Page 24 of The Price of Peace
“That’s enough, princess.” Varroc’s purple skin somehow flushed. Peace simply smirked at him.
“Princess?” I asked, the title taking me by surprise. I’d thought it was simply a pet name the giant rock guy called her.
Peace One shrugged. “Yeah, funny that. Who knew the big lug was a prince back home? Became his mate and, boom, I’m a fucking real-life alien Disney princess!”
She laughed as if this was hysterical. I had no idea what a Disney was, but was glad it made her happy.
“So,” she continued. “What number are you?”
I looked down at my chest. “I don’t know what number it is because I don’t recognize the symbol.”
“Show us. Rick will know.”
I clutched my shirt in my fist. “It’s between my breasts, and there’s no way I’m showing you.”
“Hold on a second.” Xyrox turned back to the communication console and did something with the screen and buttons. “I sent you a drawing.”
“Received.” Prince Friðrik was back on the screen after Varroc pulled a protesting Peace One out of the way. “That’s a two. You’re Peace Clone Number Two.”
“I’m number two?” I repeated, my mind whirling again, but this time with anger as I thought about how many versions ofme had been marooned on strange planets as orphaned babies. “How many of us are there?”
Prince Friðrik grimaced. “We’re not sure. Half a dozen, maybe. Possibly more.”
“At least six. Wow. And you found Peace One first and Peace Two second. What are the odds of that?”
“One in thirty,” Xyrox answered, earning a dirty look.
“Well, as fun as this has been, and as pleased as we are to have found you, Peace Two, we must sign off to jump into hyperspace. We should be at your location in approximately one and a half rotations. I’ve instructed Julie to provide you food and a comfortable place to rest. We’ll go over all of this in more detail once we pick you up.”
I punched Xyrox in the arm and gave a little happy dance. “We’re saved, and by definite friendlies this time.”
Prince Friðrik’s brows knitted together. “You’ve been in contact with others? Julie said you were the only intelligent life on this planet.”
“Is Julie how you found us?”
“Yes. She’s instructed to contact me whenever any Peace connects with a MEDIC or a Julie-enabled device that’s connected to the Intergalactic Network.”
“Oh. We didn’t know Julie could do that. Just before you called in, Xyrox made contact with a ship using one the old coms. A, um …” I clucked my tongue, trying to recall his name.
“Captain Helos of the freighterSilverlight,“ Xyrox supplied.
“Yes, that was it. Captain Helos said he’s on his way. He’s already in hyperspace so we can’t intercept him.”
The prince’s face tightened. “When is he due to arrive?” Prince Friðrik asked.
“He estimated about two rotations,” Xyrox replied.
Prince Friðrik began frantically working on his navigation system. Xyrox and I exchanged a worried look, neither of us needing to see what he was doing to know it couldn’t be good.
“What’s wrong?” Xyrox asked, looking fierce. “Who is this Helos? What should we be prepared for?” Every muscle in my mate’s body tensed as he studied Rick, Peace and Varroc on the screen. Rick and Varroc were stoic, giving nothing away, but my sister-clone chewed her bottom lip—a sure Peace sign of worry.
Prince Friðrik looked up from his console, his expression calm. “I don’t know. Maybe nothing. Just in case, we will increase our speed in order to get there first. I’ll instruct Julie to provide defenses. In the meantime, eat and rest. We will contact you when we arrive. Out.”
And with that, they were gone.
15
PEACE
