Well, I’d never heard of Trion. But whatever. He looked almost human, closest alien race to human I’d seen since stepping foot on Base 3. There were well over two hundred worlds in the Interstellar Coalition, and I’d always been hopeless at geography. Adding that many more planets with new places and landmarks to my non-existent knowledge base just wasn’t going to happen.
He stepped toward me, and I stepped back. I frowned. He was a little too close, and I felt like a kindergartener whining because he stepped into my “bubble”. The look on his face wasn’t threatening…but it wasn’t friendly either. A chill raced over my skin as the door slid shut automatically behind him. We were alone. Together.
“Why are you here? Where is Rezzer? Has something happened to him?” I didn’t like this. Didn’t like the way he was looking at me like I was… No. Not looking at me. Looking through me. Like I wasn’t even here. There was no empathy or acknowledgment in his gaze. It was like he was hypnotized. Or a robot.
“Your mate is fine.”
Well, then? What the hell was this? I cleared my throat. “You need to go now. Rezzer will be back any minute.”
His calm demeanor shifted, and all at once he was tense, his dark eyes hard. “It has been confirmed that you are with child.” His voice was deep and menacing. Yet he appeared unarmed. No sexy thigh holster like Rezzer wore.
“Was that a question?” I stepped back again, not liking there was no one else around. The door was closed, providing a privacy I didn’t want. No one knew he was here—at least that I knew of—and Rezzer wasn’t around. And I had no idea who this guy was. What he wanted. Why he’d rung the dang doorbell in the first place. I stepped back far enough to wrap my hand around the thin neck of one of my new lamps. God, I hated to ruin it, but it was the only weapon I had. He was tall, but he was no beast. Had me by maybe six inches. I could swing the lamp at his head. Maybe kick him in the balls. No guy, alien or human, liked getting whacked in the nuts.
His gaze darted to my hand where it wrapped around the lamp, but he looked amused, not threatened.
Bastard.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small disk about the size of a round cracker, and my mind raced, ideas clicking in and out of place like puzzle pieces as adrenaline surged through my body. What was this alien doing here? What the heck was that little round thing? His smile was definitely not human, and he thought it was actually meant to reassure me? Yeah, right.
“Your mate is far from here, Lady Caroline. But do not worry, you are very valuable to us now. And he will be joining you soon.”
Us? Who was us? And joining me? Why did that sound like a threat? Every instinct I had screamed at me that I was in deep shit, but there was nowhere to run. “I don’t remember you from medical. I think it’s time for you to go. As I said, Rezzer will be back any moment, and I assure you, he’s very possessive. He’s an Atlan, you know.” I added the last to remind him that Rezzer turned into a beast and could rip his head off if he did anything to hurt me.
He shrugged his broad shoulders, clearly not threatened by being ruthlessly killed by an Atlan beast. “I only need a moment,” he replied, stepping close. Too close.
I swung the lamp. Prayed for a miracle.
Fuck. He was stronger than he looked. He stopped my assault with one hand, and didn’t even grunt. Didn’t blink. His face never even changed expression. He was empty. Just…empty.
Still holding the lamp in one hand, he reached out and slapped the round disk onto my one bare shoulder. Only then did he step back, giving me the space I wanted. He didn’t even take the lamp from my hand. Glancing down at the disk, I watched as a series of lights blinked yellow, the pattern looked like a…an electronic button.
“What—”
He crossed his arms over his chest. Watched. Waited. “I’m only following orders.”
I reached up to pull the disk off my skin, but I felt a sizzle, every hair on my body standing up on end. Then it was like the world twisted me from the inside out. Painful. Strange. I tried to scream, but there was no air. Nothing to hold on to. Just…nothing.
* * *
CJ
I stumbled, putting my arm out instinctively, and it slapped against a wall. I blinked, felt nauseated, realized I’d transported. When I had left Earth, the last thing I’d remembered was Warden Egara counting down and a calming blue light. I’d woken up on the Colony coifed and shaved and wearing a beautiful gown. And the best part? Rezzer had been there. Waiting. Kneeling beside me and watching me with those gorgeous green eyes.
This time, I hadn’t slept through the travel and boy-oh-boy, the ride really was not enjoyable. It was not as fun as I’d thought it would be. Star Trek made it look so easy. I knew my ions or cells or whatever rearranged, and I went through some kind of vortex.
Oh god. The baby. Had it rearranged the baby? How many pregnant women transported? Was it allowed?
I put my hands on my belly, felt nothing. Of course I didn’t. But I didn’t feel like I was losing the baby either. No cramping or blood.
Glancing down at my dress, I expected to see the one I’d been wearing all day. Instead, I wore a simple white shift that fell to just below my knees. No shoes. No underwear. If it had been open in the back, it would have been exactly like a hospital gown back home. But the material was smooth, oddly unwrinkled—without the smallest crease—and seemed to have some kind of internal circuitry woven into the fabric. If I stared long enough, I saw small bursts of light, or electricity…hell, I had no idea what it was, but it looked like circuits bolting this way and that at seemingly random intervals.
Rubbing the fabric between two fingers, I braced myself on the wall and looked up again. I wasn’t in our quarters. I wasn’t anywhere I’d ever been before.
I was in some kind of personal quarters. The bed against one wall was large, just as big as the one I shared with Rezzer in our suite. A small table was affixed to the floor, the chairs bolted down too, and all three items were bright silver, like shiny chrome. There were no pictures, no other furniture. I peeked through a small archway and saw a bathing unit, sink and a small closet with additional gowns exactly like the one I wore.
No S-Gen unit. No decoration. No smell. Why didn’t this place smell like something? I felt like I was inside a sterile bubble. No dirt, no plants, no hint of food or people or…anything. “Where the hell am I?”
My heart raced, and I had to fight to stay calm as the little circuit lights in my gown went crazy.