The Xarcarik Chronicles: Cralen

Chapter 5

"Seriously though, best sex of my life! Don't tell him that, of course. I don't want him to get comfortable," Mars whispered to the group of women. Kinzie laughed along with the rest who had shown up for breakfast. It seemed half the women decided to stay in bed. The tall redhead frowned, and continued, "If only he weren't so silent. Not a word, just a lot of grunts and pointing. Although, I'll admit, sometimes it's kind of cute."

"Vanu likes to whisper things to me as he's, well, you know." Arie whispered, blushing. She twirled one of her waist-length blonde curls around her fingers. "I can't keep my hands off of him. I'm amazed I'm here right now. Every time he comes within three feet of me, I just want to tear his clothes off and, well, you know."

Kinzie's lips twitched as she watched the younger woman. She seemed so innocent and probably was. The station's Commander brought her in as an Au Pair for his children, and from what Kinzie had heard, she'd come from a very strict religious family. "How do you all feel about sleeping with them so soon?"

Terra bit her lip. She was around the same age as Kinzie, in her early thirties, and they'd hit it off well in the labs. She was one of Kinzie's research assistants, and she was glad the other woman made it off planet. "I don't know. It's like, when he isn't there, I berate myself because I'm not a first date kind of girl. Not that there is anything wrong with that! It just isn't me. But when he's there, it's like something comes over me and all inhibitions go out the window. I want to climb him like a pole."

Kinzie glanced at a woman she didn't know. "I don't think I've met you before."

"I'm Riya," she held out her hand. "I'm a mechanic. I was transferred to the Meikle Hub two weeks ago."

"Did you even have time to unpack?" Kinzie laughed, shaking it.

"No, thankfully! I was able to grab a bag before running for the transports. I was off duty when the Xarcarik hit."

Sudden silence fell over the gathering as they shared looks amongst one another. Kinzie was having a hard time meshing Cralen with the deadly Xarcarik people.

The last woman in their group piped up, trying to dissipate the awkward silence. "I'm Kate. I was the lead botanist for the Hub. I took care of all the gardens so we could have fresh fruits and veggies as well as regulate the oxygen levels and atmosphere."

"Oh, I used to take the kids to play in the forest," Arie added. "The commander and his family were off site, so at least I know they are safe."

"Everyone survived, actually." The women whipped around and watched a group of men enter the room. From the way the speaker approached Arie, he must have been Vanu.

"How do you know?" Kinzie asked him.

Cralen leaned down, kissing her on the cheek. The gesture was both sweet and possessive at the same time. Her face glowed red as he continued to one of the food synthesizers. It seemed there were no cooks for breakfast. "One of our men didn't make it onto the ship with us. Apparently, he was chasing his mate and jumped onto a transport. Some woman named Samira. He contacted us about an hour ago. Reported in. The women on this ship were the only heads not accounted for."

Riya squealed, and a man detached himself from the rest, rushing over to her. She gripped his hand, wiggling it back and forth in excitement. "Finn, that's my sister! I was telling you how worried I was about if she made it off or not!"

"Wonderful," Traylek cut anything Finn was about to say off as he entered the dining area. "I'm glad you're all here." Kinzie and Terra shared a look. The men, food in hand, pushed their way between the women and broke up their group so they could sit with their mates. Cralen placed a plate before her. Normally, Kinzie's first meal of the day was lunch, with breakfast being three cups of coffee, but her stomach rumbled with hunger. She picked at the food while Traylek paced back and forth at the head of the table. "You mentioned yesterday you knew the person who started the rumors?" He asked Mars.

"His name is Chase Adams. He was the leader of our research team."

"Was?"

"He liked to use his position to bully the women on the station. A bunch of us complained, and he was reassigned. Kinzie was promoted in his place."

Kinzie shrugged. "He took it as a personal affront and started the rumors that someone on our team knew the location of all the Consortium kryperium mines. I think he wanted us to suffer trial, maybe turn on one or two of our team to evade prosecution. In the end, the Consortium found the claims to be false, and reassigned us to the Meikle Hub Lunar Base."

Traylek crossed his arms and stared at her.

"You can choose to believe us or not, but the story isn't going to change," Terra joined in.

Cralen looked between his mate and his Commander. He knew by the way Traylek's jaw was set, he wouldn't believe anything until he talked to the man himself. Sometimes the machismo the other man oozed annoyed the shit out of him. Kinzie mimicked his body language, and her back stiffened as she met Traylek's glare. She refused to look away. Cralen tried to keep his lips from twitching, wondering which would win the battle of willpower. He ran his hand over the small of her back in support.

Finally, Traylek turned. "So where is he now?"

Terra bit her lip. "Last time we heard anything, he was teaching at the Consortium Interstellar University on Rana 1. But that was probably twenty-two rotations ago."

"DRAZZ," Traylek grunted into the air. "Plot a course to Rana1."

"Drazz?" Kinzie whispered to Cralen.

"Dimensional Relocation Assistant Zetta-Zebibyte. It's the ship's onboard AI. We call it DRAZZ for short."

"Eh?" A computerized voice echoed from the ceiling.

"Plot a course to Rana 1."

"Eh?"

Traylek's face grew red and vein popped out of his forehead. "Please plot a course to Rana 1."

Cralen leaned close to Kinzie's ear, grinning. "Traylek's little sister programmed it. She was pissed when he said she couldn't come with us so she made it so the AI only responds if you say please." Kinzie snickered and Traylek shot them a death glare.

"The destination by the shortest route from our current location is one hundred and twenty-three light years. We can reach the system in twelve jumps."

Riya scoffed. "Twelve jumps through Consortium space. And if that wasn't insane enough in a, let me remind you, Xarcarik warship, you still have to get through the Marshburn Gateway. If you weren't aware, you need a pilot with the credentials to get through, and they have to pass a bio-identification scan, or kaboom!" She made the motions for an explosion, sending a shiver through the others.

Traylek stared at the woman, then shrugged, discounting everything she said. Riya cracked her knuckles and Finn reached over, rubbing her shoulders. Her glare made Kinzie scared for Traylek's continued life.

"DRAZZ, plot a course for the closest port to the Marshburn Gateway and schedule the first jump for fifteen-hundred hours. Alert the crew of our departure."

"Don't tell me what to do," the computer voice chirped. Traylek screamed and gripped the very short hair on the top of his head.

"Please, DRAZZ," Finn asked as Traylek stomped from the room. Everyone watched him go with varying degrees of wariness. The computer voiced its consent and started the countdown to the first hyperspace jump. In a ship like this, they could make two jumps in one day.

"He's under a lot of stress right now," Cralen sighed. "One of us will go talk to him later."

"Is he seriously taking us through hostile space on a rumor? He's going to get us all killed," Mars stood, heading for the door. Her mate went to follow her.

"We have advanced cloaking. No one will know what kind of ship this is," Vanu replied, holding his hand out for Arie. "Get some rest and don't worry about it."

Kinzie shook her head, following Cralen. It looked like they were going to be on this ship for at least another week.