Page 17 of Doom Averted

Ah, interesting, a warning. I liked her more for it. She cared about the people on this ship, she wasn’t the Captain but as the Captain’s mate, she took her role seriously, looking out for them. That Da’vi with all his grump and snarl was worth that kind of protection just showed that she saw through that prickly armor just like I had.

“I don’t want to hurt him. He saved me, if not for him answering my call and promising to pick me up… I just want to pay him back in any way that I can. If I can teach him a bit about relaxing, about having fun,” I tried to explain.

My answer didn’t seem to satisfy this woman, she started frowning, and I felt suddenly like a noose was tightening around my neck. Did this woman want me to promise to be his forever or stay away? That was crazy, people didn’t fall in love that fast. I sure didn’t, I wasn’t certain that I even could. I didn’t love my own flesh and blood family, I had left them in the dust the moment I could. I’d never stayed with a man for longer than a few months; I was just wired differently.

“What do you want? We rescued you from that wreck and you are certainly welcome to stay here as long as you like… But what do you want from the future? You can’t go home, do you want to settle on a planet? We can find you a good place.” Abigail sounded a bit sterner, more business-like as she spoke and her words made me feel cold all along my spine. There it was, if I wasn’t the mate of one of these guys, I wasn’t welcome was I? No, that was silly, Tori had no mate.

When I didn’t answer Abigail softened again, reaching across the table to pat my hand. “Sorry, I get protective, and I’m not the best at the social stuff, I tend to be a little rude even if I don’t mean to.” The apology made me relax again, she clearly didn’t mean to be harsh, but the fact was, I was another mouth to feed so I should contribute in a meaningful way if I wanted to stay here. I didn’t even know if that was what I wanted.

“Hey, look at all those colors!” Camila said and she plopped her ass down in the seat next to mine, her fingers already digging into the nearest pile of yarn. “This would make such a cute sweater,” she said as she held up a green ball, “Look Abby, you’d match Ziame.”

I eyed the stack of green available and shrugged, “I could make that if you’d like. I love working with textiles.” I’d tried my hand at an art major in college briefly, while I’d worked several jobs on the side. Of course, it had just made me feel claustrophobic to feel pinned down in one place like that and I’d bailed. I still loved working with yarn and a nice hook, I made a lot of my own clothing that way.

Abby made a harrumphing sound and I had to smother a laugh, she almost sounded like Da’vi when she did that. “While a green sweater would be lovely, we were talking about our grumpy engineer, Camila.”

The ex-space marine was one of only two women on the ship that were from this time. I’d heard talk that likely all others were like me, stolen from Earth somewhere shortly at the beginning of the second millennium, maybe a little later. I’d even heard speculation at the dinner table that it was possible all of us had been on that wreck I’d woken up on at one point. We all came from the same type of stasis pod.

“Oh, did you know Ari that Babbit stole the Doc’s handheld scanner when we were coming to get you? He made Luka chase him all over the ship to the engine room. Then the Doc realized the dumbass had some cracked ribs that needed healing. Da’vi had been working so hard he hadn’t taken the time to get seen too. Can you believe that?” Camila said, talking so rapidly that even I had to scramble to keep up.

Woah, when was that? Why had he worked with his ribs injured? How had they even gotten injured in the first place?! I thought Da’vi hadn’t fought as a Gladiator in months, not since they freed themselves and took over the Vagabond. When I asked them, Abigail smiled, warmth seeping back into her eyes. “It must have been a couple of days after we set out to rescue you. My mate whacked him in the chest with his tail because he interrupted us…” She waggled her eyebrows to make it clear just what he’d interrupted and I covered my mouth with a hand to smother a laugh.

Da’vi had gotten hurt just after we’d met, and listening to Abigail describe that moment, it became obvious it was because he needed to get his brothers on board with my rescue. Then he’d worked himself into the ground without seeking medical aid to upgrade the engines and get to me in time. I hadn’t even told Da’vi just how close that had been, but to remind myself of it, I’d kept the two disgusting leftover ration bars tucked into one of the cabinets in my quarters.

I struggled with the desire to find Da’vi in the engine room, my fingers clenching around the wooden crochet hook and the soft blue yarn. I was holding them so tightly that my arms shook, why did knowing what Da’vi had done for me hit me this hard? He didn’t know me then, and he still didn’t know me all that well, I was very good at keeping most of myself at a distance while being friendly and outgoing.

“You okay there, sweetheart?” Abigail asked, she reached across the table to fold her fingers around my shaking hands. As soon as the woman focused attention on my trembling, Camila slung her arm around my shoulders and gave me a good squeeze.

“Sorry, I just thought you ought to know that, I didn’t mean to upset you, chica,” the ex-space marine said. I was touched by their kindness, and Camila was right, I really did want to know that. It just showed me how much of a good guy Da’vi was beneath his prickly exterior. No wonder Abigail was protective of him, he really deserved a girl to draw him out and make him happy, forever. Could I be that for him? Could I just see where things went? Try to make it last? Because Abigail had a point, a guy like Da’vi was loyal. I’d break his soft heart if I left him.

I offered the two women a smile that hopefully hid the wild, crazy thoughts churning through my head. “I’m okay, just surprised. A little shaken up by how close a call it was. I only had two ration bars left, you know. It means a lot to me to know how hard he worked to rescue me…” I felt exposed when I spoke those words, this was showing more of me than I had ever done before. Maybe being out in space was changing me. I tried not to let that fill me with the hope that I could finally make lasting relationships.

“Attention, your presence is requested in the ready room,” Akri’s voice suddenly announced over the ship’s intercom system. “We have arrived at Zosma Y.” The AI didn’t explain further and for a second I wondered who exactly it was speaking to. When everyone except Aggy and the kids started to get up, I figured this was a ship meeting. Was I allowed to join those?

“Come on Ari,” Camila said, “You can take your knitting with you.” I tried not to feel offended that she’d called my crocheting knitting, gathered the new project, and followed everyone to the bridge. I was welcome, so what was this about? Was this the place where Akri claimed we could source some metal alloy that Da’vi needed to fix the engines?

Then I spotted Da’vi jogging through the hallway towards us. The Riho Babbit perched on his shoulder, long black and blue tail pluming out behind him for balance. Da’vi’s own tail was whipping the air, almost like an agitated cat, the sharp metal blade he wore over the pointed tip glinting meanly in the artificial light.

He looked sexy in his slightly oil-stained coveralls, the sleeves rolled up all the way to his thick biceps. The top opened in a v to show a white shirt beneath it, that fabric was thin enough that I could see the glowing purple lines that crossed his skin shining through it. It also clung to him so lovingly that it defined his pecs and the top portion of his abdominal muscles.

Sexy as hell, I wanted to throw myself into his arms like I’d done that day he’d rescued me. I wanted to kiss him again because just that one simple peck on his lips wasn’t enough. He wasn’t looking at me though, pretending I wasn’t there when he passed. Maybe that would have made some girls feel insecure, make them think that he wasn’t interested… Not me, I knew what was up. I saw the way the amethyst lines on his skin started to glow. He was not looking a little too much.

I smirked, feeling like in this at least I was on solid ground. Then I caught Camila grinning back at me and I felt like at least one of the ladies on this ship thought I should be pursuing him. Following everyone into the ready room, I impulsively made up my mind. I’d try, no matter how it turned out. I was not going to regret not doing something, that wasn’t me.

Chapter 13

Da’vi

The air was wet, moisture hovering like fine mist in the air. Beneath the thick canopy of silvery green trees, hardly any light penetrated, and when it did, it arced like rainbows. Every time we saw one, Arianna would laugh and point it out, grabbing for my hand sometimes, or patting my shoulder. It was hard not to smile too when she looked at me like that. I wanted to complain about the wetness, about how it was making my boots soggy, and it was causing interference with my scanner’s readings. Then she’d smile again and I held my tongue.

I still didn’t understand why she was here to begin with, she’d been voted onto this damn mission unanimously. I had the feeling my brothers and their mates were trying to interfere in my personal life, ensuring Arianna and me had to work together like this. I had voiced all the objections I could, down to pointing out the dangerous wildlife that inhabited this forest planet.

Then Arianna herself had had the gall to ask me if I thought I couldn’t protect her and well… I’d seen that deviant little smile in her eyes, knew she was teasing, and I’d taken the bait anyway so here she was.

In front of us, Jakar and Eoin walked, their footsteps quiet on the spongy, mossy ground. Occasionally Jakar would turn around and point out a rainbow to Arianna which made her laugh and smile at him. It made me want to wring his thick neck.

The ping on my scanner yanked my vengeful thoughts away from the red-skinned, four-armed Pretorian. I liked him I had to remind myself as I perused the readings, I couldn’t go around bashing his skull in just because he made the female I desired laugh. She wasn’t mine, she could laugh at whoever she wanted. I just really wished all her smiles were still mine alone, that she was my secret, talking to me on the coms all day every day.

“Almost there, we should be reaching the deposit in another minute,” I said. My eyes were well adapted to work in low light settings, but it was still a struggle to make out the rocky slope of a cliff through the fog and the dense foliage. I’d picked this particular deposit of ore because it was right at the surface on the side of a cliff. Easy to reach, easy to access. Now I was wondering if I should have picked one accessible from inside a cave, this was an exposed area, despite the thick vegetation predators could easily sneak up on us.