“What the fuck are you doing here, Hunter?” Karter said as he approached.
We were in the canteen the floor below the command deck at a table in the back corner. The room had been filled fifteen minutes earlier with those who had finished a shift and with those eating in preparation for one. S-Gen machines lined one wall, windows lined another. Looking out, the universe was as black as I felt. Stars and galaxies spread from one side to the other, reminding me that my mate was out there on one of those bright white specs. Light years away.
The clatter of dishes and silverware were Commander Karter’s backdrop. I breathed in the tangled scent of hundreds of meals, not my mate’s scent. She wasn’t on the battleship. I knew it, not only because I’d watched her transport from Latiri 4 to… somewhere with that blue fucker, but because I didn’t smell her. Didn’t hear her breathing or her heartbeat. I didn’t sense her.
She was… gone. It had been a week since the mission to shut down the Hive prison base. Since then the Coalition had taken back the territory near the base and broken it down. The base was gone, and so was my purpose for being in this sector.
Things had moved quickly. Life moved on. But I hadn’t. My mate had been gone for a fucking week. No word. Not a peep. I’d known her for about seven hours… and nothing. My life turned upside down.
“Well?” Karter asked, pulling out a chair and dropping into it. Three low rank fighters just finishing their meals at the table behind ours stood and fled. Clearly, they didn’t like the tone of their commander’s voice.
They didn’t have to worry. It was directed at me.
A doctor in a green uniform approached, handed him a tablet. Karter glanced at it, nodded, and the male walked away without saying a word.
“That’s what I asked him an hour ago,” Dorian, the fair Prillon who was mated to Commander Chloe Phan, told him. “He’s been quietly fuming.”
We’d finished our meals; trays and dirty plates littered the table. Zan and Zeus had gone to the machines and retrieved drinks. While I had been given clearance by the Everian council to leave Battleship Karter and move on to a new assignment, I hadn’t bothered to check in, to evaluate the options.
I didn’t care about earning more money. I was already wealthy. My family, every one of my siblings, mates, nieces and nephews, were well taken care of on what I’d already earned in this war. I was an Elite and we charged a very high price.
But the truth was, there was nowhere I wanted to go, not alone. Without her.
Zeus slammed a large cup of alcohol onto the table before me, the dark liquid a spicy brew from Everis. The others sipped a pale colored alcohol from Prillon Prime. Dorian, had something called beer. An Earth drink I assumed his mate, and Seth, the other male in their Prillon trio, enjoyed from their home world.
Slouched in my chair, I had my arms crossed, my half-empty glass resting between my fingers. With my legs kicked out long in front of me, I had no doubt I appeared more relaxed than I felt. I now had an idea what an Atlan felt like if separated from their mate. As if missing a part of themselves. I had no cuffs. I had no Prillon collar. I just felt like half my soul was missing.
I couldn’t fucking breathe.
And after only knowing and being with Niobe for… fuck, less than a day? I was screwed.
“It’s been days since the battle and he’s been like this the entire time. Barely says a fucking word,” Zan said, his voice deep.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on The Colony?” I asked. If he was going to pour acid on open wounds, so would I.
“I leave tomorrow, Quinn. But Prime Nial lifted the ban on the contaminated returning home.” His voice held resignation, not hope. Still, he was a good warrior. A friend.
“I’m sorry, Zan. I’m being an asshole. So, where are you going? You going home?”
He shrugged, the slight movement masking a mountain of pain. “No. They will only fear me, despite the lifting of the ban. I will not belong, and I doubt I’ll be matched now. Not like this.” He pointed at himself.
“I’ve heard there aren’t many females on The Colony, either. If it’s a mate you want, you should go home to Atlan.” The Prillon commander, Zeus, offered his advice. “Fuck those who fear you. Let them be afraid.”
Zan shook his head, taking another sip of his drink rather than respond and none of us pushed him. This was his life, what was left of it. And when it came to obsessing about females, I had no room to talk.
I wasn’t sure what he was going to do. He’d proven himself returning to Latiri 4, but he was integrated. Substantially. He should go to The Colony. That was the protocol. With Prime Nial’s new rules, it wasn’t mandatory now. Karter wasn’t going to force his transport. But would Zan transition better on The Colony with others who understood his new life? Or should he return to Atlan and take his chances there?
It didn’t seem like Karter was pushing him to transport. But, apparently, he was pushing me.
I respected the commander, but in this moment, I didn’t like him all that much. For days he’d been fucking with me.
Karter kicked my chair and I held back a warning by biting the tip of my tongue. I was not, technically, under his command. But I knew better than to insult a Prillon battle commander on his own fucking ship. “Leave me be. I’m fine.”
“He’s barely said anything since the vice admiral transported with the Nexus back on Latiri 4,” Zeus explained. Like a recap had been necessary. Everyone knew what had happened. Dorian had been above ground and he knew. These ranking fighters were like a bunch of girls, blathering and gossiping. “Days ago.”
I sighed.
“Exactly,” Karter snapped. His shoulders were tense, his gaze shrewd. Didn’t he ever relax? “Like I said, what the fuck are you doing here?”