Nikhil (Kaliszian Book 1) (10 page)

"You still haven't told me how it got into my hair."

"I can't tell you because I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"There was a time, long ago, when many found their True Mate. But since the Great Infection, there hasn't been a single one. Until you." His eyes glowed brighter as he gazed into her eyes, fingering the bead in her hair. "It is said when one meets their True Mate, their bead will transfer to them on its own. I believe... when I carried you on to the transport, my bead recognized you as mine and transferred to you."

"But... I'm not Kaliszian."

"That has never mattered. The Goddess considers us all her children, and, therefore, our True Mate can come from any species."

"I..." The sudden growling of her stomach cut her off and had her blushing.

"What was that?"

"Just my stomach. Ignore it. Tell me more about True Mates."

Nikhil's eyes widened when he realized what she was saying. Of course, she was hungry! He hadn't given her what Luol said she needed.

Food.

Rest.

Cleansing.

He'd done two of those things but had failed the most important one. Goddess, how stupid was he? How could the Goddess trust him with such a precious gift if he wasn't even smart enough to care for her? He was immediately out of the bed and rushing into the outer room.

"Nikhil?" she called out, sitting up in the bed. But the only reply she got was what sounded like cabinets opening then slamming shut. Before she could get up to find out what was going on, Nikhil was back, his arms filled with what appeared to be foil pouches that he dropped on the bed. "What are those?"

"Food packets. Warriors are given an allotment to maintain their daily needs."

"But...” She watched as he picked one up, pressed a white dot between his thumb and index finger, then grabbed the opposite end and ripped it open. She was about to say something else when she smelled the aroma of hot... something, and her stomach growled again. All she could do was stare at the steam rising from the pouch, her mouth watering.

"Open," Nikhil ordered, and looking up she saw he had a portion of the packet's contents in front of her mouth on what looked like a spoon. Obediently her mouth opened and she let him feed it to her. She closed her eyes as the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted hit her tongue. Well, the most delicious thing since she'd been taken, and she wasn't going to complain. Not after what they'd been forced to eat.

"Again," he ordered, lifting the utensil in his hand to her lips. The feeding continued until the packet was empty. Flinging it aside, he reached for another.

"No." Her hand on his stopped him from pressing the spot on another packet. "That's enough."

"It can't be. You need more. You...”

"Nikhil, I would love to eat more. I would love to gorge on everything in front of me until I burst. I never want to feel hunger like that again, but if I eat anymore, it will all just come back up."

"You don't know...”

"I do. The Ganglians... I don't know how long they had us, but they rarely fed us, and when they did, they were scraps. Except for the three meals they gave us right before they sold us to the Zaludians. The first meal we were all so hungry that we couldn't eat it fast enough and all got sick. The next two, we ate more slowly."

"They wanted you to appear strong for the Zaludians."

"Yeah, we figured that out. After that, it was only what the Zaludians gave us."

"How often was that?"

"They had the guys working in shifts, half on the first, half on the second. In between those shifts, they would bring food."

"That would be once a day."

"If you say so." She found her eyes growing heavy now that her stomach was full.

Nikhil noticed, and immediately cleared the extra packets off the bed. "Lie down, Mackenzie."

Mac wanted to protest, there were still so many questions she wanted to ask. But she found herself obeying, her eyes nearly closed.

"Later," he reassured her. "I will answer any question you have after you have rested."

"Lie with me?" she asked, her blurry gaze searching for his. "Hold me?"

"I will, Little One. Just let me dim the crystals, and I will hold you for as long as you want."

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

"It's been a long day, Gryf. Get last meal and then get some rest. We'll deal with everything else tomorrow."

"And you? Will you be doing the same?"

"Eventually. I want to talk to Luol again." With that, Treyvon headed for medical.

Luol looked up from the tablet he was reading when the door to his office slid open, and then he leaned back in his chair. "I figured you'd be back."

Treyvon went to the chair, that was normally against the wall but was now in front of Luol's desk, and sat. "Tell me what you know, Luol."

Treyvon barely stopped the tablet, Luol pushed across the desk at him, from falling to the floor. Picking it up, he began to read.

"Is that possible?" Treyvon asked, raising his eyes to Luol.

"It's what the unit found."

"But she is so small, and I don't just mean in height. How can she be nearly identical to us?"

"The same way we are almost identical to the Tornians. You, better than anyone, know it is possible. You, yourself, translated the ancient text telling how once there was only one species, one people, one Emperor."

"It was nothing more than a fable, Luol, a story for offspring that one of our ancient ancestors wrote down for some reason. It was never meant to be taken seriously."

"I've never understood why you felt that way, Treyvon. You don't discount any of the other ancient texts, so why do you this one?"

"Because it isn't possible! We weren't able to travel between the stars that long ago!"

"But if we were, would you then believe?" Luol frowned at the expression on Treyvon's face. "Treyvon? What is wrong?"

"Don't you understand, Luol? If that text is true, if we were once one people and peace reigned, then that means something happened. Something catastrophic that separated us, something worse than the Great Infection, and it might still be out there affecting us."

Luol was silent for several minutes thinking about what his General and friend had said. He knew Treyvon carried the weight of what his ancestor, Chancellor Aadi, had done helping to cause the Great Infection that had quickly spread throughout all the Known Universes. It wasn't Treyvon's weight to carry, but he refused to believe that and worked his entire life to prove he had nothing in common with Aadi. That's why Luol understood why Treyvon would see the text as he did. He worried that maybe another one of his ancestors had done something.

"Or maybe what caused it is fading. We rediscovered the Tornians millenniums ago. We know both races are similar to the Ratakians, and now we've found these Humans. Perhaps what the ancient texts say once was, is trying to return."

"Perhaps." Treyvon looked at Luol, returning to the original subject. "I've just come from Nikhil's quarters and spoke with his Ashe. You said you would be giving her another treatment?"

"Yes, I told Nikhil to bring her back tomorrow. After, if she is up to it, I plan to place our educator on her so she will be able to understand and speak Kaliszian, and better understand what has happened to her and her people."

"Do you think it will help her understand where she is?"

"What do you mean? She doesn't know she's on Pontus?"

"She knows she is on a planet called Pontus, and that the Ganglians took her and the others from her planet. A planet called Earth. But she can't tell me where it is in relation to Pontus, and has never heard of any of the other planets I named. Could it just be because of the educator used on her that the names don't translate for her properly?"

"It could be. The Ganglians wouldn't have put much effort into the programming since they were selling them. They only needed to be able to understand the orders they were given. I will adjust the educator, and give her a more detailed location of the planets. That might help."

"She says the people of her world do not travel to other worlds, that they've never interacted with other intelligent species."

Luol's eyes widened. "They've never traveled in space?"

"She says they have only traveled physically to their moon. From the way she said it, I don't believe it could be that far from the planet."

"If that is the case, then no amount of detail I put in the educator is going to help her tell us where this Earth is."

"I was afraid of that. If she, or one of her males, can't tell us, then there is no way for us to get them home."

"What's bothering you, Treyvon?"

"Nikhil has found his True Mate with a species we didn't even know existed. The first True Mate since the Great Infection struck. What if there are more on this Earth, and we can't even find it?"

"Then we must find it. Because if the Ganglians can, we can. We are better than them."

"Truth," Treyvon agreed. "When will you begin treating the other humans?"

"I want to treat the others first, and have sent word to have the Jerboaians brought here."

"Why?" Treyvon demanded.

"Each human is going to require a great deal of time. Not only with the time they will need in the deep-repair unit, but also, because they will need the use of our educator. Ashe Mackenzie had nearly succumbed to the injuries inflicted on her. Had she not, I would have delayed placing her in the unit."

"Why?" Treyvon asked again.

"Because I believe she would have tolerated the treatments better had she been rested and fed."

"You said she tolerated it well."

"Her body did while she was unconscious. But she woke before the unit had finished and she panicked, not understanding what was going on. If Nikhil had not been there, and been able to calm her because of their bond, she might have severely harmed herself."

"But that wouldn't be the case with the males. You could explain...”

"I would still like them to have some rest and nourishment before that. It would also be helpful if Ashe Mackenzie were completely healed and has experienced our educator. These beings have been treated harshly by two of the worst species the Known Universes have to offer. They are not going to readily trust us. We wouldn't if the situation were reversed."

"Truth," Treyvon found he couldn't disagree.

"The Jerboaians, Tafaians, and Nekeokians are known species and are used to repair units. They will not fight or question what we are trying to do."

"Also, we will then be able to return them to their homes sooner." Treyvon nodded his head in agreement. "I can agree with this as long as there are no humans as injured as Nikhil's Ashe was."

"The report I received from Parlan stated they were all able to walk onto the transport with no assistance."

"Alright. I trust your judgment on how to proceed with this." Treyvon rose from the chair. "I expect you to keep me informed."

"Of course, General."

∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

Parlan couldn't believe he'd been assigned this task. He was Warrior Parlan Spada! He could trace his manno's bloodline back to the dawn of the Kaliszian Empire, and his mother's manno's brother was currently one of the most influential Ministers in all the Empire. It was beneath him to have to be dealing with 'survivors'. If they were stupid enough to be captured by the Ganglians, then they deserved what they got.

But Goddess they stunk, and they were dirty, and they were
ugly.
Especially the ones he'd been ordered to guide out of the mine. And now...
now
he'd been ordered to bring them nourishment! There were warriors that didn't have his status that should be doing this menial task. Warriors like Gulzar, who had yet to achieve Elite status, and if Parlan had any say in it he never would.

Gulzar came from an inferior bloodline, one that had never produced an Elite Warrior and Parlan intended to make sure that bloodline never did. Gulzar didn't know his place, thought he would be Parlan's equal if he became an Elite. He was wrong. Gulzar would never be his equal. Pushing the doors open to the area where the survivors were housed, he stepped inside.

"Put them over there," he ordered the two warriors following behind him. All but the humans quickly moved toward the boxes, knowing what was in them. Parlan turned to face them.

"I forgot, you
humans
," he said the word as if it were distasteful on his tongue, "know nothing, and that I must speak Zaludian. I am Warrior Parlan. I am an Elite Kaliszian Warrior and General Rayner, the Supreme Commander, realizing I am the worthiest of his Warriors has tasked me with overseeing you. As you were with the Zaludians the shortest amount of time, you will be the last to see our Healer. Cots will be brought unless your species prefers sleeping on the floor." The look on the warrior's face said that is what he assumed.

"We would prefer cots." Craig stood facing the warrior. "Blankets would be appreciated too."

"I will order them brought," Parlan made it sound as if it were a hardship.

"And food."

Parlan growled at him. "That is what has been provided
there
." Parlan pointed angrily behind him. "General Rayner has ordered you to be treated as a Kaliszian."

"What does that mean?" Craig asked.

"It means you will receive three meals a day, just as a real Kaliszian would, even though you obviously aren't worthy of being one," he sneered. "It means a worthy Kaliszian on some other planet will have to do without because of it. It also means that new coverings will be supplied to you along with proper foot coverings. But before you place them on, you
must
cleanse. Wash that stink from your bodies," he expressed, as if they didn't know what that meant, and pointed. "The room is over there."

Once Craig nodded he understood, Parlan turned and walked away.

M
ac lay on her side, her head comfortably resting on Nikhil's impressive bicep while she stared at his sleeping form that was facing her. She couldn't remember the last time she'd slept so deeply or so peacefully, even back on Earth, and it was all because Nikhil had held her while she slept. He'd quickly dimmed the crystals, and then stripped before climbing into bed with her, pulling the remaining covers over them both. He slid an arm beneath her head, and the other around her blanket-covered waist and pulled her close making her feel safe and secure.