Page 40 of A Mate for Vasek
Lana slapped her palm to her forehead. “You’re right. Our bad.” She looked up at the Tallean next to her.
Kean, unaware of her utter confusion, moved over to make room for the couple. “Ulrek, my friend. Nice of you to join us.”
Ulrek! That was why he looked so familiar! He was Ulrek, the ex-Dominion captain who so famously switched sides to fight for and live in the outer planets. It was all coming together now. Of course he was! Ulrek had a half-human crew. TheNew Horizonhad a half-human crew. Ulrek was mated to a human. Uzzar was mated to a human. And didn’t Cami say that if any crew could get to Earth, it would be theirs?
Dawn had been so dumb. Uzzar was Ulrek! Duh! TheNew Horizonwas the infamous stolen Dominion warshipRevenge.
“I apologize for deceiving you, female.” Ulrek’s voice was slightly different from Uzzar's, but it was definitely the same person. “We were unsure if you were an agent working for Morad. Morad knows me as Uzzar, and theNew Horizonrecently purchased a shipment from Kotch.”
Dawn suddenly remembered it. “You did! I remember it now. That’s why you looked so familiar.” He’d come in with two other Tallean males, no humans.
“And I’m Delaney, not Lana. We really should’ve told you once Vasek confirmed you were running from Morad, not working for him.”
“It’s okay. I understand.”
But now that Vasek had been mentioned, Dawn couldn’t stop hoping he’d show up and join them too.
She tried to follow the conversation as Dex and Berus went on about some crazy cool mech suits they’d recovered, and Cami, Delaney, and Sarah talked about the all-new, Earth-style amusement park they were building on Reka 5. Ulrek and Kean occasionally spoke in hushed tones, but generally just relaxed.
Dawn felt a little like a sore thumb, but tried to enjoy herself. She kept feeling like someone was watching her, but there was never anyone there. If someone was, she was sure the others, especially the Tallean males, would’ve noticed as well and said something.
At the end of the evening, Dex offered to walk her to the room she shared with a Tallean named Danka. Danka was an orphaned teenager who’d taken Roxy’s old job after she’d gotten hired by theNew Horizon.
It didn’t feel like Dex was coming onto her, more like he was making sure she got home alright. She wondered if the fact that she was heartbroken for a medic who clearly didn’t care about her was that obvious.
“Vhast and I will come pick you up for tomorrow's big celebration,” Dex said at her door. “You better be all dolled up and ready to party.”
***
Dawn woke to a buzzing from her door. Danka got to it before she did. A young Tallean male stood with a soft package draped over his arms.
“It’s for Dawn.”
“That’s me.” Dawn reached out to take the package from him, surprised by how heavy it was. “I wasn’t expecting anything.”
But the male’s attention wasn’t on her anymore. It was on Danka, and it was full of boyish admiration. Oh-ho! Dawn’s little roommate had a not-so-secret admirer. And from the sudden way she was fussing with her already straight and perfectly styled hair, she was interested.
Dawn wasn’t great with guessing ages, especially with Talleans, but these two must be teenagers. The boy mumbled something about seeing Danka at the party and made a break for it.
“I thought Tallean males are supposed to be aggressive and not shy when it came to females,” Dawn said.
“Oh, he will be,” Danka said quite self-assuredly. “If he doesn’t shape up, he’s not getting a chance.”
Dawn grinned. Young Tallean males were expected to be just on this side of too pushy when it came to pursuing the opposite sex, and the females were sometimes just as energetic when on the prowl. It was just a different culture.
And there was the crux of it. Vasek hadn’t pursued her like that at all. That alone told her enough. He’d done the literal opposite. The only reason they’d ended up sleeping together was because they’d been hiding together, like some form of mild trauma bonding. Or maybe it was because she was just there and convenient.
“What’s in the package?” Danka asked, peering over her shoulder.
“No clue.”
They opened it together, and Danka let out a girly squeal. “It’s beautiful!”
It was a dress. Except it wasn’t the stiff, jewel-encrusted evening wear with indecently high slit that was common in the Tallean culture. Sometimes, Tallean evening wear skipped a skirt completely and had something resembling a jeweled belt that barely covered the essentials, and a thong. This dress looked more like Earth-style evening wear, except the bodice was bejeweled very thoroughly in a Tallean style. The skirt was flowy and flared out past her knees. But it had a series of slits so high that it came with a pair of matching underwear just in case.
There was a note attached to it from the crew of theNew Horizon.
“You can borrow this for the party. Have fun! From the crew of theRevenge,” she read out loud.
