Oglin’s eyes widened. Maintenance crew members were not as highly valued as others in Segonian society. High-ranking members of the military, medics, educators, and engineers were offered the greatest respect while the contributions of the maintenance crews went largely unremarked.
When Oglin released her, Eliana offered her hand to the other crewman.
The younger man eagerly clasped her forearm. “I’m Brundil. And I, too, am honored to meet you, Eliana.”
Smiling, she waved her free hand. “You guys saved me, not the other way around. The honor is all mine.”
Brundil shook his head. “We didn’t save you. We’re only members of the maintenance crew.”
She propped her hands on her hips and shrugged. “Hey, everyone has a role to play. The maintenance crew keeps the ship in tip-top condition, right?”
Oglin exchanged a glance with Brundil.
Brundil nodded. “Yes.”
“Well, Dagon might not have reached me in time if you hadn’t. So, again, thank you both for saving me.”
Brundil puffed out his chest with pride and smiled. “I’m glad we could be of service.”
Dagon and Eliana resumed their journey.
He stared down at her.
A smile still flirting with the corners of her lips, she glanced up at him. “What?”
He shook his head. “Nothing. This way.” He led her to the nearest lift.
The door slid open, revealing three more men. One wore the garb of an engineer. The other two were pilots. All stared in fascination at the petite Earth female.
Dagon cleared his throat.
The men hastily moved back to allow them entrance, offering their commander gruff greetings.
As soon as the doors slid closed, Eliana whirled to face them. “Hi. I’m Eliana.” She thrust out her hand.
The soldier closest to her blinked, then clasped her forearm. “I’m Nakhob.”
“Thank you for saving me, Nakhob.”
He shook his head. “Maarev was the one who retrieved you, not I.”
Eliana looked up at Dagon.
“Maarev is the soldier who collected you and brought you on board,” he explained.
“Oh. Well, Maarev may have brought me on board, but—as far as I’m concerned—everyone on this ship saved me.” She offered her hand to the next soldier. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you. You are…?”
The soldier clasped her arm. “Tugev. It’s an honor to meet you, ni’má.”
“What does ni’má mean?”
Dagon spoke. “It’s a title used in place of a name to address a woman. Ni’má is used for unbonded women. Na’má is used for bonded women. It’s the female equivalent of sir.”
“Oh. Like miss or ma’am. Okay.” She extended her hand to the engineer. “Hi. I’m Eliana.”
The engineer smiled, clasped her arm, and introduced himself. And so it went… all the way to the armory. Every time they encountered others, Eliana greeted them with a smile, introduced herself, and thanked them for saving her, leaving many staring after her with surprised, pleased, and in some cases, besotted looks.
Amusement sifted through Dagon, as did admiration. He could find no indication of subterfuge, no hint that she merely spouted empty flattery. Eliana seemed to genuinely care about each and every man she met—no matter their hierarchical status—and was thankful for their contributions to her rescue.
She also appeared to be completely unfazed and unconcerned by the fact that every man she encountered towered over her.
After greeting three more soldiers, she grinned up at Dagon. “They sure grow ’em big out here in space.”
He laughed. “You’re quite small compared to Segonians.”
“Even the women?”
He nodded. “Most female Segonians are close or equal in height to the males.”
“I haven’t encountered any females yet.”
“You won’t. Not on this ship. The Ranasura has an all-male crew.”
She frowned. “Women aren’t allowed to serve in your military?” Her tone left no doubt of her disapproval.
“Women are allowed to serve and are offered the same respect as their male counterparts. But when outfitting ships, our military separates soldiers according to gender.”
“So somewhere there’s a ship like this one with an all-female crew?”
“Yes. Several.”
“Female commanders? Female soldiers? Female engineers?”
“Yes.”
“Do the women get paid as much as the men do?”
Puzzled by the odd query, he answered, “Of course.”
“Are they really offered the same respect?”
“Certainly.” Why wouldn’t they be?
Her frown receded, leaving a thoughtful expression. “The separation by gender thing is weird. But I like the equal-respect, equal-pay thing.”
“You don’t have that on Earth?”
“No. That’s actually pretty rare where I come from.”
A statement which confirmed more of the negative things he’d read in the Sectas’ Earth research. “Yet you are a soldier.”
She nodded. “In a unique army very few people on Earth know about. And my brethren all respect me and treat me as an equal.” She smiled wryly. “Mostly. Some of them do tend to be more protective of me than they are of the other guys… kind of like they would be if I were their younger sister.”
Dagon could understand that. He felt very protective of her. But he sure as srul didn’t think of her as a sister.
The weaponsmith’s workspace was located on the same floor as the armory and the training facilities. The latter included large rooms with high ceilings in which multiple men could train and exercise as well as smaller rooms in which soldiers could train in fewer numbers.
Unless the occupants desired solitude, they left the doors open.
As Dagon escorted Eliana down the long hallway, her steps slowed. Her head swiveled from side to side while she peered at the occupants of the rooms they passed.
Suddenly her steps halted. Her eyes widened. Backtracking, she planted her petite form in the doorway of one of the smaller combat training rooms. Several moments passed as she stared raptly at whatever took place within.
Dagon moved to stand behind her, wondering what had captured her interest.
Maarev stood inside. To anyone unfamiliar with Segonians, it would appear he was alone, swinging a staff in a series of exercises. But Dagon knew better. Maarev battled two soldiers in full camouflage.
Eliana swung around to gape up at him. “You have invisible soldiers?”
Shock tore through him. How had she known?
Segonians were one of the least threatened species and most dreaded foes in the known universe because they could make themselves virtually invisible to anyone not wearing infrared goggles. Even those who had thought themselves clever in the past by using infrared technology to view them while attacking had learned a hard lesson when the Segonians had simply waited until their enemy’s guard was down and the infrared technology not handy, then delivered devastating retaliation. Eliana should not have known there was anyone else in the room with Maarev.
A grunt broke the silence, followed by a series of thuds.
They looked toward the men.