Theron Destiny (Brides of Theron) (7 page)

The curtains hid a large window that looked out into the deepness of space. The view was breath taking and in order to fully take it in, she had to stand up to get a better look. The blackness of space covered everywhere she looked with flecks of brilliant lights. Below her, she could see part of the moon and the numerous craters that littered its surface. Looking further out, she caught sight of a shooting star as it shot off into the vastness of the galaxy. She had never seen anything like this before. Even on the darkest of nights in the city, one could never really see the night sky clearly. The stars in the sky always seemed dim and very far away. Now they shined with their true brightness.

“It’s a beautiful view don’t you think?” Startled, she quickly turned around to find that Zeb was standing right behind her. She hadn’t heard him come into the room nor had she heard him walk up directly behind her. He was looking down at her with eyes that were still sleepy and an even deeper purple hue than they had been before. Thankfully it was dark in the room and he couldn’t see her blush in response to the way he was looking at her. She turned back to the window and spoke quietly, “It is the most beautiful sight I have ever seen before. Nothing on Earth compares to it.”

Zeb moved closer to her and pointed to an area near the side of the moon and said, “Do you see that area near your Moon. The spot right there that appears to be moving?”

She leaned closer to the window to get a better view and sure enough she saw what he was pointing to and was quite confused as to what it could be.

“What is causing that? Is it some kind of reflection of light off the moon?” He smiled as she asked her question, happy that she was willing to talk to him.

“It’s the worm hole that we used to come to your galaxy.”

“It’s a worm hole? So, they really do exist.”

“They exist all over the universe. We have been using them for hundreds of years now. We travel to different worlds to trade for things that we do not have on our own planet. As you know, we traveled to your world to find mates. I found you.” Zeb said as he laid his hand on her shoulder.

Still looking out the window she replied, “I don’t want to be here. Why can’t you understand that? I want my home. I want my things. You took everything away from me because you wanted a “mate” as you call it. Did you ever stop and think about how any of the other women or I would feel about what you did?”

She had looked back up at him and by the time she was finished speaking and he could see the tears starting to fall once again from the eyes he was starting to admire. Taking a deep breath before answering her, he simply replied, “No.”

“I didn’t think so. I am going back to bed.” She went to turn away from him.  But, as she turned, she had forgotten about her injured ankle and cried out as the pain stabbed through her leg causing it to give out.

Zeb instinctively reached for her before she could fall to the ground and injure herself further. He swept her up into his arms and headed for the bedroom.

“You are going to have to stop carrying me all the time. I can walk on my own.”

“Yes, I can clearly see that” was his smart ass reply. He walked over to the bed and deposited her once again in the bed that they were to share.

She grabbed the covers and pulled them up to her chin and mumbled a quick “Thanks” and promptly rolled over away from him. She bent her head down on the pillow, burying her nose so that he would not see the tears that were now free falling down her face. She heard him walk around to his side of the bed and get in. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she heard him say, “Avery, I promise not to hurt you in any way. I will take care of you if you would just give me a chance” and with that he rolled on his side away from her and closed his eyes, but sleep was going to be a long time coming.

Chapter 7

Avery awoke the next morning to the sound of voices coming from the main room. Getting up out of the bed, she hobbled her way to the bathroom. After using the toilet and washing her face, she opened the door to find Zeb sitting on the side of the bed waiting for her.

“I heard you moving around in here and came to see if you needed any assistance.”

“I’m good. Thanks.”

“Are you hungry? I’ve made some breakfast for us and we have company.” Zeb moved to help her make her way into the main room. He didn’t try to pick her up but he did offer her his arm which she reluctantly took hold of having no other choice.

Slowly they walked to the counter where she had started her tantrum last night and took a seat on the barstool that had been placed there for her. On the other side of the counter stood a man she recognized but she didn’t recall being formally introduced to.

“Hi Avery, I’m Brylon. It is very nice to meet you.” Brylon put on his best smile for his friend’s new mate.

“Hi” was the only thing she could muster up to say in return.

Zeb went around to the other side of the counter and started to fill up plates with food. Food she had never seen before. Then he placed a glass in front of her with a green liquid in it.

“What is that in the glass?” She eyed the glass suspiciously.

“Try it and tell me if you like it.”

He watched as she brought the glass to her lips and took a tentative sip. She glanced up at him while she licked her lips, “It tastes like apple juice.” She put the glass back to her mouth and took several more swallows.

“It’s called leppa juice. It comes from a fruit grown on our planet that is about as big as that plate there.”

“It’s delicious. Can I have some more?” She held her glass out to him so that he could pour her more of the green juice.

Next, he handed her a plate that had many strange looking items on it as well.

“Go ahead and try something, then I’ll tell you what it is.”

This time she was a bit more hesitant to put the food in her mouth. She was never one to try new foods, always sticking with what she knew she liked. With no other choice but to try the food, the first thing she tried appeared to be some sort of bread. It had a soft texture just like the Bunny Bread back home but was the red color of watermelon. It tasted sweet and melted in her mouth.

“Hmm. That’s really good. What’s it called?” She took another bite and waited for one of the men to answer her.

“That’s Bhakta. Good isn’t it. I get it from the grain store on the ship. It is made from powa, a grain that we grow that is similar to your wheat. It is a main staple in our diet. Many of our food items can be made from it. Take a bite of the little brown things.” Brylon answered.  Brylon was enjoying himself.  Sitting there watching her reactions to the different tastes of the foods.  He knew when she tasted the nimo that she was not going to like it. He watched for the impending reaction that he knew was coming.

Avery moved the little brown things around on the plate, unsure if she really wanted to give that a try. It didn’t look very appetizing to her. Bringing a spoon full of the bean looking things to her mouth she got a whiff of something that smelled like mud. She put the spoonful into her mouth and gave a few quick chews. All at once, her eyes grew wide and she started to gag. Brylon and Zeb both started to laugh at the same time and Brylon quickly handed her a napkin to spit the nimo into, before she lost everything she had already eaten.

“Ugh! That’s disgusting. Oh my God that is so unbelievably nasty. I am not sure I even want to know what it’s made from.” Her eyes were watering from the horrible taste in her mouth so she grabbed her glass of leppa juice and took a big swallow. “I think I will stick to the red bread stuff.”

Zeb continued to chuckle when he said to her, “I thought I would just let you give it a try, and you obviously don’t like it.”

“Can you blame the girl? I never could stand that stuff. I don’t know how anyone eats it.” Brylon continued to laugh as well, but stuck his tongue out at the thought of eating the nimo. “My father used to make me sit at the table and eat every bit of it. Sometimes I would sit there for hours choking down the nasty stuff. Many times my mother would pass by me and take bites so that I wouldn’t have to eat it all. It was my father’s favorite food and he asked my mother for it on a regular basis.”

Avery shoved the plate away from her announcing at the same time, “I think I have had enough food.” She glanced up at Zeb and caught him staring at her. He looked way quickly as if he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He picked up the plates and the glasses and moved to put them into the steel sink that was next to the counter they were sitting at.

“Ok Zeb, can you please tell me now what you wanted to see me for?  I also have a new bride waiting for me to return, so spill it.”

Both Avery and Brylon looked at Zeb and waited anxiously to find out what he wanted. “Alright, here goes nothing. I was thinking last night about what you said Avery.  About how we took you away from everything that was yours. The more I thought about it, the more I realized we really had gone about this in the wrong way. So, I came up with something that I hope would make you a little bit happier with being here. I can’t return you to your life.  But I am hoping, with Brylon’s assistance, that I would be able to go and retrieve some of your belongings from your home on Earth and bring them here to you.”

Avery sat there in silence while Brylon looked at him as if he had lost his mind. “How do you plan on pulling that off my friend? You know that the council will have your head if they find out that you went down to the planet without permission.”

“That’s why I have you, Mr. Ship’s engineer. You know how to block the electronportation machine. It’s your baby. You know it in and out and besides we’ve done it before so what’s the difference now?”

“That was a long time ago Zeb. We could both be brought up on charges for illegal use of the ship’s machinery.” Brylon shook his head then smiled at Zeb, “But you know I am always up for a challenge. When do you want to do it?”

“I would like to do it as soon as Avery gives me a list of the things that she wants.” Zeb gave Avery a weak smile hoping that he would receive a smile back. He was dying to see her smile.

“Do you have a piece of paper and something to write with? It’s going to be a long list.” He didn’t get the smile he wanted but at least she wasn’t starting to throw another tantrum.

“Go ahead and write the list Avery.  Even better Zeb, you can use the visual camera guides that I designed. I haven’t had the chance to test them out yet and this would be the perfect time to find out if they work. Avery can come and stay with me in the transportation room and watch as you gather her things. That way if there is something else she sees she wants, you will be able to get it. That is, if it’s ok with Avery?” Brylon raised his brows towards Avery and waited.

She looked back and forth between both men not sure exactly what to say. “You will get everything that I ask for?”

“Everything.” One simple word started to change her outlook on the situation she was in. It was either live here with Zeb in complete misery or live in misery but with some of her own personal possessions. She chose the latter option.

Chapter 8

An hour later the three of them were standing in the transportation room. Zeb was standing on the silver pad that would transport him back down to the surface of the planet.

“Ok commander. I am going to transport you directly in Avery’s home. That way no one will see you coming or going or try to give you any problems. You are going to have to make it quick.”

“Let’s do this.” Zeb gave a thumbs up and waited for the electronportation to start breaking his body down into a trillion pieces and then putting him back together in an instant at a totally different location.

Avery watched in pure amazement as Zeb slowly started to become transparent and disappear from her view into thin air. About ten seconds later she could hear his voice coming over the speaker from the control panel where Brylon was sitting.

“I’m in.”

“Good. Now get to work, you don’t have much time.” Brylon responded back to Zeb. “Turn on the visual guide system, Zeb.” He waited eagerly for the first image to come through from the device that Brylon had been working on for the past month. He hoped he had worked out all the kinks so that they would be able to see a crystal clear picture.

“See anything yet?” Avery asked out of curiosity. She had moved closer to the panel where Brylon was so she could see as well, yet distant enough to make sure that she wasn’t touching him.

Brylon gave a big smile when the image on the screen came in better than he had hoped for. He looked over to where Avery was standing and said to her, “Come closer. I am not going to bite you. You don’t need to be so scared all the time. Come see.”

She edged closer so that she was able to get a better view of the screen and immediately had feelings of homesickness settle over her as she watched an alien man walk around in her home as he gathered her belongings.  She was hit hard by the realization that after this moment she was never going to see her former home again. Everything she had worked for and cherished was being taken from her.  She could only take a fraction of her belongings. She started to clench and unclench her fists as she tried to control the anger that was now starting to over-take the homesickness.

She watched as Zeb opened drawers and closets, tossing the items from her list into a pile on the floor. Her once clean apartment now looked ransacked, almost like a robbery had taken place. The pile on the floor continued to grow larger and larger but she had a little surprise waiting for him when he finished. It was an item that she intentionally left off the list and she knew it was going to catch him off guard. Just thinking about the moment when she would spring it on him helped to diffuse some of the anger that she was feeling.