The Defiant Read online

  She thought of Alaric telling her about his new child beneath the trellis…and the stab of inadequacy it had evoked. Robots weren’t as cruel.

  The two werfles blurred toward the tunnel and she followed them. They found Alaric hovering midair several hundred meters down where the reactor ended...at least it seemed so to Volka. He pointed at something out of view. “It’s a singularity beam. Watch.”

  Volka followed his gaze and saw a great deal of machinery, but at the center of it was what looked like a wheel. Something slipped from the reactor’s base, a long dark bar, and then disappeared into the wheel.

  “Spent fuel rods,” Alaric said. “They’re not just dumping them outside the ship. They’re disposing of it in a way that won’t be dangerous to other passing vessels.”

  “Do humans not dispose of nuclear waste from ships properly?” Volka asked, startled.

  Not looking at her, he replied, “The Luddeccean Guard do dispose of it properly and so do the Galactic Fleet and official merchant vessels.”

  “The unofficial vessels?” Volka asked.

  Alaric’s whole body tensed, and his lip curled slightly. “More trash for Luddeccea to clean up.”

  Volka gulped. “Has the Republic done anything to help with the pirate problem?” Republic pirates had a tendency to slip into Luddeccean space. The Luddeccean System had two asteroid belts with valuable mineral deposits worth even months of travel at light-speed.

  Alaric exhaled and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “No, yes, maybe…we have had a decrease in incidents, but at this point it’s hard to say if it is the result of more stringent policies in the Republic taking effect, or a lull for other reasons.”

  He dropped his hand and put it behind her back as though to stabilize her but then quickly withdrew it. It occurred to Volka that maybe, when he’d told her about his son, he’d been reminding himself, not her. Her ears flicked in annoyance. “Let’s keep exploring,” she said and took off down the tunnel. They passed through hundreds of meters of machinery, pipes, and gears. The tunnel curved inward more and more and then ended in a large circular room with more pipes spinning out like spokes, and a giant circular machine rising from a wall. There were blue aliens standing on the wall. Alaric said, “They have another source of gravity,” did a somersault mid-air, and landed on the wall. Even though it was a dream, it made Volka’s stomach churn. Closing her eyes, she did the same. The werfles followed.

  Alaric walked around the central mechanical cylinder beneath the spokes. Frowning, he said, “It’s an EM drive…I’m almost sure of it.”

  “Is that odd?” Carl asked.

  Alaric tilted his head. “It’s just more primitive than I would expect from a species that has singularity beams. Even our time bands for lightspeed are more advanced.”

  Solomon coughed and pushed Carl. “Let’s tell them.”

  Carl hissed at the other werfle. “It’s embarrassing.”

  “Tell us what?” Volka asked.

  The werfles, standing on their back two hind legs, turned bewhiskered snouts toward each other. Carl’s ears went back. Putting two paws together, Solomon faced Volka and Alaric. “It’s true that we have a greater instinctual understanding of the quantum universe than humans.”

  Carl put a paw over his nose. “But it took forever for us to understand doorknobs.”

  Volka’s lips pursed.

  Alaric’s eyebrows jumped. “Pardon?”

  Solomon spread his paws. “We thought perhaps doors remained closed by some subtle quantum wave manipulation that was undetectable to us. And then we thought that by turning the knob you were activating an undetectable quantum wave shift that allowed the doors to open.”

  Carl nodded. “We almost exterminated your kind immediately.”

  Volka’s mouth dropped open in horror.

  Shrugging, Solomon said, “We were afraid you were more powerful than us and wanted to nip you in the bud before you got the upper hand.”

  “Completely understandable,” Alaric said dryly.

  “Yes.” Solomon nodded vigorously. “Exactly.”

  “Fortunately, we realized you were idiots just in time,” said Carl.

  Solomon sadly shook his head. “It still took a year or so before we completely grasped The Doorknob Theory…so to speak.”

  Volka stared at them, not sure where they were going with this tangent.

  Massaging the bridge of his nose, Alaric scrunched his eyes shut. “So, what you are saying is that technology may advance at different rates in different species. And technologies that one species might think of as simple…” He raised an eyebrow at Solomon. “…might not have developed in a species that is obviously superior.” The sarcasm in his tone was clear as a bell, but Solomon clapped his upper paw pairs together. “You’re almost smart enough to be a werfle!”

  Carl swished his tail. “Too bad you’re a wave-ignorant oaf.”

  Solomon bit Carl. Carl squeaked, and the two werfles converged into a single ball of rolling, hissing fluff.

  “Superior species,” Alaric muttered.

  Volka’s lips quirked. Mimicking Solomon’s manner and words, she nodded vigorously. “Yes. Exactly.”

  Alaric’s eyes widened, and then a beautiful smile spilled across his face. It was a familiar smile, open and innocent. She hadn’t seen it in years, not since he was a boy, really. And then it disappeared like the sun going behind a cloud. He looked away, his face flushing as though she’d caught him doing something wrong.

  “Well…” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “I think I’ll just explore this machinery. It’s a lot quieter than ours.” He pointed at something and let loose a long string of technical jargon. Volka swore she could feel her eyes glazing over, but Carl and Solomon abruptly ceased their wrestling and gazed at Alaric with trembling whiskers. Alaric started toward the machine, and the creatures untangled themselves and hopped after him.

  Seeing a group of five aliens standing around a table, Volka headed toward them. They were wearing coveralls in the same orange color as the child’s shift. She couldn’t see sex differences in their faces, which were all delicate and heart shaped. None had discernible breasts, but one was cradling an enlarged abdomen with a hand. It was a pose Volka had seen pregnant women adopt many times. As she approached the aliens, they didn’t look at her. Peeking over their shoulders, she saw that the table had slots for crystals about two fingers wide. There was a central crystal that made her gasp aloud—there were symbols playing across it. Writing?

  Her gasp caused the feathery hair on one of the aliens to tremble. It turned around to look at her, and its companions did the same.

  This was a dream, and so Volka wasn’t afraid. “Hello,” she said.

  They didn’t even blink.

  Of course, they wouldn’t speak the common tongue. But Sundancer knew them, so they must speak like Sundancer…who didn’t speak, who just felt and shared dreams. Volka put her hand over her heart and tried to feel the word when she said “hello” again. It didn’t feel like a normal “hello”; it was too laced with wonder, but the reply was instantaneous. The wonder of her greeting came back to her fivefold from the five aliens. Entranced, Volka stepped toward them. So close she could touch them, and she could see beneath the shadows of their flowing feathery hair. They had no ears. “Can you hear me?” she asked.

  All the aliens peered at her lips, and from them she felt a wave of unease, disgust, and strangely, pity. In her mind she saw her mouth. Volka’s teeth were human. Her canines weren’t particularly prominent, but she could feel they were horrendous to the aliens and even threatening.

  Putting a hand to her mouth, Volka took a step back, abashed.

  One of the aliens stepped forward, and she could feel an apology from it and the others. It reached out its hand on a trajectory for her left breast.

  “No,” said Volka forcefully, hand still hiding her mouth. The hand touched her, cupping her in a way that wasn’t appreciated. Dropping her own hand, Volka brushed the a
lien hand away. The alien stepped back, its face expressionless, but from all four came a feeling of insult.

  It occurred to her that the gesture might not have been at all sexual. It could be like shaking hands to them. Like “hello”. Hiding her mouth behind her hand again, Volka said experimentally, “I said no.”

  No blinks. No head tilts. No acknowledgement that she’d spoken at all.

  Remembering Alaric’s book of sign language, she moved her other hand through the air. The aliens’ eyes followed the finger, and she was hit by a rush of curiosity. And suddenly, Sundancer’s inability to understand spoken language made sense. Her ears flicked, and they followed that motion too with the same curiosity.

  Dropping her hand, she reached out with her heart and called out, “Carl.”

  She felt him rather than heard him hurriedly approaching. “What is it, Volka?”

  Alaric’s voice erupted behind her, louder and worried. “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” Volka said, turning to them. Her eyes dropped to Carl, standing on his hind legs, his whiskers twitching, eyes meeting hers. “They have no ears, Carl. I don’t think they can hear at all, but they’re telepathic.”

  “Oooh…” said Carl, leaning back. “Well, that explains a lot.”

  “Explains what?” said Alaric, his eyes on the aliens, the veins in the muscles of his forearms prominent.

  “Sundancer, our spaceship, doesn’t understand words,” Volka said.

  “How do you command it where to go?” Alaric asked.

  “We don’t command her,” said Volka. “We show her pictures of what we want to do, and she either obliges or she doesn’t.”

  Alaric’s left eye twitched. His chin dipped. “That’s very dangerous, Volka.”

  Volka’s nostrils flared, and her ears went forward. “The Dark is dangerous. And I would fight it however I can. Since I’m one of two people in the galaxy that Sundancer will fly for, that is how I fight now.”

  “Surely there must be someone else to do the fighting,” Alaric said, taking a step toward her.

  Volka’s hands formed fists.

  “There isn’t,” said Carl. “Well, me. But I need sixteen hours of sleep.”

  Ignoring him, Alaric lifted his hands as though to put them on Volka’s shoulders. Furious, Volka swung to the side. It was a dream. She couldn’t really hurt him physically, but she wanted to show him she could take care of herself. She grabbed his wrist and prepared to jam the palm of her free hand into his elbow and break his dream arm. She was strong, capable, and she wouldn’t back down, not even from him. But he caught her hand before her palm hit its target, and he spun her around as easily as 6T9 turned her in a dance. A heartbeat later, and Alaric had her arm pinned behind her back. If it had been real life, it would have hurt. He dropped it quickly but didn’t back away. She could feel his dream breath against the back of her neck. She looked down, humiliated and aggravatingly aroused.

  “Volka…I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you,” Alaric whispered. He sighed. “You’re so small. When I think of you alone in the Republic…”

  Her nails bit her palms, and she swore she’d self-combust in fury.

  “Whoa,” said Carl, nose twitching in the direction of the dream aliens. “Your little spat has them scared.”

  Volka and Alaric looked over their shoulders at the aliens.

  The aliens, in perfect synchronicity, threw their hands in Volka’s direction. She was enveloped in a sense of dread so powerful that she gasped, every hair on her head stood on end, and her body went cold. Back up, back up, her wildly pounding heart screamed. Get away.

  “They’re projecting fear at you, Volka,” Carl squeaked. And at his words Volka knew it was true. The fear had started in her stomach, the way the emotions of others always seemed to start. Before she could react, Alaric stepped in front of her as though to protect her from the telepathic onslaught with his body. The aliens’ focus switched to him, but her fear did not diminish. She saw the exact moment the dread hit Alaric. His head jerked back as though he’d been struck, and his face became pale. Without thinking, Volka dropped into a crouch and growled at them, ready to charge. She was dimly aware of Alaric’s stance changing. Body coiling, he turned sideways, and his hands rose slightly, ready to fight.

  Volka’s heart leapt. They were, for a moment, linked together in shared danger more tightly than they’d ever been when their flesh had been joined.

  ...And then the two werfles shot between their legs and charged, hissing at the aliens, their fur puffing and making them look twice their normal size.

  All but one of the aliens ran. The last dropped to his knees and held his hands out in front of him, palms forward. He looked up, baring his neck.

  “Surrender so soon?” Alaric whispered, sounding as surprised and confused as Volka felt.

  Solomon stopped hissing. “I think so.”

  Carl gave a last hiss. “Only we’re allowed to mentally frighten our pets!”

  The alien bowed his forehead to the floor, still holding his palms up.

  “His friends got away,” Alaric said, scanning the tunnel they’d emerged from. “If we were murderous beasts, I suppose his sacrifice might have worked. Maybe they have a society where only the warrior caste is trained in combat?” Shaking his head, he stood up straighter and gestured with his hand for the alien to rise. “Get up; we won’t hurt you.” Glancing at Volka, he said, “I feel a bit of a heel now. They were just afraid.”

  Volka’s brow furrowed. She felt determination from Sundancer again, a warm heaviness in her chest. They were supposed to see this. It was essential for some reason. What did it mean? She shook her head. “But there were only two of us, and, as you pointed out, I’m small.”

  His lips curved in a wry smile. “But you’re fierce. They…” His gaze went back to the prone alien. “Aren’t.”

  The scene around them began to shift. There were suddenly large patches of Sundancer’s interior floating around them like giant droplets of water. One of the droplets collided with Volka, and she was face to face with Sixty. Grabbing her shoulders, he met her eyes and said, “Volka, the Dark, it’s out there!”

  The droplet of reality floated past her and she was staring at Alaric.

  “The Darkness has found us again! We have to go!” she said to him and to Carl.

  “What? Again?” Alaric’s wide-eyed expression telegraphed his fear for her as clear as telepathy.

  But then he was gone, and she saw Sundancer’s interior inside the vast cavern of the alien ship, a swarm of the Dark’s drones hurtling toward them. Sixty still had his hands on her shoulders, and Alaric’s face, flushed and horrified, was just a memory.

  6

  Entanglements

  Planet Luddeccea

  “How long will Papa stay this time, Momma?” Sam whispered, face half sunk into his pillow.

  “I think for a while,” Alexis murmured, not as upset at the prospect as she might have been.

  She wasn’t sure if her son had heard. His eyes were shut before she’d finished her reply. She kissed his head, still damp from his bath, gave a last look to Lucas already asleep on his own bed a few feet away and Markus in his crib, and then padded softly from the room.

  Normally, this would be her time for herself. But Alaric was home and she had to attend to him. Which, she reminded herself, she should do happily. It was her job.

  Heading down the stairs, wincing at a twinge in her stitches, she focused on the good that her husband had done today. He’d picked up the boys, but instead of bringing them straight to the house, he had played a very vigorous game of Guards and Robots in the forest behind the house. She’d heard them all laughing like idiots from the trees. She couldn’t remember her father ever being so silly with her brothers, and she was a little afraid of what the neighbors thought. But surely Alaric’s recent conquest in System 33 was proof that he was a serious, formidable man? Despite her unease with the activity, she had to admit the playtime had
been practical. After dinner and their baths, the boys had dropped like stones. Lucas had actually passed out at the table, and Alaric had carried him to bed.

  Seeing the light on in the study, Alexis peered in the door. Alaric was sitting in the high-backed leather chair, head bent forward, eyes closed, a book of sign language in one hand. The werfle she’d thought was wild was on one knee asleep. The chair was substantial, but Alaric was so tall, it looked small. The golden light from the lamp burnished his skin. His hair had rapidly grayed during his time in prison, and he looked like the man she’d fallen in love with, Alaric’s father.

  She bit her lip. Her mother always told her that a man who had no mistress wasn’t ambitious and not worth having. In her early teens, Alexis had taken it as a depressing fact. She’d thought at the time that she might resist the pressures to marry and become a nurse or preschool teacher. But then she’d overheard a friend’s parents bantering one evening completely by accident, her friend’s mother saying in a joking voice, “Another wrinkle. You’ll exchange me for a young weere any day.” Alexis’s young heart had seized for the woman—so brave to joke—so strange to confront a husband! The woman’s husband, a wealthy magni-freight line engineer, had replied in a curmudgeonly voice, “Weere are for rich fools who want to be poor. Are you calling me a fool, woman? I’ve already been poor once!” If the man had fawningly called his wife beautiful, Alexis might not have believed him. His wife had laughed, and, peeking around the corner, Alexis had seen them gazing at each other with obvious affection. They’d kissed. She’d blushed and pulled away. She’d already known at that point that her father was a fool—his constant spoiling of weere and gambling provoked so many whispers. It was the first time she realized that her mother might be foolish, too, and she had realized there was hope.

  Johann, Alaric’s father, had married a poor girl from an inconsequential family. Being ostracized from his family, disowned, and impoverished hadn’t convinced Johann to leave her. When Alaric had shocked the entire Darmadi clan—and his province—with his intelligence, the Darmadi clan put him forward to her family as an advantageous match. Alaric had grown up poor. He was demonstrably not a fool. And he had been so handsome, a younger copy of his father. Alexis had agreed to the match, thinking she’d found a man who could love her.