn’t.

“It’s
more efficient if I can speak to the patient, Admiral. I find it limits the
amount of time I have to uselessly gesture in a
foolish
attempt to make my meaning
known.”

“I can understand you.” Sam
touched the place where the woman had jabbed her. “Subdermal translators? How
is that possible? The technology wasn’t anywhere close to being put into
production.” She looked from the man, the admiral, to the doctor and back
again. “I’m Doctor Samantha Henry. The former commander of our vessel, he
killed those men. He’s lost his mind.” She didn’t know if the man who had given
her the jacket had understood her or not earlier when she’d spoken to him.
“Where am I?
When
am I?” She had a feeling it was the when part that was
going to be the hardest to get used to.

“You’re
safe,” he told her. “The rest we will have to figure out since we have no idea
where you came from, let alone when. First let’s get you to safety, where the
impatient doctor can give you a full examination while the security team
continues to search for your commander.” Standing, he again held out a hand to
her
and waited.

Sam
reached out and put her shaking hand into his. “Haven’t you heard that
doctors
are the worst patients?” She
was lifted easily to her feet, which shouldn’t have surprised her with as large
as he was, but it did all the same. She didn’t stay on her feet
long.
Her legs had been unused for
far too long and were now filled with pins and needles, making her wince. “
Crapballs
, I hate pins and needles,” she muttered, then
gasped when the man lifted her into his arms. “Holy balls, you are big.”
Strong, no, what the fa-hell was she
thinking right now?
She couldn’t be thinking of how good he smelled. There
was also no way in hell she was admiring how easily he picked her up. No,
wasn’t possible. Maybe she was still trapped in the nightmares of
cryo
-sleep? Yes, that made more sense than her being in the
arms of an alien, her friends all dead, and the one left alive completely
fucking nuts. “You’ll find him, right? I don’t know why he killed them.” She
lay her head
on
his shoulder.
God,
she had to be dreaming because it was far too easy to let herself trust this
man, to close her eyes while he held her.

“We’ll
find him, and he’ll pay for his crimes.” The admiral carried her easily through
her ship, though she had to admit it was mildly amusing to watch him scrunch up
to get through the doorways between sections. Especially since he was also
trying not to drop her in the process. He shot her a look, one of his pale
eyebrows lifting. “You are amused by something,
Doctor
Samantha Henry?”

She
shook her head. “I have got to be
dreaming.
”
When they exited her
craft,
she looked back and bit back a sob. “Oh
God,
” she whispered in horror, all traces
of amusement gone as she realized that she wasn’t dreaming. They were in a
massive landing bay. The place was huge and would have easily fit her original
ship in it without it touching a wall. She pressed her face in
to
the curve of his neck and found
herself whispering for just him, “I’m from the year two thousand fifteen, from
Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy. I’m sure that you probably know it as something
else.” She didn’t try to stop the hot tears that fell down her cheeks.
“Although by now my galaxy is likely dead, merged with the Andromeda Galaxy.”
The ship she had been on had taken
substantial
damage. The NASA placard was still on the side, duller now, the whole ship
pockmarked and aged. “I have no home.” She had known that the mission would
take her from home for a long time, but she would have been able to go back.
There was no going back from this.

He
came to a stop and she saw through her tears that he waved the
doctor
and another security officer
forward. When they were
alone,
he carried her into what she could only figure out to be a storage space.
Suddenly he sat down, and she found herself perched on his muscular thighs. “We
will find out what has happened to you and your ship. I know this situation
must be extremely disturbing for you. This is not a place you know, or even
understand, but you are welcome here. Take each moment as it comes, Doctor.
Don’t get ahead of yourself in the search for answers that may never come to
you. Do you understand what I am saying?”

She
nodded and pulled back to look up at him. “I do.” She found herself watching
him as he watched her. “Thank you. For being the one to take me. I’m not sure I
would have felt as comfortable with anyone else.” She felt her eyes go wide.
Had she
actually
said that aloud? “I mean.” Crap, what did she mean? She was nine kinds of lost
right now and oddly enough the only thing she found she wanted to cling to
was
this mountain of a man that was holding her now and
being as patient as a parent would be with a child. “I hope your tech guys or
gals will be able to pull enough information from the computers to at least
give us an idea of where I’m from?” If they knew where Earth was, and
maybe
if it was still there
…
Maybe her people had advanced enough that she would be able to communicate with
them? It was a hope, at least. “Thank you for ducking in here. I hate for
people to see me cry.” She snuggled up close to him again. What the fa-hell was
going on with her? She wasn’t a
snuggler
. She wasn’t
a clinger, either, but with this man she was. “You smell so good.” What. The.
Fa-chuck? She had lost her mind. That was the only explanation. She didn’t just
tell men that they smelled good and she certainly didn’t rub against them like
a freaking cat in heat. But he did. He
smelled
amazing. It was almost as if
an olfactory nerve inside of her brain had turned on and his scent called to
her, and worse yet, made her wet. Holy. Hell.

“That’s
good
…
that you’re comfortable with me,” he
said, his voice a rumble of sound under her ear. “If you’re feeling up to it we
should get
you to
medical. You may require some protection against what we are naturally immune
to. And it looks like you were in there for a long time. You need to let the
doctor check you.”

She
nodded and her mind started to go through all that could have been damaged
inside of her during
cryo
-sleep. “There are
some
tests that I’m sure your doctors will
want to run. And they will probably want to make sure that I’m not dangerous to
any of you.
Crapballs
, wait. You. God what if I do
have some kind of space fungus or something and now, because you’re so nice,
you have it, too? I’m so sorry. I should try to walk.” Even if she didn’t want
to move away from him. She had no flipping clue what the hell was happening
inside of her own mind and body, but one thing she did know was she wanted to
be close to him. “And please, call me Samantha or Sam? If we’re going to be in
isolation with a space fungus together you should really call me by my name,
right? And what is your name?” It hit her that fast that he hadn’t given her
his name.

“I
am Petr van
Jahnsen
. Call me Petr,” he told her. “And
the doctors will do anything that is necessary. If I have to be treated for
something,
so be it. You will not be
walking.” Standing with her in his arms again, he made for the door and out
into the passage.

She
snuggled in close to him again when he tightened his arms around her. “Petr.
It’s nice to meet you.” She once more
whispered
her words for him and him alone. “Thank you. For carrying me. For everything.”
She was grateful for him being there and holding her.

“You
are welcome, Samantha.” His unique accent turned her name into something
sensual. It may have been all in her
mind,
but she wasn’t so sure. He carried her into what she could only equate to an
elevator. It was voice
activated
and
extremely
smooth. So smooth she was sure they hadn’t moved at all until he stepped out
into a very different section of the ship. He went through a few more corridors
until they reached what she assumed was medical from the layout. The equipment
was unfamiliar, but the beds laid up like those in an emergency room gave her a
sense of familiarity.

“About
time, Admiral. I was preparing to issue a ship-
wide
bulletin for you both,” the same
doctor from before said, coming up to them. Petr set her down onto one of the
beds, then stepped to the side. The doctor moved in with a scanner of some sort
she held up in front of Sam’s chest.

Sam’s
heart raced, fear clogging her throat again. But he was there. In just an
instant he was reaching out for her hand, as if he knew she was on the edge of
a
full-blown
freak-out. She looked over
at
him
and squeezed his hand. “What is that you have?” she asked the doctor. “This is
a medical bay, I’m taking it? This ship has to be massive.” She directed that
part to Petr. “So, have I contracted some kind of space fungus and have to be
put into isolation?” she asked the too-
quiet
doctor.