| This is hardly the time to talk about Dr. Thompson, Harry.” “It’s never the time to talk,” Harry said, “but she’s ruling over the bridge. First she’ll take over the Defender, and then she’ll conquer Earth.” What? I didn’t know what Harry was talking about, and I honestly didn’t have the time to decrypt his words. We were at war. I wasn’t going to lower my guard until we fled. “He means that she’s helped the subcommander, sir,” the ensign said. “She’s learned a lot about Hostile Alpha while she was trapped in it.” “And for some other reasons,” Harry added, “but of course, I’m not allowed to talk about her. And I don’t want to work with her either. I don’t like her at all.” “Has she spurned your advances?” I said. “Romantic disappointment? Holographic heartbreak? Don’t worry; you’ll get over it.” “That was low,” Harry said. I don’t think he was faking it, but I hadn’t said anything, had I? He shook his head slowly. “Let me tell you something: she’s on the bridge and she’s waiting for you. I hope that you fall in love with her and marry her and have kids, lots of them. It will be a nice genetic experiment.” Hey, my genes weren’t that bad. I may have been a man of space, but I’d gone to college too. I wasn’t going to contaminate anyone’s genes. Why were we even chatting about anything that wasn’t the enemy ship? We might not have been |
luxurious room with expensive divans. She walked out and ran her hands along the intricate textures and rare decorations on the walls. Several bowls of fruit on the shelves contained most Frateran varieties, even the fruit of the golden flower. Each plant produced only three fruits per year and required constant nurturing. The rest of the room had the same kind of rare and expensive decorations. Whoever had taken her there wanted to impress her, but nobody ever invested so much to make someone unimportant feel comfortable. The general in charge of the ship was after something. A low fence separated the room from a fighting ring made of black sand. Kate had seen that kind of ring before in history books: Fraterans used them for animal fights and for displays of bravery. Men and women alike had used rings of black sand to showcase their talents in battle, and to lure potential partners. It had once been a pastime for the bored upper classes, but it had fallen out of fashion. Years earlier, a madman had won a battle and forced his defeated enemies to fight each other in the Black Sand Trials, a brutal method to eliminate a large portion of the population. The public had denounced those actions by rejecting black sand. They’d brought her there to intimidate her. At least she was on the right side of the fence, the one with the chairs and luxuries. She walked over to some of the sweet Frateran fruits |
