Extraits

Chapter One

“Keep your head down to avoid drawing notice,” Darla urged her sister, pushing her through the crowd. She kept her own chin tucked low to her chest for just that reason.

Becky clutched at her arm. “Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong? Why are you scared? Don’t we have permission to be in the city without our brothers or Dad?”

“Now is not the time to talk. We’ll miss the shuttle if we don’t hurry. I have our new work visas…” She didn’t want to think of the price she’d pay for them later.

She’d had to promise sexual favors to the guy who’d hired her. That would happen after she was off the planet, when he became her boss.

But all that mattered was saving her sister.

“We’ve got jobs on Defcon Red. Working for the fleet will be much better than staying here.”

“What about Mom and Dad? Our brothers? They need our help to keep operating the greenhouse.”

“No, they don’t. This is what they want us to do. Us not being there is what’s best for them. Trust me on that.”

“Dang it, Darla! What’s going on?”

“Not now,” she snapped, relieved to see the sign for the transport they needed directly ahead. No one had stopped them to demand to see their travel papers. She reached into her pocket with her free hand and yanked out the work visas, gripping them tightly in her fist.

A man wearing a fleet uniform blocked the ramp to the shuttle. She stopped in front of him and held out the visas. “We’re Darla and Becky Mitt, new-hires on Defcon Red in the garden section.”

He took the work visas and studied both before staring at their faces. Then he handed them back. “Welcome aboard.” He stepped aside.

Darla shoved the visas back into her pocket and hauled her younger sister up the ramp, not relaxing until they’d stepped inside the transport.

They were officially on fleet property.

A load of stress left her shoulders. No one from her planet could drag them off the fleet-owned shuttle. They’d made it…they were safe.

Another man in a fleet uniform approached. “Luggage?”

Darla released her sister and wiggled out of her backpack, passing it over. She motioned for her sister to do the same. The officer took them, walking toward the back of the shuttle to the storage compartments.

“Why did you give him our stuff?”

Darla turned to face her sister. “It’s okay. He’s going to store it. This isn’t a land hover where you just drop your bag at your feet.”

“Oh.” Becky lowered her voice. “How did you get my image on that work visa thing? I didn’t pose for it.”

“I took some old stills of you with me earlier today, and the guy who made our visas just copied your image from one. Let’s sit.”

There were rows of seats along the sides of the interior of the long, narrow shuttle. At least fifteen other people had already buckled in near the front. There was an emergency hatch that had three seats near the back of the shuttle. Darla steered her sister there and sat.

Becky took the seat next to her. “Now—what’s going on?”

Darla glanced around, making sure no one was near enough to hear her whisper. “Remember that inspection coming up in two days?”

“Yes.”

“The inspector is new.”

“So?”

“It just…it wasn’t a good thing, okay?”

Becky frowned. “I don’t understand. The greenhouse is inspected every six months. We’re up to code. What does that have to do with you getting us jobs with the fleet? This is our home, Darla!” Tears filled her sister’s eyes. “I only went along with leaving because I could tell you were really scared. I want to know why. We didn’t even get to say goodbye to our parents or brothers since they were gone picking up new equipment!”

“They know we won’t be there when they get back. Dad and our brothers could have handled picking up the new harvest machines themselves, but they took Mom with them to give her an alibi, too. That way, none of them can be accused of helping us leave Radison. Becky…I had a deal going with the other inspector. The new one couldn’t be bribed. So, we’re going to work in a huge garden on an Earth fleet ship, where we’ll be safe. Our family will be fine.”

“What kind of deal? You’re not making any sense. Safe from what?”

“Being reassigned to another job. A bad one. Leave it at that, Becky. Okay?”

Her sister opened her mouth, ready to protest. Before she could, another woman spoke.

“Who let that animal on this transport?”

Darla lifted her head, staring at the opening where passengers boarded. Shock hit hard and fast at the sight of the huge alien man who’d entered the shuttle.

She’d seen plenty of news feeds; she could guess what he was.

Her sister grabbed her arm.

The big alien glanced their way, and Darla felt her sister press against her side tighter, probably attempting to hide from the alien’s intense bluish-green stare.

His eyes were brilliant in color. He had everything a human did, as far as two eyes, two arms, and two legs went…but he wasn’t one. The pointed ears proved that. He was also bigger and scarier looking than any guy she’d ever seen in person.

He tore his gaze away from them to glare at the woman who’d called him an animal. She wore a light gray fleet uniform, her blonde hair pulled back in a severe bun, and had an angry look on her face.

He handed his bags to the shuttle officer who handled luggage.

“You need to get off this shuttle right now,” the blonde ordered. She stood from her seat and pointed toward the open door. “This is only for the crew of Defcon Red.”

“I’m aware.”

Darla felt a chill run down her spine when the alien snarled those words. He sounded equally angry. Not that she could blame him. The blonde woman was being rude.

“Then get off!” The woman pointed again.

“I live on Defcon Red.”

The woman made a huffing noise and took a step forward.

A man in a dark gray uniform got up and stepped into her path. “Stand down, Barbara. Now. A whole team of Veslors are assigned to our ship. He’s probably returning after getting a few days of leave, too.”

“I don’t care, Adam. I don’t want that thing near me!”

“Goddamn it,” Adam loudly hissed. “Shut your mouth and stand down. That’s an order. Put your ass in the seat and seal your lips.”

Barbara opened her mouth.

“Commander Bills personally asked for the Veslors to be assigned to Defcon Red,” Adam whispered, but his voice carried easily. “United Earth signed a trade treaty with them. We’re under orders to make them feel welcome. Anyone who doesn’t will be written up—or worse. Remember that tactical team everyone was gossiping about?” He motioned his head toward the big alien. “They messed with the Veslors.”

Barbara paled before finally retaking her seat. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked anything but happy. Adam turned, staring at the Veslor. He gave the alien a brisk nod before sitting back down, too.

Darla felt bad for the alien when she noticed the other humans suddenly refused to look at him, putting items on the empty seats as if they were saving them for someone who hadn’t arrived yet.

She knew only too well what it was like to be treated so poorly. Greenhouse workers lived apart from the city dwellers and were often treated as lower class.

Making a decision, she cleared her throat. “There’s an empty seat over here.”

The alien glanced at her. Fear surged but she pushed it down. Her sister gripped her arm in a painful hold but luckily, Becky said nothing. Their parents had taught them to be polite.

He hesitated briefly then walked right toward them. Becky released her and scooted over. Darla forced a smile, making sure she kept eye contact with the big Veslor. She’d heard things about them on the news…including how they’d helped save a lot of lives on the Gorison Traveler. It had to mean they weren’t a threat to humans. At least, she hoped not.

He took the seat next to her, encroaching into her space a little. It wasn’t really his fault. He had to be close to seven feet tall and was massive in body size.

“Thank you.” He had a deeply gruff voice.

She swallowed. “I’m Darla, and this is my younger sister, Becky.”

“Hello,” Becky squeaked.

Darla was proud of her sister for remembering her manners in the face of obvious fear. She reached over and lightly patted her sister’s leg. Becky relaxed in her seat a little.

Six more people entered the shuttle over the next few minutes, and then the door closed. The engines came online seconds later. The seats under them rumbled and the noise inside muted other people’s soft talking. Everyone began to put on their belts.

Darla glanced at her sister, who appeared wary. Darla understood. She belted into her seat. “It’s going to be fine.”

Becky didn’t look convinced as she also strapped in.

“Is there a problem?”

That deep voice had her turning her head to peer up at the Veslor. “It’s our first time leaving the planet. We’ve never been on a shuttle before.”

His eyes really were striking. They were a bright blue with lots of vivid green streaks. Everything on Radison was kind of dull. It was a dust planet. The only vegetation grown inside greenhouses, and even those plants were all dingy shades of browns, dull yellows, and very pale greens.

“I’m Gnaw,” he said, introducing himself. “And shuttle travel is very safe.”

He had a weird name, but she appreciated him talking to her. It was a great distraction. “Then why the belts?”

“It can become bumpy when we transition into space. Then gravity will be gone until we dock with Defcon Red. You don’t want to float around, bumping into others or the walls.” He paused. “Also, they restore gravity quickly when we dock. It avoids injuries if you’re strapped down.”

“Thank you for telling us.” Darla meant every word. It would have been horrible if she didn’t belt in and ended up getting hurt. Their new boss would probably fire them before they even got to work their first shift. That couldn’t happen. Returning to Radison wasn’t an option.

He gave a nod, glancing around.

She did too. Most of the other humans avoided looking their way.

The shuttle vibrated hard, and then she felt it lift from the ground. Fear flooded her once again. They were going to fly from the surface into outer space. She’d watched plenty of shuttles do it in the distance, from her greenhouse home, but it was terrifying in person. Even more so when the small ship picked up speed.

The front rose until the shuttle pitched at an alarming angle.

“It’s normal,” Gnaw murmured, just loud enough for her to hear.

Becky clutched at her already aching arm, probably adding more bruises. Darla didn’t blame her. The shuttle began to rattle a bit, the entire vessel shaking.

Without thought, Darla grabbed at the male next to her. Her hand ended up on his thigh, holding on tightly. She vaguely registered his muscular leg was covered in thick material.

He surprised her by putting his much larger, warmer hand over hers, giving her a gentle pat. To see his darker skin against her overly pale flesh was quite a contrast. He might be an alien, very different from her, but she appreciated his kindness.

She lifted her chin and met his stunning eyes. He appeared amused.

“It is fine, female. I travel on shuttles all the time. It will be over soon, and then gravity will leave. It is an experience you might enjoy. Even better, it isn’t a long journey to the ship. Defcon Red sits about twenty minutes out once gravity leaves.”

“Twenty minutes? I thought we just had to fly up there and the ship would be waiting.”

He shook his head. “There are a lot of smaller vessels surrounding this planet. Defcon Red is very massive.” He smiled, showing off some sharp teeth. “They keep it farther out to avoid smaller vessels accidently crashing into it.”

That didn’t comfort her. “Does that happen often? Ships colliding?”

“No. Because they keep larger ones farther out.”

Darla had a lot to learn.

“Twenty minutes shouldn’t make you suffer much.”

“What does that mean?” Her sister sounded alarmed.

Gnaw glanced at her sister. “Humans tend to do fine without gravity but once it’s restored after long trips, I’ve seen your kind get sick and be unable to walk well. Your bodies feel too heavy. Twenty minutes isn’t long, though. On my way down, none of the humans traveling with me lost their meals or needed medics when we landed on Radison.”

No one had warned Darla about that, either. “Oh.”

He met her gaze again. “Why are you leaving your planet?”

“I’d like to know that too,” Becky piped up.

Darla shot her a warning look before returning her attention to Gnaw. “We both got jobs with the fleet.”

He looked over her head at her sister, frowning.

Becky ducked her face against Darla’s shoulder, as if she were afraid of his attention. Darla felt it was her duty to protect her. It always had been. She shifted in her seat to draw his gaze.

His gaze returned to her.

“We heard that the fleet has great benefits for civilian workers, and that they pay better than what we were earning on Radison. Both of us grew up in a greenhouse, and Defcon Red had openings for growers in their gardens. It just seemed like a great opportunity.” She decided to change the subject. “What do you do?”

“Fight.”

Her mouth dropped open, but she recovered from his surprising answer quickly. “Oh.”

“My grouping was asked to do so for humans. We eradicated a bunch of harmful alien creatures on another planet for our last mission. Your people didn’t check for lifeforms before building a settlement. Large creatures were killing the ones who lived there.”

“Holy shat,” her sister gasped.

Darla elbowed her. “What she meant to say is, that sounds dangerous.”

He shrugged his massive shoulders, attached to thickly muscled arms, which bumped her. “Veslors are good at defending weaker species.” He frowned. “No offense to your kind. We are built to fight. Humans…not so much.”

She glanced up and down his body. “You look it. I mean, tougher than us.”

He gave a nod, and then glanced around the shuttle. “We are about to lose gravity.”

She wanted to know how he knew that, but regardless, he proved to be right. The slight shaking stopped—and a sick feeling hit Darla. The lightheadedness had her clutching his thigh tighter, and holding onto Becky, too. Her body felt indescribably weird—and then gravity was gone.

“Shat!” her sister hissed.

“Stop cursing,” Darla ordered, fighting her own panic. It wasn’t at all pleasant to lose gravity. Her body felt so odd, as if it wasn’t really a part of her anymore. Her hair began to float, and for one, she was glad she and her sister both kept their long hair in single braids down their backs.

“Shat is a curse word?”

Darla turned toward Gnaw, grateful for the distraction. “Yes. It’s a cleaner version of,” she lowered her voice, “shit. We’re not allowed to say that on Radison.”

“It’s a stupid law by the original founders that’s been kept in place,” her sister added. “Frack instead of the other F word. We get fined if caught saying the real words.”

“Why?” Gnaw looked confused.

“The original founders were highly religious. Bad words weren’t allowed.” Darla’s temper sparked. “They kept the law in place for women, but not the men. They don’t consider us morally superior. It’s a sham. They do a lot of bad things to women.”

“Darla!” Her sister sounded horrified.

She shrugged. “No one can arrest me anymore for telling the truth. Women aren’t seen as equals on Radison. Men can curse. Women can’t. We also have to abide certain dress codes that the men don’t, or we get punished.”

Gnaw stared at her in surprise. “Like what?”

“Our long hair, as an example. Short hair isn’t permitted on a woman. Unless there was an accident, like it caught fire. Even then, an official will inspect us for burn marks. We can trim it when it gets long enough to sit on, but that’s about it. Having hair less than waist-length as an adult will get a woman in trouble. We’re also allowed to wear pants at work or while traveling, but otherwise, we must be in a dress. All of our clothing has to be a certain length and cover most of our skin.”

“Why?” Now he looked confused.

“To remind us of who is in charge,” Darla admitted. “Of course, they deny that. They say it’s to help tell the difference between men and women from afar, which is ludicrous. Women who show too much skin are immediately arrested. It’s utter shat. If seeing a knee or elbow makes men attack us, they should be the ones in trouble with our law keepers.”

“That’s confusing.” He shook his head.

“The founders and first wave of colonists were from the same church. Really, they were a cult.” At his questioning expression, she explained, “That means they made up their own religion. Not that they’d admit that, either. It’s why they’d left Earth a long time ago. They lived by their own strict beliefs until making a profit got in the way.”

He opened his mouth, probably to ask another question. That didn’t happen.

Instead, there was a sudden boom in the shuttle and the lights went out.

The engines died.

Gnaw hadn’t warned anything like that could happen! Terrified, Darla blindly reached out and clutched at the big alien male yet again. She was pretty sure her fingers were on his thigh once more, but he didn’t jerk away. Thank god. Touching his huge, sturdy body made her feel safe.

“What the fuck?” a man hissed.

A woman yelled, “What is going on?”

“Someone tell me we’re in orbit and we aren’t about to burn up if we start to fall back toward the planet’s gravity?”

A couple of screams sounded. A few men cursed loudly.

“Remain calm,” a man shouted. “The pilots will have everything under control soon.”

“How do you know? Did you hear that boom? What was that?”

Passengers began to argue. Some woman sobbed loudly. Darla kept hold of her sister—who pressed against her side—and held on tighter to Gnaw’s leg. He didn’t try to soothe her fears. That began to scare her even more as the arguing in the cabin grew worse, people afraid and panicking.

“Goddamn it,” a man bellowed. “I’m ordering all of you to shut the hell up. I’m Adam Cook, first-shift pilot on Defcon Red. Is anyone of higher rank on this transport?”

Everyone grew quiet, except for the woman crying.

The man spoke again, still bellowing. “We’re all trained fleet members. Get yourselves together. And stop making that racket, woman!”

The sobbing woman muffled her cries until they ceased. The sudden silence on the shuttle had gooseflesh rising on Darla’s arms.

“I’m going to make my way to the pilots,” Adam Cook announced. “Remain strapped in and don’t panic. I’m sure it’s nothing. No gravity means we’ve reached orbit. There will be no burning-up-in-the-atmosphere bullshit.”

“What about life support? Power seems to be completely down.” That question came from a man.

“We’ll be fine,” Adam snapped. “Defcon Red will be tracking this transport since we’re heading their way and will send a rescue shuttle if the pilots can’t fix whatever went wrong.”

A tiny light came on, and Darla fixed on it as it floated toward the front of the shuttle. It had to be Adam Cook. He’d unbuckled and was maneuvering his body toward the cockpit. He stopped at the front, and then cursed.

“The doors aren’t opening,” he called out. “Communications seem to be down. There’s no power at all on this panel.” The light moved. “It must be a total power failure. Backups are down too. Just remain calm.”

“What’s the time limit on oxygen reserves if life support is down?” It was a male who called the question out. “Does anyone know?”

“Don’t cause more panic,” a woman ordered. “Defcon Red will reach us before then.”

A clank sounded from the front.

“Please, sir,” the same woman yelled. “Don’t try to open that panel!”

“Who’s talking?” That was Adam Cook. “State your rank, woman.”

“Bailey Edward, sir. I’m a supply shuttle pilot. Don’t attempt to break open the panel to override the controls for that door. With all power down, you have no idea what’s happening on the other side. Full-system failure tells me it might be catastrophic.”

“What do you mean?” Adam sounded more irritated than concerned.

“The backup systems are clearly out. That indicates there might be massive damage to the cockpit. Otherwise, the backups would have automatically kicked on. You open those doors and there’s no telling what will happen.”

“It’s just a power failure,” Adam Cook argued.

“Sir, no disrespect, but I disagree. We could have hit an asteroid chunk or space debris. Sensors aren’t reliable during transition. Even a tiny rock could have destroyed the cockpit window, taken out all systems, and killed the pilots from rapid air decompression. That section could now be exposed to space.”

“Fuck!” Adam Cook sounded pissed.

Darla’s fear doubled.

The big Veslor put his warm hand over hers, pinning it against his leg. “It will be fine, female. I have this handled.” He released her…then something on his wrist lit up. Darla saw blue wiggly lines on a tiny screen.

“What’s that?” She’d never seen anything like it.

“I’ve just alerted my grouping that I need help. They will come.”

“Do they have a shuttle?”

He snorted. “No, but they’ll get one. Veslors are loyal. Whatever it takes, they will come.”

Oddly, that comforted her.