The Price of Pleasure (Saurellian Federation 1)

Seth turned away, unwilling to let Bragan see how much his words hurt. If Calla had loved him, she wouldn’t have left him to die.

“It was her only choice,” Bragan continued. The man was perceptive as hell, something that didn’t always endear him to Seth. “She had to save the children. She had no idea that you were planning to lock Calvin up. It takes a strong woman to give up the man she loves to save a child.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Seth said, gritting his teeth in frustration. Thinking about Calla made him crazy. He wanted to strangle her. He wanted to roll on top of her and thrust into her again and again. He dreamt of them having a child together, something that was biologically impossible. At times he thought he might lose his mind.

Abruptly standing, Seth stalked across the small open area to their sleeping mats, inflatable cots from the same survival kit that had contained the pressure-bubble. For the thousandth time, Seth thanked the Goddess for leading him to outfit his ship with the highest quality survival equipment available. At least he and Bragan were relatively comfortable in their exile.

“I’m going to take a nap,” he said shortly, lying down on the mat. Turning away from Bragan, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He knew he would dream of Calla, something he both anticipated and dreaded. Her silken thighs, her sparkling laugh, even her freckles… She was always with him in some way. Trying to reign in his anticipation, Seth closed his eyes. The dreams were all he had left.

* * * * *

“Seth, wake up,” Bragan whispered in the darkness. Seth was alert instantly, his warrior instincts honed from a thousand battles. “There’s something going on at the landing field. That little motion alarm thing you set up is blinking.”

A burst of adrenaline shot through Seth’s body–were they about to be rescued? A list of all those it could be raced through his mind: Pilgrims, Saurellians, the escaped slaves … Perhaps even an innocent trader, as he had pretended to be. Each possibility carried its own risks.

“We need to get into our suits, then head for our hiding place,” Bragan whispered, furiously shoving supplies in a little bag. “Do you have your blaster?”

Seth did. He’d found it in his carryall, right next to the photos of his niece and nephews. Its presence was just another piece of the complex puzzle that was Calla. In the dark times, when he wondered whether she had ever cared for him at all, he looked at it. At least she hadn’t wanted him to die, had given him something to defend himself with. That was something.

When they were both dressed and ready, the two men checked each other’s suits, then quickly made their way through the bubble’s tiny air lock. It was manually operated, and Seth chafed at the delay. It took ten full minutes for each of them to pass through, time that their new guests might use to discover them.

“Here’s the plan,” Seth said tersely once they were both free. “I’ll go down and scout. You go into the mine and guard and hide the food. I’ll call you when things are clear, otherwise stay out of site. No matter what happens, we can’t let them get the Jansenite. If I’m captured, I’ll key my headpiece twice, so they won’t know you’re out here.”

“If I’m going to stay with the Jansenite, you should leave me the blaster,” Bragan said. “You know that, don’t you?”

“I’ll need the blaster,” Seth gritted out. He didn’t say what they were both thinking–that he didn’t trust Bragan with a weapon.

“I can use the blaster to detonate the Jansenite if things go wrong,” Bragan reminded him. “We both agreed that as a last resort, that’s what needed to be done. We can’t let the Pilgrims get their hands on it.

Neither of our lives is worth saving if they use that stuff against our people.”

Seth knew the man was right, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to give up his weapon. Bragan sighed in frustration

“Well, if you won’t give me the blaster, that’s fine,” Bragan finally said. “But then you’ll have to stay with the Jansenite.”

“You have no idea how to scout without getting caught,” Seth gritted out.

“Well, one way or another, you’ve got to trust me if we’re going to get through this,” Bragan said heatedly. “Believe me, if I wanted the damn blaster I could have taken it a thousand times over the past few weeks. Hell, we both know those restraints Calla put on me weren’t worth anything. She didn’t even know how to fasten them all the way, but I didn’t jump you when I had the chance. Face it, Seth, we’re in this together. Let me do my part.”

Wordlessly, Seth handed the blaster to Bragan, biting back a sharp reply. They both knew he was right.

Without each other, they didn’t stand a chance. It hurt to give up his only weapon, though. He felt naked without it.

Bragan, muttering something about “fool’s pride,” started moving quickly toward the abandoned mine shaft where the explosives were hidden. Seth turned toward the ridge that lay between them and the landing field.

When they’d first found themselves trapped on the abandoned asteroid, they had considered setting their camp up in the ruins of the station. But locating the bubble on the other side of the ridge had given them several advantages. They were hidden from view, and there was a place to hide the Jansenite.

Additionally, the rock formations were such that it seemed unlikely any intruders would be able to detect them with a standard sensor sweep. That alone had made hauling all their equipment across the ridge worthwhile.

Within minutes, Seth had reached the top of the ridge. Crawling on his belly, he raised his view-scope to his eyes and looked out over the landing field. There were four ships there, all of which looked ancient.

Either the escaped slaves or the Pilgrims, he decided. The Saurellians would have better equipment. He keyed his comset four times, the signal he and Bragan had worked out ahead of time. Seth hoped the doctor would remember what it meant; a steady diet of nutritious food and companionship had done wonders for the man’s mental health, but he still had a tendency to forget things. Turning his attention back to the landing field, Seth saw a large group of the men had gone over to the remains of the funeral pyre. They were gesturing angrily. Others made their way through the ruins.

Were they Pilgrims or escaped slaves? Seth wondered. Hard to tell, although he hoped they were escaped slaves. They, at least, would be friendly to Bragan. The two of them had agreed that if the slaves came back, Bragan would go with them without telling them about Seth or the Jansenite. If the Saurellians came, they could both be rescued. They had yet to come up with a successful plan of action to deal with the Pilgrims.