Page 37 of Warrior (The Outlander Book Club… in Space! #2)
“We heard from Tarook the day the Bardaga rendezvoused with your escape ship. He arrived at the Hartouk Lenai hedonism ship but had not located your friend yet. Hakkar landed on the research planet Vestra, but no sign of…" Khaion paused, glancing at Emmy at a loss for words.
“Agnes.” Emmy supplied and continued. "I'm sure she's on the planet somewhere. Hakkar located the ship with the tracker. Pearl is on the Ardeese Valout space station. Jutuk is there too but said he's having difficulty getting close to her. They apparently sold Pearl to royalty.”
“Royalty?” I bit back the smile playing with my lips at the absurdity of my bawdy, loud-mouthed friend conforming to royal protocol… alien royal protocol at that. Then, an idea slapped my humor into dread. “Do you that… could she be a…?”
“Sex slave?” Emmy snorted and grinned. “Pearl would probably enjoy that. When have we ever had an Outlander discussion that didn’t end with her speculating on the size of Jamie Fraser’s cock?”
"Never," I admitted, amused by the shock playing on Daicon's face.
“She isn’t a sex slave,” Emmy assured me. "Jutuk doesn't know what she’s doing, but he’s certain she isn’t a part of the Baron’s harem.”
“Harem,” I repeated with a shiver of relief. Pearl was the lewdest of us all, always trying to shock me. A grin turned my lips upward when I imagined her discovering my mating to Daicon… and how much I enjoyed our sex life.
“Clara’s the one I worry about.” Emmy’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. “Let’s face it, there’s only one reason she’s on a pleasure ship.”
“Tarook will take great care in liberating her, my love,” Khaion promised.
“The madam of the Hartouk Lenai is a decent female,” Daicon added. “Your friend will not have been mistreated.”
I was too relieved by Daicon’s reassurance to worry how he knew the madam of a space whore house was a decent female .
What’s the old saying…if you can achieve puberty, you can have a past?
Daicon was generous and understanding of my life on Earth with Gavin.
I would be the same with him... even with madams.
A light rapping sounded outside the doorway, which Khaion answered with a curt, “Come.”
The door slid open, revealing Ewok, George, and a gaggle of the other children. Impishness was not an earth-only trait. Ewok raised his hand to the side, giving me a sly wave and a beaming grin. No. There was no way this darling would ever become the vicious, snarling beast Emmy described.
"Chieftain, can we go play in the training room?” Cuietsu peeked around George’s shoulder to ask.
Khaion’s face melted into a broad smile. “Yes, little ones, but do not touch the blades unless one of the warriors is with you.”
“Can we play with the hover balls?” George countered, his eyes flashing with hope.
“Yes,” Khaion agreed.
“Don’t throw them at each other. Hover balls are used to train for balance," Daicon added, his tone so fatherly it caused my blood to turn into warm honey.
“Yes, war chief.” George gave his version of the Vaktaire salute, grinning broadly.
Thank you! Bye, kida!" Ewok called, a broad smile splitting his teddy bear face.
My heart twisted with thoughts of another woman receiving that title from him.
But I had to let go. Emmy and I would not leave the ship.
Not only were the men we loved on the Bardaga until we rescued the rest of the book club neither of us would abandon the search.
The ship was enormous. There was more than enough room for the children, but they didn't deserve this life.
After being enslaved on the moon, all I wanted for them was peace and happiness.
They deserved to be children again…children with parents who would love and care for them and keep them from playing with sharp objects.
“The little darlings deserve to find parents,” I said, blinking away tears. Daicon’s gaze met mine, concern in his golden eyes.
Emmy grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight. “We’ll interrogate the hell out of anyone that wants a kid. Only the best possible candidates will get through... and the child gets to make the final decision.”
Her words helped. Emmy was utterly tenacious as a prosecutor with the district attorney’s office. Knowing she'd help find the right place for the children eased the ache of impending separation.
“And I will punish anyone cruel to the younglings,” Daicon huffed, flexing his shoulders.
“You’re so sweet.” I leaned up to press my lips to his cheek. He huffed again, but softer, as his hand slipped around my waist, nearly pulling me onto his lap.
Khaion tapped his fingertips on the tabletop—must be a Vaktaire gesture. “George has expressed interest to Toovis about remaining onboard as apprentice in medi-bay. I have no objection to this.”
“He’s just a child!" I argued, shaking my head so adamantly that the tips of my hair flipped across my face.
“Sweetling, Garoot younglings begin their medical training at ten years of age.” Daicon soothed, pressing his lips to my temple.
“George has an affinity with that machine,” Emmy winked at my mate.
“True.” I couldn’t argue with that. If not for George, Daicon would not be at my side.
“Bartuk tells me Ewok is learning a great deal at his side as well,” Khaion told us. “Perhaps we could also find a place for him to apprentice."
As much as hope jumped inside me, Ewok deserved more.
“No. George is genetically programmed to have a calling to heal.
I understand that, but the others…. They're just children, and they've already been through so much. I want them to have a chance to be children, to be able to laugh and play without fear. They deserve that.”
The chieftain’s gaze softened as though he realized how painfully those words escaped my lips. Daicon's arms tightened, lips feathering over my temple in a comforting touch.
“I will have Bartuk adjust our course to Seartaun to allow for a stop at Tau Ceti.” Khaion touched the comm unit on his wrist.
"Maybe we'll see if Elvis really is a potato farmer like Dixa told me, " Emmy teased to cover Khaion giving the orders.
“Elvis?” Daicon frowned in confusion.
“Oh, what a hunk of burning love,” Emmy laughed, giving a broad wink.
"Was Elvis a friend of Barney Fife's, too?"
Daicon’s question turned our conversation toward more pleasant subjects over a bottle of valat, the dark red sweet wine made from a berry indigenous to the Vaktaire home world. I tried to enjoy myself, ignoring the heavy knot in the pit of my stomach and the sense of dread creeping over my body.
Taking the children to Tau Ceti was best for them. I knew that. What I didn’t know was how I was going to say goodbye.
Especially to one.