The Chalice (4 page)

and you will be punished.”

“That’s nothing but a recording,” Dreadlocks growled, brushing her hair back in

disgust. “Ain’t nobody but a dam n machine.”

“Sounds like it to m e,” Kara agreed. She pulled herself up, crawling higher and clinging to an open pod. Hundreds of wom en were cram med together in the circular enclosure. A spasm  of claustrophobia hit her. Wasn’t anywhere they could run except out the one single exit— and who knew what lurked out there! They were trapped— like lab rats!

“Hey, everyone,” she yelled. Heads swiveled her direction. She cleared her

throat. “Does everyone understand English?”

Heads nodded. Some raised an arm , like schoolchildren asking to be heard.

“Okay.” She drew a breath. “Anybody have any idea where we are?”

“Never seen anything like this before,” Dreadlocks waved at the surroundings.

“Weird shit.”

“I dinnae noo anythin,” Irish choked, wiping at her eyes.

“I vas in school,” Nordic said. “Ven I voke up, I vas here.”

“Me too,” a voice called.

“So was I,” another added.

“So. Okay. We don’t know where we are, how we got here or why. That about

sums it up.”

“Leaves a whole shitload of possibilities,” Dreadlocks commented, her voice

wry. “What do we know?”

Kara thought for a moment, reliving the hour before she woke up. “I was inschool, talking to a friend and then everything went dark. I cam e to in one ofthese things,” she motioned at the pods, “and then got puked out.”

The metallic voice droned on. “Human fem ales . . . .”

“And   why’s   that   dumbass   machine   keep   calling   us   hum an   fem ales?” Dreadlocks’ dark eyebrows drew together. “W hat other kind of females are there?”

Dead silence. Frozen in place, Kara’s heart rate sped up again, mouth wentdry. She could feel her eyelid twitching. Precursor to an anxiety attack. Sheforced herself to breath, slow and even.

“She’s got a point.” The accent was crisp, English. “Unlike som e of you, I’ve been paying attention.” The speaker was slender, willowy. Short bobbed, light brown hair bordered a slim  face the color of ripe peaches. Her lips curved in a prim  sm ile. “I’ve got some ideas. Every woman here is young. I would estimate between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five.” She skim med the crowd. “And though all ethnic groups and social classes appear to be represented, it seems as though we have one common factor—we all speak English.”

“Yeah,”   Dreadlocks   grum bled.   “A   bunch   of   English-speaking   bare-assed

women.”

“W hat would the tie-in be?”

“Well,” English said. “If I was going to abduct a representative group, and my timeframe was lim ited, language could play a major role. Much easier to communicate if there isn’t a huge language barrier. And English is becom ing the universal language.” She fussed with her fingernails, head high. “As it should be.”

Dreadlocks snapped to attention. “I get the feeling you mean English English.

Not plain old American English.”

“Well, of course,” English smirked. “The Am ericans’ version is bastardized.”

“W ho you calling bastard?” Dreadlocks’ fists came up.

“…any dalliance and you will be punished.”

“Nobody’s calling anybody bastard.” Kara jumped from  her perch. “Don’t create problems we don’t need. And you,” she turned to English. “Any other facts that might be helpful?”

Her head tilted, considering. “This structure isn’t man-made—and I stress theword man,” she murm ured. “I’m  a civil engineer and these walls weren’tconstructed of anything produced on good old planet Earth. At least, not to myknowledge.”

“You’re shittin’ me,” Dreadlocks growled.

Irish wailed, flopping down.

“That’s ridiculous.” But she had this gut feeling English was speaking the truth.

****

Vaux   fiddled   with   the   controls,   making   adjustm ents.   A   blurred   image

materialized on the monitor, indeterm inate at first but as the tech stabilized the

screen, a face em erged, very old and tired.

For a few seconds, he remained m otionless, and then the image spoke. “I greetyou,” he said with a sad sm ile, the voice raspy and weak. “By the time youreceive this transm ission, I will have passed from  this realm , but my soul remainswith you.”

He bent over and coughed, a harsh barking sound. “Forgive me,” he

murmured.

W iping a vein-lined hand across his lips, he continued. “The journey was longand difficult and I despaired at tim es of its success. This vessel carries with it thehopes for our future and I longed to share your joy when it arrived. But as the Gods would have it, such was not to be. All save me made the long journey to thesky, the last over two revolutions ago, and I’ve been alone except for the sleeping Chalices since that tim e.” His lips curved. Poignant. W istful. “I fear I’ve lost theability to com municate well after so long alone.”

“That’s Kormak,” Vaux gasped, shocked. “He was a mere fourteen revolutions

when the ships departed.”

The Kormak im age continued. “Time was running out and we’d almost given uphope when Fortune finally graced our voyage. On a small planet on the edges of adistant galaxy, we found a multitude of suitable fem ales. From  those, we m adeour selection. They call themselves hum ans. They’re a turbulent race. Not unlikeour own, but full of hope and vitality.” He frowned, apologetic. “I fear they’re notas winsom e as our fem ales. Most are short in stature and skin tones are so variedin color, I found it difficult to assimilate. But from  a genetic standpoint, they aresound and very fertile. I began…”

“He brought us ugly fem ales?” Shagal exclaim ed, chagrined. “I do not m ind

plain, but ugly?”

“Quiet,” Tegan admonished, irritated by the younger male’s outburst. “I want

to hear.”

“… an analysis of each Chalice’s characteristics and gene pool with those of the breeders in the data bank, and when my study was com pleted, I matched up those m ost suited.” He chuckled, a dry wisp of sound. “I had the time and I hoped it m ight forestall unnecessary jealousy and bickering. You might not share my

optim ism , but I did the best with what I had….”

“He chose my mate?” Shagal’s silver blue eyes widened. “How can that be?”

“Be still,” Mordaq hissed. “Lest I send you on your way.”

Tegan applauded Korm ak’s forthright endeavors, but secretly agreed with Shagal’s horrified surprise. Selection of a m ate had once been a joyous occasion,not this unfeeling game of chance. But he knew nothing of these fem ales oranything about their courting rituals. He heaved a deep sigh. We must do whatwe must do.

“… Everything we know about the Chalices—their culture, society, race, religion, everything is stored in the ships’ com puter logs, along with images of each female and my selection of her corresponding breeder. The im ages will be

transmitted to the respective males so each m ay acquaint himself with his

prospective mate…”

“Well, at least I get to see what she looks like before we’re mated,” Shagal

muttered.

Lights flashed on the control panel, running wild. “Files are being downloaded,” Vaux said as his fingers flew over the components. “The ships are transmittingdata.”   He   hesitated,   brows   drawn   together   in   confusion.   “Only   two   aretransmitting. There’s nothing from  the cargo transport.”

“Scan the system,” Tegan snapped, his concern im m ediate for the well-being of the crew and the females. The cargo ship was outfitted to transport seventy Chalices. To lose even one would be injurious to the whole.

Minutes passed. Tegan found himself holding his breath, expecting the worst.

“There’s nothing,” Vaux m uttered darkly. “Only the two outriders. The cargo

ship’s gone.”

“By now, you know the third ship is missing.” Kormak’s im age grew despondent, his large eyes filled with moisture. “The ship was old and its power cells were failing. In an effort to alleviate some of the power drain, we transferred fifty of the pods from  the cargo ship to the other two, but during the last star jum p, it disappeared. We searched as long as we could, but we found nothing, not even a trace. We couldn’t spare any m ore time so we left them . I fear all were lost.”

“My Chalice was probably on the lost cargo,” Shagal grumbled, lips pursed in a

scowl. “All this for nothing.”

Mordaq grabbed him  by the nape of his neck and hustled him  from  the control

room , growling about m indless fools.

“I send you my blessings and my hopes for the Chiagan-Se. Be kind and

respectful to the Chalices. They’re young and have m uch to learn— as do you in

this grand adventure. They will make excellent mates and, perhaps in the future, if you prove yourself worthy, you will also find love.” He sm iled, a sad twist of his lips. “Do not grieve for me or for the others. We traveled the universe and saw things you couldn’t begin to imagine. We lived our lives in service to our people and none could have asked for a more precious gift. Every moment of our travel is recorded in the ship’s logs and I urge you to view the records when you can. Be strong my friends and live well.”

The screen dimmed and the image faded.

Tegan stared at the screen, assessing Kormak’s solitary discourse. How alonehe must have felt when the last friend passed. Alone and perchance forgotten. Could I have stayed the path, he asked himself. It was a sobering question.

High above, if everything had gone as planned, the Chalices circled the ruinedplanet,   awaiting   the   breeders’  arrival.   After  the   breeders   settled   in,   theexpatriates would depart this world and seek out a new hom e beyond the crueldominion of the savage Deg’Nara, if everything had gone as planned.

His wrist sy-com  beeped, echoed by the one on Vaux’s wrist. He brushed hisfingers across the panel and a small depiction sprang up. In the golden aura oflight, a tiny figure took form . Curious, he raised his arm . His throat tightened withemotion. His Chalice!

He examined the image from  all sides, drinking in every feature, appreciatingher as he would an object of fine art. She was so dissim ilar, not like any femalehe’d seen before. Alien— but com pelling all the same. Hair the color of the

morning suns hung in rippling curls to her narrow waist. Darker brows arched over sleep-closed eyes, veiling them  from  his perusal. He looked closer, heart rate speeding up. Full, slightly parted lips graced a visage so perfect, he was astounded. Were all the Chalices so fair? Korm ak’d indicated they were less winsom e, but in studying her, other than the odd skin tone and hair color, she was very pleasing. His head tilted as he scrutinized the aura. The image’s form , though delicate, was lithe and inviting, even partially obscured by the thick tresses.

He drew a deep, shuddering breath, realizing he’d forgotten to inhale.

“Look at my Chalice,” Vaux whispered, holding out his arm . “She looks like a

veritable goddess.”

Tegan gazed at the im age, mouth opening in surprise. She was as differentfrom  his Chalice as the Chaigan-Se were to the Deg’Nara. This one was bold,strong-looking and, in comparison to his Chalice, appeared tall and regal.

“Did the seekers bring us breeding Chalices?” Vaux appeared confused. “Are

we to raise other species’ children?”

Tegan spared another look at his Chalice. Nourishment glands form ed small

mounds beneath the heavy waves of hair. He sized up the other image. Opulent globes fairly burst from  the chest of Vaux’s Chalice. More than enough to feed several children— at the sam e time! The fem ales of the Chiagan-Se were built

much the same as the males from  the waist up, and only after breeding did their nourishment glands develop, and when the child was weaned, just as quickly retracted. It was unsettling. Provocative.

“We know nothing of these humans.” Tegan shrugged off the concern. “’Tis possible it’s a com m on trait am ong their kind. If they’re breeding, we must nevertheless honor our comm itment. They’ve come a long way for us.”

Vaux turned to the control panel. “I’ll scan Korm ak’s logs. We’d do well to gain

some further insight before we meet.”

Tegan nodded, his thoughts solem n. He would like his Chalice to feelcomfortable and welcome among his kind. The females had journeyed a greatdistance to align them selves with the Chiagan-Se and it was up to the breeders tomake the transition less painful. If the reverse were true, he’d find it hard toadapt, especially if no com prom ises issued. I wonder if we’re up to the challenge! Not that they had any other choice.

Shagal slam m ed into the room , avoiding Mordaq’s grasping fingers by m ereinches, his face alight with wonder. “I have a Chalice,” he exclaimed. Excited, hethrust his arm  at Tegan. “But she is the color of burned flesh,” he said with somedistress. “Maybe she was injured in the transporter pod.”

“They’re all different, you idiot,” Mordaq growled, grabbing at the younger