Cali & Drake (The Alliance Book 1) (5 page)

“
Honestly,
Cali what were you
thinking?” Vareen whispered furiously as she paced in front of the medical bed.
Cali hadn’t felt like this since she was a child called on the carpet by her
nannies.

“You scared me half to death!” Nellia took up the argument, albeit in a
hushed tone. “Medical emergency indeed. The small act of processing the water
was enough to overtask his system and the man just fell asleep.” All eyes turned
to the medical bed where their mystery guest was still dead to the world.

Cali’s embarrassed gaze flew to Nellia, as she and Vareen passed each
other. Cali
took the time
to refasten her
uniform and tie her hair up in the required bun.

“How was I supposed to know—” she began only to be interrupted.

“As soon as he woke up you should’ve notified security!” Vareen kept up
her reprimand as she paced.

Cali went to defend herself. “The guards were right here. I don’t think—”
she only got a few words out when Nellia admonished.

“That’s right. You didn’t think. You shouldn’t have been so close to him
Cali! He could be dangerous.” Nellia passed Vareen once again in her pacing.

Recalling his appeal Cali muttered under her breath, “You have no idea.”

“What was that?” both of her friends stopped and faced her.

“Nothing.” She hurried to defend herself, “The man is in no physical
condition to do me harm. He could barely hold the cup.”

*****

Chan’ Drake woke to the sound of raised voices. Female voices to be
precise. Keeping his eyes closed he tried to remember what had happened? The
last thing he could recall was waking up in a strange room, with a woman
holding his hand. Not just any woman either. She was the loveliest creature he
had ever laid eyes on.

How could a woman be so small of stature, yet perfect in form at the same
time? Her
heart-shaped
face was framed by
the lightest color hair he had ever seen. It fell in long curls around her
shoulders, and he would bet his last ounce of
trianium
it was thick and soft. When she spoke to tell him he was safe, his eyes flew to
her mouth. A mouth that lush should clash with a face so dainty, but for some
reason,
it all worked to make him want to beat
his chest and run around like a madman.

When he realized he had been lusting after a strange woman, in a strange
room, with no idea of where he even was, he had tried to ask her what had
happened. When his voice had failed him, he struggled to get up.

She had put her hands
on
his
shoulders and the skin seemed to burn at the sensation. “Please stay still.”
Her throaty request sent a shot of heat through his body. He instantly froze
and hoped for the sensation to pass. Locking gazes,
he
felt stuck in the amber depths of her eyes. When he regained
his senses, he did an assessment of his body and found no injuries. The female
had talked and he had tried to convey what he could with is eyes. Finally, the
tickling in his throat had alerted him to the fact that he was thirsty. She had
instantly picked up on his distress and offered him a drink of water.

When she had turned to get him the drink, his hands had fisted. The woman
was wearing some type of black jumpsuit, and it left nothing to the
imagination. The top part had been unfastened to the tops of some rather
abundant breasts, but the bottom part almost killed him. The ends of her hair
were floating along the tops of her perfectly rounded
ass
as if beckoning him to the promised land. Not that her breasts
weren’t enough to entice a saint, they were, but he was an ass man.
Hers
…well, he would be seeing hers in his
dreams.

Coming back to the present he heard her voice again. She was one of those
arguing in the room. “…he could barely hold the cup.” At those
words,
his masculine pride took a hit. He
wasn’t that weak. During his previous conscious state, he had assessed his body
and knew he could still defend himself. He
was,
in fact,
getting stronger by the moment.

“You don’t know that he wasn’t pretending weakness to lure you closer.” A
voice filled with authority was arguing. “He could’ve snapped your neck.”

Did they think he had no honor? Only the lowest villain would hurt a
female on purpose. It was true he could’ve snapped her
neck
if inclined, but he would never do such a thing.

“Honestly Vareen. You would think I hadn’t taken the same classes at the
Academy as you did. I evaluated the risks and came to the conclusion that he
wouldn’t harm me.”

He felt a warm happiness seep into him at the words from the tiny female
he had been interacting with. For some
reason,
he was happy she trusted him.

“Cali, how would you know that?”

Another woman spoke and
this time,
he got a name to go with his mystery woman’s face. Cali. After a moment’s
pause,
he heard her answer.

“It’s just a feeling I had. I don’t get any dangerous vibes from him.”
There was a pause and then Cali continued. “Stop giving me that look Vareen. If
you don’t like that it was a ‘feeling’, say an educated assumption.”

“I read as many of those romance pamphlets as you did Cali. I just don’t put
as much store in the idea of feelings as you do. I know you aren’t always
logical, just don’t let your romanticism overrule good sense.”

The one named Vareen spoke those words. So the little female was
a romantic
in
a world
that didn’t believe in such
things? This was an interesting turn of events. There was only one world close
by that fit that description.

“I wouldn’t say I was swayed by my emotions—” Cali went to argue.

“Wouldn’t you? Then how is it that we’re in the middle of the Buffer Zone?”
There was a pause and then someone exclaimed, “I’m sorry Cali. I didn’t mean
that.”

“Is that how you feel Nellia—” he could hear the hurt in the female’s
voice.

“I hate to interrupt, but the mystery man is awake.” The woman named
Vareen drawled coldly and Drake wanted to groan. He was getting some good
information from listening to them.

With a
sigh,
he opened his eyes to
see three women in the room. The small beautiful one named Cali, a taller
black-haired female with a stern frown and cold purple eyes, and a smaller
brunette with worried hazel eyes. They were all three wearing the black
jumpsuits, but only Cali made it look incredibly sexy.

 
“You’re
awake,
” Cali stated this and strode gracefully to his side.
 
“This is Vareen Nas, the
ship's
science officer, and second in command.”
She waved a hand at the tall, black-haired female. When his eyes met hers, she
gave a slight nod of her head. This one radiated authority over her
surroundings and her rigid stance showed no softness. He nodded his head in
greeting.

When Cali spoke again his eyes moved to the other woman. “This is Nellia
Adet. She is the
ship's
doctor.” Again,
he got the slight bow of the head. This one was shorter and softer, like Cali.
Her hazel eyes were filled with trepidation and he came to the startling
realization that this female was afraid of him. He nodded his head at the
doctor.

“That leaves me…” she said with a slightly breathless laugh and Drake’s
heart rate picked up. “I’m Calinae, or as I prefer, Cali. I’m the captain of
The Reliant.
” The machines monitoring
him made a soft chirping
noise
when she
had
laughed, and
when he heard her name
they started an even louder alarm.

Drake smiled faintly and forced himself to relax. Bowing his head to Cali
he tried to speak and was surprised when his voice came out
gravelly
and rough. “I…am Ch—” he swallowed
hard in
mid-introduction
not sure how
much to give away. “I’m called Drake.” He decided on giving his first name. “Were
you able to find out how long I was in stasis? Where did you find me?”

Drake wasn’t surprised when all three females looked at each other
instead of answering.

Cali bit her lip and looked at her friends. Drake had a right to know the
answer to his questions, she just wasn’t sure how much to tell him. Seeing the
suspicion in Vareen’s eyes and the equal mix of fear and suspicion in
Nellia’s
, she tried for honest answers without
giving away everything they were doing.

“We haven’t been able to determine how long you were in stasis. The ships
engineers are still working on a compatible computer interface with your escape
pod.” Cali thought back on what he had asked and continued. “As for your last
question, we’re on a scientific mission in the Buffer Zone.”

“I see,” Drake replied softly, his brow furrowing.

Deciding it was time to get some answers from him Cali asked, “Do you
remember your purpose for being in space? What is the name of the ship you were
on?
 
We will try to contact them for you
if they are still in the area.”

It was her turn to have a furrowed brow because he was shaking his head
before she had gotten a few words out.

“Your people must be worried about you. Don’t you want to return to
them?” Cali couldn’t understand his reluctance to name his spacecraft.

“It must’ve been an injury because I don’t recall what I was doing or
what spaceship I was
on,
” Drake admitted
huskily.

His troubled eyes met hers and Cali paused at the shuttered look.

“What about your home world—”

Drake shook his head again and Cali was getting
suspicious
.

 
Maybe her friends were right to be
worried. “How are we to help you get home—”

“His injuries and the time spent in stasis could be causing a memory
block.” Nellia moved to a console at the top of his bed. “I haven’t run an
in-depth
scan because I wasn’t sure how his
body would react. With his
permission,
I
could run one now to find any issues.”

“No.” Drake almost shouted the word. “That is to say, I’m sure that my
memories will return once I’m fully rested.”

Cali winced at the force in which Drake denied a medical scan. Before she
could question him Nellia intervened.

“If you think that’s
for th
e best.”
Her friend moved back from the console.

“Cali, can I have a word with you and Nellia?” Vareen strode away from
the medical bed.

“Of course.” Cali reluctantly moved from Drake toward the doorway and
into the hall. Her friend didn’t waste a moment and jumped right into it.

“What is going on Cali?” Vareen stood impassively at the doorway. The
guards Cali had waved back were standing at either side of the entrance. Both
of them quite burly by Cestori standards. “You can’t keep your eyes off of that
male and there are some weird undercurrents in the room.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Cali blushed.

“Cali, even I know what Vareen is talking about. While I find our mystery
passenger terrifying, you are entranced.” Nellia looked at the guards happily.

Cali could see Nellia felt entirely secure now that she knew these males
were watching the door. She almost laughed at the false sense of security Nellia
had. The males of security were highly trained, with all types of weapons. She
just wasn’t so sure they were a match for the sheer size of the male in the
other room.

“Okay, I’m attracted to him, but that doesn’t mean anything,” she
admitted.

“Doesn’t mean anything?!” Vareen almost shouted. Taking her hands Vareen
squeezed, “Cali of course it does. You have to stay away from him if you can’t
be objective. We know nothing about him.” Dropping her hands and waving her own
in the air her friend continued, “The stasis pod he was in was made from unknown
materials, that in itself is odd. Then there is the fact that he conveniently
doesn’t remember his reason for being in the Buffer Zone, or what ship he was
on or even his
home
world
? There is something strange going
on.” She had ended her rant with a sharp look at the doors to the medical unit.

“I agree.” Nellia was pacing again, “His memory could be impaired like
he’s saying, I just get a weird vibe from his responses. I want you to be
careful Cali, something else is going on…I can feel it.”

“I hear what both of you are saying and I’ll be careful.” Cali insisted,
her gaze going to the doors. “If he’s okay to be released from medical, he can
be assigned room nine on the security deck. I’ll make sure he knows how to get
help if he feels the need.”

Vareen nodded her agreement and moved to speak with the guards and then
she was walking to the elevator. “I’ll notify you when I have any information
on his stasis pod. Cali…Nellia.” With a
nod,
she was inside the lift and disappeared.

“I’ll tell our guest that he is to have new quarters.” Nellia moved to
walk back inside, then paused. “Cali, I know you are very close to Vareen. She may
have been the one to stay up with you long after the rest of us, talking about
those romance novels, but it doesn’t take an expert to see that something
happens to you when you look at Drake. I don’t want to hurt you, but think
about why we are here in the Buffer Zone. Think about the reality of what we
are facing. Your mother will never give up, she’s too powerful and when she
want’s something, relentless.”

Cali knew that her mother was exactly what Nellia was describing. Why did
everyone feel it was necessary to keep reminding her of her precarious
situation? Was it so wrong to fight against losing her freedom? The answer came
to her suddenly that yes, it wasn’t fair to continually put so many people in
jeopardy. She was being selfish and she didn’t like the way the realization
made her feel.

“The night I escaped from my mother, I had a rude awakening. I knew she
was ruthless; I just didn’t think she was heartless as well.” Cali laughed a
cold, humorless sound. “Fleeing from Cestori was the only thing I could think
of at the time. Deep down I know I’ve got to go back. Vathral is going to be
replaced and punished for his lack of success eventually. Conndra, if caught talking
with us, could face severe punishment as well. My father,” Cali shuddered at
the thought of her father facing off against her mother. “Not to mention what
will happen to everyone on this ship. Maybe I needed to be out here to grow up
a little more, to have an adventure, or just to prove I could get away,
a last
act of defiance so to speak.”

“What will you do next?” Nellia asked worriedly.

Cali stiffened her resolve, “After we return our mystery male to his
people, we’ll return to Cestori. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep everyone I
care about from being punished, and face whatever the future holds for me.”

Trying to lighten the mood she took Nellia by the shoulders, “That’s all
for another day. Right now we have the mystery that is Drake to solve.”

Silently she added that she was just the woman for the job.