Page 2 of Bonded

It was a medical pod, usually designed to be part of a medical bay. It wasn’t designed to be jettisoned into space, let alone sustain a life-form in it.

Where had it come from?

First things first. I had to concentrate on getting back to the ship’s docking bay. Easing back on the yoke, I landed the prowler with barely a skip this time. I was getting better at this piloting thing. “I’m in.” After I slapped the release button, I was out of the cockpit before the seat harness retracted fully.

Ithran came in personally to inspect the new intake. The red stripe that ran down the middle of his head resembled hair, but I knew it to function more like scales. They changed colors to reflect his mood, and now it was a vibrant red of warning. “Let’s see what the Rakoth dragged in.”

I pounded a fist over my heart in an automatic response. We untethered the attachments, but the pod was damaged enough that the release was jammed. “Nothing’s ever easy.”

“Nope,” I agreed. That the pod didn’t yield to either of us was impressive.

Between a small army of jacks, piping for leverage, and the prowler’s tractor beam, we could pry it apart.

What was inside was the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on. The female had a glorious mane of thick black hair that served as her only covering. She had golden-bronze skin, the exact coloring of the cuffs at my wrists and the jeweled tips on my horns. Every bit of her was beautiful and elegant, even the way the fine hairs curled from her eyelids. They fanned over her cheekbones. How was she ever able to open her eyes under such adornment?

My heart nearly burst from my chest at the sight of her. Something tugged at my gut when I looked at her. I knew Vryek would feel the same when he arrived.

“Vryek. We need you. Bring medical.”

For once, he didn’t argue or complain. He had felt a little of what I had felt, being linked as we were through the ship.

My counterpart arrived in moments with the whirl of the ship’s medical units behind him. He was of a slimmer build, being part of the Rakothian priest guild, whereas I was from the warrior caste. But his muscles were corded and strong all the same, and he tensed upon nearing the broken pod.

He met my gaze, and we both knew who we were looking at.

I didn’t know her name or where she had come from. But she was our missing soul. I knew that as a hard-wired truth, the same as I knew my name, my ancestors, my weapons. It was a fact as obvious as standing on this ship.

Ithran wasn’t blind. He was the captain of this ship, and beyond that, an able commander. He looked between us and the female and back at us. “What am I looking at? Who am I looking at? Talk to me, you two.”

“Captain,” Vryek said without tearing his eyes away from the female, who was now our entire world. “Your ship’s pilot is finally complete. She is our soul.”

Ithran’s rumbling growl was pensive, the rows of plaits on his head a more subdued red. “Where did she come from? That medical pod had to come from somewhere.”

“The mystery will be solved, eventually. First, we must make sure she is healthy, inside of an actual medical bay.”

Vryek rushed in to scoop the body from the nestle of wires and ship debris. Her wrists and legs were bound. It was nothing to reach in and pull her restraints from the mangle of metal. The cuffs fell away. Vryek would probably note their significance. For me, I was happy that she didn’t sustain any obvious damage. There could have been many things that could have burst through the shielding and harmed her.

Thank the ancestors that it hadn’t come to that.

“Captain, will you be able to act as pilot until—”

“Go, it’s not as if I hadn’t piloted this ship before. The jacks will help me too. I’ll set the crew to take this pod apart and see if there are any clues that might tell us where this originated.”

“Would the Intergalactic Republic come snooping around? It doesn’t seem to be their make.” Not that it mattered. They stuck their noses into other people’s business all the same.

“No, but they still might have something to do with it. Not that I’m tempted to ask. No sense borrowing trouble. I’ll comm down to the colony and see if there’s been any chatter on their end about something. Meanwhile, take care of your soul.”

VRYEK

The female in my arms was my entire world. I knew it better than I knew my name.

“What if we lose her?” Ruzan worried out loud. The heat of his emotions prickled against my skin.

I combatted the onslaught of his thoughts with cool logic. The ship aptly chose him to be its heart, but now was not the time to be ruled by such chaotic feelings. “We won’t lose her. Open bay doors.” I commanded the ship.

The doors opened without a stutter of hesitation. Even the ship knew it needed to do better to get what it needed. The little insurrections over the past few months needed to stop.

The medical bay had several healing pods to choose from. I went to the largest one and placed my newfound soul gently on her back. As I brushed her hair from her face, she seemed untroubled. I needed to get a read on her, just to be sure.

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