Page 8 of Berserkr
"It's real," Michelle interrupted, hurrying to us. She'd been talking to her boss via her primitive communication device. "Laurel, I'm sorry you didn't get to have the same slow introduction as everyone else, but it's too late for that now. I promise you, these guys are real. As is the spaceship we're currently on. Would it help you to see the view?"
I glared at her. "No. Not now. First, I want to know about the hair. If my mate is in danger, I have to know."
To my surprise, my little mate erupted like a fire-mountain. "Oh for fuck's sake, it was a wig! Your weird machine dissolved it. This is what my hair looked like all along. Now stop all this before I have to check in to a psych ward!"
"What is a wig?" Klav asked before I could pose the same question.
Michelle sighed. "It's fake hair, basically. People wear them for a variety of reasons, sometimes because they don't have hair left or are losing it due to illness."
I gasped. "My mate is sick?"
"I'm not. I just didn't like the blue anymore," my female muttered. She sounded tired. It was little surprise, the healing process would have used up a lot of her energy. She needed to sleep.
I scooped her out of the medpod and hurried away, ignoring the shouts echoing after me. Usually, she would have stayed in a cabin on the Valkyr while preparing for our first meeting. Now that we'd already met, there was no reason for her to re-join the other females. She could stay with me.
I ran to my cabin as fast as I could without making it too uncomfortable for my mate. She squirmed in my grip, feebly demanding that I let her down, but she didn't know what she was saying. She was tired, confused. Of course she wanted to be with me, her mate. Once she'd got a good night's sleep, she'd come to her senses.
I breathed a sigh of relief when my cabin door slid shut behind us. This wasn't how I'd imagined meeting my mate for the first time. I'd wanted it to be just the two of us. Errik, the Acting Captain of the Valkyr, had met his female in what Peritans called a candle-burnt date. He'd even brought her plants from her planet's surface. It had sounded very romantic, even though I didn't understand the point of the candles or the plants. But living in space, raiding other species' ships, for over two decades had taught me that all alien species had their own customs, no matter how peculiar. There was no use in trying to tell them that they didn't make sense or were based on silly superstition. They believed in their little rituals and good for them.
"Let me down!" my mate demanded. What had Michelle called her? Laura?
"Don't struggle, Laura, I don't want you to hurt yourself."
"Laurel!" she hissed. "And the only reason I got hurt is because-"
"Because I wasn't there," I completed her sentence gravely. "And I am so very sorry about that. I shouldn't have listened to Njal and the others. I should have known what's best for my mate. But we shall talk about all that tomorrow. You need sleep. The medpod caused your broken bones to heal, but it drew on your body's energy to do so. You'll be weak for a few days. But do not worry, I will guard you at all times. No harm shall come to you."
She looked at me as if I'd grown a second head. "None of that made any sense. Now let me down!"
I carefully placed her on my bed. She looked tiny on the mattress that was big enough to accommodate two Vikingr warriors. I was glad. Once I joined her, I wouldn't have to be too worried to squash her in my sleep.
I remembered that Peritans liked to be cocooned under a blanket when they slept. "Huginn, I need two blankets."
"Affirmative," the ship's cool voice replied instantly, followed by a flash of blue light. Two thick blankets appeared at the foot end of the bed.
"Magic," Laurel gasped. "Or just another hallucination? I don't even know anymore."
I spread out one of the blankets above her, covering her up to her chin.
"Sleep," I said gently. "I will watch over you. Sleep and recover."
She looked like she wanted to protest and sit up again, but exhaustion was catching up with her. Her eyelids fluttered shut. I watched with a smile as she fell asleep, her breathing becoming more even and the frown turning into smooth skin. Now that she wasn't glaring at me, I could inspect her properly for the first time. Her blue hair was shorter than the fake yellow hair had been, only reaching to just below her ears. I loved the colour. Her skin wasn't blue like mine, but at least her hair was. Her thick lashes were brown, however, deepening my confusion. Was my mate like one of those Peritan animals who could change their colour? It would also explain why her fingernails were bright red. Small dots were painted on her nose and cheeks. War paint? A tribal sign? I'd have to ask her tomorrow. I clearly didn't know as much about Peritans as I thought I did.
My communicator vibrated at the same time as my cabin's viewscreen activated.
"Outside!" I whispered to the image of Captain Njal, before hurrying out of the room with one last glance at my sleeping mate.
The cabin next door was empty, so I went in there, leaving the door open so I could hear if anyone approached. I'd promised my mate to guard her. Just to be safe, I turned on the camera in my cabin and split the viewscreen in half, one side showing her, the other Njal and his female, Steff.
"What is going on?" Njal asked, his expression serious. "Klav contacted me, but I want to hear your side of the story."
"My mate was injured on the way to the shuttle and I had her ported to the Huginn," I reported. I didn't let them see how annoyed I was at their interruption. Njal was still my Captain, even though he was currently on leave to care for his breeding mate.
"And that required you to take her to your cabin?" Steff asked wryly. "That goes against all the rules, Rune. You should send her to the Valkyr so she can be with the other women."
"No!" I shouted, then clasped my hands over my mouth. I didn't want to wake my mate.
"It's too late," Njal sighed. "Klav said he's displaying signs of the fýst. If we separate them now, we'd have to deal with a crazed berserkr soon. I don't think the Huginn is built to withstand that."
