Page 23 of Redeeming Captivity (Human Pets of Talin #7)

Chapter 23

Lena

Lena was having a hard time being still. While she was healing and heavily medicated, it was easy to put up with being in med bay. Now that both of them were awake and Tarquin was able to sit up and talk, it was harder to keep from feeling like the walls were closing in on her.

She hated ships. She hated buildings. When they were done with meeting Holian, she wanted to land somewhere and never get on another ship again. She wanted to live outside and never go into an enclosed space ever again.

It was impractical, but it made her feel better to think about it.

“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” Tarquin asked as he finished his meal. He was eating three or four meals a day, unlike the one meal a day Talins normally consumed. The meals were rich in nutrients that would help him heal, and it was obvious by his reluctance that they didn’t taste very good.

She shook her head and continued weaving the colorful strands of limrit into ribbon. Early on, Kolis-1 noticed she was having a hard time settling and would fiddle with anything close at hand. They brought her several bundles of limrit and a simple, portable loom. One end hooked around her foot and the other around her back. That kept tension in the plain black warp, allowing her to weave the more colorful limrit weft to create designs. So far she’d finished three lengths and given them away. This fourth one was going to be for Tarquin.

“You’re very fast,” Tarquin noted, setting the tray of food on a nearby table. He could get up and walk now, but only for short distances, and he still spent a lot of time sleeping. Weaving the limrit gave her something to do.

The ride up in the teardrop broke her information square. Not only did she lose the stories she’d written, but she also lost the ability to write more. Tormis-4 lent her an information square, but she was uncomfortable using it for anything other than communication with the Simtee.

At least she’d gained some beautiful new clothes! She loved the Simtee style, and the entire crew had come together to find her enough pieces for three entire outfits.

“Walls,” she grumbled, tugging a strand of ruby-red limrit through.

Tarquin sounded a soothing rumble. “We’ll transfer to Holian’s ship soon,” he said, putting his arm over her shoulder. They spent most of their time like this, sitting side by side in his bed with her weaving and him either eating or sleeping. It was peaceful, but she’d enjoy it a lot more if there weren’t so many walls.

“More walls,” she responded, feeling less than enthused.

“That’s true,” Tarquin agreed. “But he’s taking us to Kalor. There’s a vast forest covering most of the planet and we can live among the trees. No more walls, I promise.”

“More,” she demanded without looking up from her loom. She didn’t care that he was going to describe the same thing again, it felt good to hear the words.

“Kalor’s forest is thick, rich, and green. Several of the retired soldiers that live there harvest wild plants for Holian’s compound or to sell off-world. I’ve only been there once, but I remember it being a little colder than Talarian and much greener. There are no major mountain ranges and no oceans, just small lakes dotting the planet. It has two moons, but one is so small and far away it looks like a bright star in the night sky.”

The tensions she’d been carrying most of the day relaxed as Tarquin described Kalor for the fourth or maybe fifth time. He described the cottage he’d visited. It’d been mostly made of stone and had a garden all around, including vines growing up trellises on three sides of the house. The inside of the cottage was simple but nice, with a warming unit powered by solar captures on the roof.

He was in the middle of describing one of the native birds when Kolis-3 walked into med bay. The captain had only visited once before. Their presence here could only mean one thing.

“Lena, Tarquin, I have excellent news,” Kolis-3 said, standing next to their bed. “We’ve reached Ufa and Holian is already here. Because both our ships have cargo-transfer capabilities, we’re going to latch together so you can walk across.”

Lena knew it would be easier to take a shuttle. They were doing this because of her. She dropped the limrit in her hand and put her fingers to her head.

“Much thanks!”

Kolis-3’s crest spikes turned purple as they looked at her. “It’s only a minor inconvenience. And I owe you for the lovely weaving you gave me.” They turned so she could see where Kolis-3 had attached her length of weaving to the back of their tunic. The shades of blue limrit went well with the purple tunic.

She smiled up at them. “Pretty!”

“It is,” Kolis-3 agreed. “Kolis-1 is a little jealous, but it’s their own fault for not contributing any limrit to your collection.”

The moment the Simtee onboard realized she liked weaving, almost all of them had donated bundles of limrit from their personal stashes. The type of weaving she was doing was a common hobby among Simtee, although most didn’t have much time to dedicate to it.

A chime sounded, making Kolis-3’s crest spikes go from purple to gray. It was a sign of disappointment. “We’ll be attaching soon. Tormis-4 is going to help you get ready. Commandant Holian is eager to transfer and leave. He’s on a tight schedule.”

Lena’s smile dimmed and she nodded. “Miss you.”

“We’ll miss you as well, Lena,” Kolis-3 said, their crest spikes turning back to purple. “I agreed to pick you up because I owed Lakin a life debt. I’m very glad she chose me to call. It’s been a pleasure to have you on board my ship. I’m only sorry I don’t travel within the Talin Empire. We might never see each other again. I need to leave now, but I’ll be there to walk you across to the other ship.”

Kolis-3’s speech made tears press on the backs of Lena’s eyes, and not only because she’d miss everyone onboard Avail. This was the first time it occurred to her that the lovely image of green forests and freedom Tarquin had been crafting for her was all contained within the Talin Empire.

The same empire where she had no control. She could be bought or sold. Transported. Caged.

Why was she only thinking of this now?

“Lena?” Tarquin's gentle voice pulled her out of her panic spiral.

“Fine,” she said, blinking rapidly. She looked up at him and tried for a smile. They weren’t within the empire yet. There was time.

Time to do what, she wasn’t sure, but the thought made her feel better.

“You’re not fine,” Tarquin argued. “If you’re scared about meeting Holian, please don’t be. He’s a good male. Honorable. Jinna is his scent-bonded partner and she’s human.”

Knowing that Holian was breaking laws and taboos like them helped calm a lot of her panic.

“Jinna?”

“She’s strong and brave, like you,” Tarquin said.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Tormis-4 said, stepping up now that Kolis-3 had left. “But I need to do a final assessment before we walk to the connecting bay.”

“All good,” Lena said, busying herself with unhooking the small loom and putting it away in its small carrier while Tormis-4 ran the scanner over Tarquin for a final time.

She almost wanted to beg the Simtee crew to let her and Tarquin join them, but that wasn’t practical. She didn’t have any skills, and Tarquin wanted to return to his people.

The same people who’d tried to kill him.

Really, any way she looked at it, moving out of the empire wasn’t a bad idea! Maybe she could convince Tarquin.

A Talin and a human met them at the connection between the two ships. This had to be Holian and Jinna.

Jinna was holding something in one hand and the other was tangled in Holian’s bigger hand. That more than anything made Lena relax.

Unlike Holian and Jinna, she and Tarquin weren’t alone. Kolis-3 and Tormis-4 were walking with them.

“Commandant Holian, it’s nice to meet you,” Kolis-3 said, folding their arms over their chest in a Simtee version of a formal greeting.

Holian mirrored their folded arms. “You have my gratitude for retrieving Tarquin and Lena despite the dangers inherent in going so close to Wulnum.”

“You owe me no gratitude,” Kolis-3 responded. “I’m gratified to have repaid Lakin.”

“Yes, it seems many owe Lakin debts,” Holian said.

“I’m not surprised,” Kolis-3 answered. “She is quick to put herself in danger to save others.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Holian said, then turned his attention to Tarquin. “It’s good to see you both alive and well.”

Tarquin used his free hand and hit his fist to his chest but didn’t say anything.

“Lena,” Holian said, moving his gaze down to her. “I’d like to invite you onto the trade ship, Bountiful. The captain and owner is Derani. His scent-bonded partner is Nalia, a human like you and Jinna. You’re not only welcome here, but safe. I swear to it.”

She’d spent so long being ignored or treated like a possession by Talins that it was a shock to have Holian immediately treat her as an equal.

Letting go of Holian’s hand, Jinna stepped forward. “Hi, Lena! I’m excited to have you on board. I brought you a little welcoming gift.”

She held a package out to her. Lena hesitated to take it, then Jinna’s smile dimmed, making her feel guilty. Letting go of Tarquin she took the package, surprised at how heavy it was.

“It’s not much, but I wanted you to have something,” Jinna said, sounding nervous. “And I thought you might be curious about Kalor and Sorana. Holian said you and Tarquin were thinking of settling on Kalor, but I wanted you to know about both before making a choice. Having information is important.”

Lena nodded as Jinna talked, unsure if she should open the package or not. She wasn’t sure what was polite in this situation and didn’t want to upset the other woman.

“Um, anyway, it’s not special or anything, and now I’m rethinking it as a gift because it’s not all that great,” Jinna said, twisting her fingers together. Holian stepped up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her back against his front.

“Give her a moment, my heart,” he murmured.

“Oh, right,” Jinna said with a nod of her head. “Sorry, I’ll stop talking so you can open it.”

Lena lifted the top of the box and stared at the contents. It looked like a miniature information square. What was she supposed to do with it?”

“It’s a teaching square,” Tarquin explained, reaching over to tap it. A small hologram popped up. It was an aerial image of a lush, green forest. Text appeared at the bottom of the image.

As you can see, Kalor has a healthy, thriving forest. It is home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, some of which could be deadly to humans. Let’s explore the most dangerous first.

She touched the bottom of the teaching square and it shut off. She looked up at Jinna and smiled widely. She tried to pull some words out of her throat, but she couldn't even get one out. Instead she hugged the gift to her chest and hoped that conveyed her appreciation.

Jinna looked relieved. “It can be loaded with more premade holo-vids. It can even play Ugarian soap operas if you like those. Watching them on the holo is so much better than in 2-d on an information square.”

Lena never heard of a Ugarian soap opera, but now she was curious. Later, when she could make her words work again or had access to an information square, she’d ask Tarquin about them.

“I wish I could give you more time to become better acquainted with us, but we have a tight timeline to keep,” Holian said. “I have medication you can take to help keep you calm if it’s required.”

Fighting a frown, Lena shook her head. She wouldn’t let any of these Talins dose her with mind-altering drugs. As long as she had Tarquin, she’d deal with her fear and panic without medication.

Kolis-3 stepped up to stand next to her. “Before you go, the crew wanted me to give you this.”

They held out a bag with limrit ribbons for handles. Curious, she accepted and opened it to find that it was so full she almost spilled limrit bundles all over the floor. There were also two weaving kits, one for small ribbons and another for medium-sized ribbons.

“Kolis-1 wanted to include a large loom, but we thought it would be heavy for your smaller frame,” Kolis-3 said. “We know you’ll run out of limrit, but you can weave other things using our looms.”

Lena wanted to hug the Simtee badly, but that was a big no-no in their culture so she contented herself with crossing her arms over her chest while clutching the bag and bowed deeply.

Kolis-3 returned the gesture, then turned and left. Tarquin put a hand around Lena’s shoulders and guided her down the connection to the Bountiful. Between Tarquin’s solid bulk walking with her and having physical things to cling to, she felt calm-ish as she faced a new home and new people once again.