And you have no problem hunting and caging a female knowing that you hand her over to death?he asked, unable to avoid pricking at his cousin’s reasoning.
The feeling of forced nonchalance came through so strongly that Veral was disturbed by it. Kaylar was being dishonest but would not admit it even if Veral confronted him with it.
I cannot show any feeling toward it. You know that. Our programming is for obedience. I will be immediately labeled as malfunctioning if I do not control myself and keep some distance. As you should have done. You would not now be in this situation if you had.
Veral thought of his mate, who was likely eating at that very moment in the galley, and their offspring whom he had seen so clearly on the hologram. He was protective of both of his females and would not give them up for anything, not even if he had known then what he would be facing now.
I regret nothing.
Good, since you have little choice on the matter now. As for your mate, it is not wise to take Terri there, but I understand your reasoning. Do not be concerned about my mother. Despite my arguments with her, I know that our line will keep Terri and her young safe. A female of the line will be celebrated, even if they need time to become accustomed to the idea of the offspring being half-alien. But they will help even if it is to upset the efforts of the council. Many of the females believe that our malfunctions are natural and will resent the council’s experiments to eradicate it.
Veral bowed his head, comforted by his cousin’s observations as he finalized his course.
My thanks, cousin.He hesitated but tentatively offered his advice.When you find your prey, I ask that you not be too hurried to bring her back to the council. Really see the female and think hard about what your decision will mean.
A sigh drifted through their connection, accompanying a reluctant agreement.
It will change nothing, cousin, but I shall keep your advice in mind.
Of course, he replied just before the connection between them closed. His lips twisted in a smirk as he considered just what his cousin may be in for when face to face with a human female, trying to reason with her rather than just hunting a nameless prey.
Soft footsteps drew his attention to the entrance of the flight deck, and his mandibles vibrated with pleasure at the sight of his mate on deck, Krono lazily striding at her side. She grinned as she slid into the chair beside his command station and leaned forward to press her lips against his jaw in affection. As she drew back, a soft sound escaped her, her eyes riveted to the viewing screen.
“Is that our trajectory?”
“It is,” he agreed. He moved his hand, drawing up an image of the orbital path around Argurumal. The red planet gleamed like a gem broken with black lines of hard, jutting stone of their mountain ranges. “And this is our destination.”
“Amazing,” she whispered. “And all of that is sand?”
“Everything red. The black striations are mountains.” He drew up one section of a sprawling red desert near a wide mountain range on the southern continent of the side of the planet hit most frequently with the storms that shaped the great dunes. “This is where the Monushava complex is located. The household of my line,” he clarified.
Terri leaned forward and folded her hands together before pressing them to her lips as the screen drew closer until she could clearly see the wind-whipped sands stirring as lightning broke out over the deserts. A shiver ran over her. She swallowed and gave him a weak smile.
“I guess that is home.”
“Home,” he said slowly, tasting the unfamiliar word on his tongue.
He was uncertain how he felt about it. It did not feel like anything he recognized as home.The Wandererwas his home. Even before Terri had come and made it into a true home for them, it had been his sanctuary. He did not associate any such feelings with the complex that he had not seen since his adolescence and his mother’s death. He shook his head slowly and met his mate’s eyes.
“No, anastha. It is merely a place that we are going as necessity demands. This is our home, not that place.”
She gave him a doubtful look, but he chose to disregard it as he drew up her hand to his lips and pressed his mouth against the delicate skin of her knuckles. He did not care about his mother’s line hidden away in the complex. They had made no effort nor any indication that they wanted him. Not like his Terri. All he cared about was his mate.
3
Two weeks was all the time that it took to arrive on Argurumal. The ship dropped down over a vast desert on the opposite side of the planet from most of the major cities that had formed around supplies of natural ground water. The darkness of the desert at night as they skimmed over the sand reminded her a lot of home, except the desert floor wasn’t hard and compact but rather a rolling landscape of red sands that she could clearly see fromThe Wanderer’sfront exploration lights.
Terri stared as the complex slowly came into view. It looked like a small walled-off village except that it was one large, winding house rather than numerous tiny houses. The tops of the tall walls were barely visible behind the enormous, gated wall that surrounded the property. The black stones of the structure and wall were nearly identical in composition, each swirled with red sediments, giving the place an almost magical look. Terri wondered if the blocks were cut and hauled down from the mountains piece by piece. They certainly didn’t look anything like the synthetic structures they had seen in their travels. They didn’t even look like the old brick buildings she’d seen on Earth. She wondered how much of that was fact and how much was illusion. A society as advanced as the Argurma wouldn’t be living in stone buildings.
She turned to look up at Veral seated at her side. He stared out ahead at the landscape, his expression closed, not revealing a hint of what was going on internally.
She leaned toward him. “A penny for your thoughts,” she murmured.
His eyes snapped up to her, narrowing at the corners slightly as they did whenever he was trying to work out something that he did not understand.
“I’m interested to hear what you’re thinking of right now,” she clarified with a smile. “A penny is a coin that was used on Earth a long time before I was born. Like offering a credit to hear whatever’s on your mind.”
A soft, amused snort left him. “A strange sort of bribery to reference,” he remarked. “If you merely mean that you wish to know my thoughts, then say what you mean, anastha.”