A Son for the Alien Warrior (Treasured By The Alien #2)(7)

By the time the second evening approached, she was pacing the small room anxiously. When she heard the door panel start to open, she made a dive for her hiding place.

“You should be more careful. What if I had been someone else?” Kwaret’s voice was so hoarse it was almost unrecognizable.

She whirled thankfully to greet him and stopped with a horrified gasp. He had quite obviously been beaten. One eye was swollen half shut, a livid bruise darkened the white skin across his cheekbone, and one wrist was in a bandage.

“What happened?”

He sighed wearily, then gingerly sat in the small chair he had brought into the room. It was the only time he had ever sat in her presence.

“There was an issue with one of the captives. I tried to intervene, but I think I caused more harm than good.”

Damn. A pang of guilt swept through her. She had been so busy thinking about her sister and nephew, and how she was going to find them and how she was going to get them back to Earth, that she hadn’t stopped to consider the other women and children on board. Kwaret had assured her that they would be returned to Earth as soon as they were intercepted, and she had dismissed them from her mind.

“What sort of an issue?”

He shook his head, looking both baffled and oddly admiring.

“One of the females—the single female without a child—convinced the other two females to try and escape. They attacked Kragan when he brought food.”

“Oh my goodness. I assume they didn’t succeed?”

“They succeeded well enough to have him open the cell.”

“But what were they going to do then? I doubt any of us could drive the ship.”

The admiring look grew stronger. “Jade, the female behind all this, pointed his own weapon at Kragan. She demanded that the ship turn around or she would shoot him.”

Mariah laughed at the image, then sobered rapidly. Obviously, it had not ended well. “What happened?”

“She underestimated the value that Commander Kadica puts on the lives of his crew members. He shot the male. He was going to shoot her as well when I tried to intervene.”

“Oh no. Did he shoot her?”

Kwaret winced. “No. I managed to remind him that she was a valuable product. This is the result of my audacity.”

“I’m so sorry. And the woman? What happened to her?”

“She has been fitted with a shock collar.” Sadness crossed Kwaret’s face. “She did not take it well and tried to fight. She is now unconscious.”

Mariah found herself admiring the other woman’s bravery, even as she shuddered at the story. She suspected that she would not have had the same courage.

“And the other women?”

“They ceased all resistance as soon as the male was shot.”

“They didn’t stand up for her?” she asked indignantly.

“It would have been a useless effort, and they had infants to protect.”

Silence fell over the small room and Kwaret leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

“Why are you doing this? Not you personally I mean, but your people,” she finally blurted out. She had been thinking about the situation over the past few days and it seemed like a lot of effort to go to another planet just to abduct a few women and children.

“Vedeck is one of a number of star systems that fall under the leadership of the Confederated Planets government. However, our entire civilization was severely damaged by a plague that raged for almost twenty years before it was brought under control. The plague took billions and billions of lives, but females suffered the worst. Now we have a number of systems that are short on females and therefore on children. There are many desperate people who are willing to do whatever it takes to find a mate, to have a child.”

She stared at him in stunned horror, as she tried to wrap her mind around the idea that so many individuals had fallen prey to this disease.

“And your government allows this? Permits stealing women and children?”

“Absolutely not—that is, if you are referring to the Confederated Planets government. If… when we are intercepted, everyone on board will be imprisoned for life.” He sighed and slumped down in the chair, looking defeated. “But my people, the Vedeckians, are more concerned with profit than with rules. There was a preliminary expedition last year. Three commanders volunteered. I served under Commander Khaen, who was the leader of the group. I know he demanded tribute from the other commanders, and I believe that your sister and nephew, along with another child, were his tribute from Commander Kadica.”

“And you said Commander Khaen is dead?”

“Yes. We were intercepted by a Cire ship and taken into custody. Commander Khaen made an unsuccessful attempt to overtake that ship and perished. But I wanted to bring an end to the entire business. I managed to work my way onto this ship in anticipation that they would try again and that I would be able to shut them down as well.”

“What about the third commander?”

He started to shrug, then winced. “No one knows. He has not been heard from since then.”

“The two that were in here a few days ago, they said this was a trial. That there would be more.” Dread filled her at the thought of more innocent women and children being taken by these aliens to be sold. While she could sympathize with what must be a number of desperate races, there was no justification for stealing other individuals.