Page 1 of Bonded

RUZAN

“The ship is screaming again.”

“I hear that,” Vryek said in his clipped tones. “What does the ship want now?”

I didn’t like the way he referred to the ship as if it was a troublesome thing. After all, we had hijacked its internal processors and forced it to link with us after we got rid of its original crew. The damned Republic thought it could take over anything, including living ships.

Rakoths had a history of traveling with the stars with Cephela, the race of living bioships roaming this quadrant of the galaxy. Even then, we never forced a bond with one. We helped to pilot them as their heart, mind, and soul because we were chosen.

Though it had been grateful to be free from its imprisonment, the bond between a Cephela and its chosen pilot still took time to form. This poor ship had been mistreated, so its nerve clusters needed to heal first before any formal bonding could take place.

“It says there’s something off the port side, but I see nothing.” The ship had been in a funk recently, and I could only hope that it would get over its emotions quickly. As the ship’s heart, it was hard for me to filter out which feelings were the ship’s, and which were mine.

I hailed the captain since Vryek was more in the mood to be annoyed than be helpful. Ithran usually had a better head on his shoulders for matters such as this one. It wouldn’t surprise me if he actually had a spare head.

A deep rumbling in my comm preceded Ithran’s response. “Yes?”

“Captain. Permission to take a prowler to scope outside. The ship screams for something.”

“Is that why we have stopped moving?” The stoic Dirsigian said in his trademark dead calm.

“You felt that, huh?”

“It’s hard not to notice that we are floating aimlessly.”

The Dirsigian warrior was older and had more control over his emotions. A good thing because I didn’t want to have to face off with him.

In a ship of alpha males, who were once prisoners from Earth 4040 penal colony, it was too easy to be offended and fight for dominance.

At least with Ithran in charge, it was easy to fall in line. His entire race was bred for war, with spare body parts for just that contingency. When he took the mantle of leadership, no one fought him for it.

“Permission granted. Watch your neck out there.”

I made quick work of prepping my suit, then readying the prowler. With a soft word to the ship, the docking bay door opened. Maybe there was hope that it would eventually accept its new pilots.

There were a few cast-offs floating in space. A bunch of debris, nothing worth salvaging. And yet, the ship was still upset. I had the feeling of both annoyance and urgency, and it made the ridges at my neck itch.

That was always the sign of trouble.

“There’s nothing but scrap out here. Maybe they are irritating the ship somehow?” I targeted the tractor beams and moved the debris I could from around the ship.

Behind a cluster of dented paneling, there was something that looked like a pod. “I see something.”

My skin prickled, a sensation that came from the ship.

“The ship’s sensors are lighting up,” Vryek said over comms. “That must be what it wanted us to find.”

I moved the panels away. That pod was so small. I centered my beam onto it and pulled, tugging it with me back to the ship. I couldn’t move fast enough for the ship’s liking.

I felt the urgency too.

Vryek added his own commentary. “Ruzan, you must hurry.”

Now he decided for urgency. “Oh? I figured it would be a great time to take a stroll around the moon.”

“Dammit, there’s someone alive in there.”

I swallowed a growl. “Don’t act like I was dawdling. It was my idea to come out here in the first place.” Even though I was speeding my way back, I coaxed the thrusters for a little more.

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