Chapter One
Unwanted. Rejected.
Again.
Tina lay sobbing on her hard bed, her face smashed in her thin pillow. Mother Superior’s soft voice, delivering the harsh judgment, played in her head over and over.
“It’s obvious your heart’s not in the right place…we need the space for someone more dedicated to the calling…you’ll do better elsewhere…”
Sending Tina out into the cold. Proving once more that she’d never be good enough for anyone to keep. The only consolation was that Mother Superior had visited her room after bedtime to deliver the news. Tina had been spared facing the curious stares of her fellow aspirants. There’d been no witnesses to the humiliating dismissal.
“What did I do wrong? I’ll fix it, whatever you want, I’ll do better.”
“It’s not a matter of doing, child. It’s a matter of unwavering devotion, of an ardor of the soul. You’re a good person, a kind and gentle young woman, but it’s not enough.”
She was never enough. That’s what it always boiled down to. Valentina Novak always came up short.
Nobody wants me. They always get rid of me. Where will I go?
She’d have to return to her father’s home. She hadn’t been adequate there either. Why would he take her in when he’d sent her away?
Tina was nineteen. She had only a basic education, but she wasn’t without skills. She could cook and clean and sew. Maybe she’d be able to land a position as a domestic, but what if she couldn’t? Such positions were few and far between. References from a nun on an off-world convent wouldn’t take her far.
Her father would have to let her come home.
What if he didn’t?
The sobs continued, muffled by her pillow, but loud in her head. She was swamped with grief, hurt, and a terrible loneliness that threatened to consume her.
Why doesn’t anyone want me?
Deep in grief, Tina didn’t hear the bedlam going on outside her cell until the screams were loud enough to seep between her harsh wails. Even then, it took her several seconds to recognize something was wrong.
When she did, she lifted from her pillow. Her moans drifted quiet as she realized running feet were beating past her door. Shrieks echoed, mostly wordless, but a few voices rose in desperate supplication.
“Stop!”
“God, save me!”
“Don’t! Please, don’t!”
Tina’s despair gave way to abrupt fear. Her heart sped up, and she stood, shoving her hair off her damp cheeks. What was going on in the dormitory’s hall? What was happening to her fellow aspirants? They sounded as if they were under attack.
Nothing ever happened on Europa. The convent was the only habitation on Jupiter’s lonely moon. It made no sense danger should exist in such a place.
Yet the screams went on.
Tina stared at her door. It was locked, so no one could come in. She’d be wise to stay put, to avoid whatever was happening out there. But shouldn’t she see if she could offer assistance? Failing to rush to the others’ aid would be wrong, no matter how terrified she was.
It’s obvious your heart’s not in the right place…
Trembling, Tina stepped close to the door. Girls and women were still screaming beyond it. Pleading voices, some growing distant. They were running away from whatever trouble had arrived.
Tina leaned so her ear was against the door. Moans. Voices high with supplication before abruptly quieting.
Another scream, nearby. Tina jerked, took a step back. Choked sobs sounded beyond the locked barrier, but they soon quieted. Tina touched her door with trembling fingers. Someone needed her help. But what if danger lurked close by? What if it came after her?
I’ll open the door. Take a quick peek. If I see something wrong, I’ll order it closed and locked again. I’ll be ready to be quick.
She drew a deep breath. Her pulse was loud in her ears. For an instant, her resolve faltered. She should stay put. Stay safe.
It’s obvious your heart’s not in the right place…
“Door, open.”
It beeped obediently. It slid open, letting in the light of the corridor, but less than it should have.
A dark silhouette blocked much of the illumination. A huge, brown-skinned man, all muscle, loomed in Tina’s doorway, gripping a frequency disruptor in his hand. He’d apparently been in the act of forcing the lock on her door. His long black hair framed a handsome, but feral face. Purple eyes, their pupils slit like a cat’s, gazed down at her.
A Kalquorian.
Tina gaped at him, her mind frozen. For an endless second, they stared at each other, members of two species who’d been at war for the past year.
A white-gowned girl ran down the corridor behind the Kalquorian, screaming for help. Tina’s paralysis broke.
“Door, close and—”
The monster moved at the same instant, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. Tina’s slight frame was abruptly against a hard, unyielding body, held in place by his arm curling around her, holding her still as he pressed something against her neck.
He was warm, his gaze holding hers, his expression momentarily contrite. For a bizarre instant, Tina thought he intended to comfort her with a hug. Then his face smoothed into detachment, an unfeeling mask.
She screamed, a long and trailing cry.
“I’m sorry, Matara.” His voice rumbled through her bones.
The pressure against her neck increased. Tina managed one more shriek before darkness closed in.
The beautiful alien lapsed into unconsciousness, her terror quieted. Nobek Osopa’s shoulders sagged in relief.
Yet guilt, a long-accustomed sensation, nibbled at his guts. Along with shame. In the aftermath of the invasion, there was a lot of both. The sweet taste of victory, the warrior’s greatest delight, was nowhere to be found.
Only bitterness.
As he stared at the young Earther female he held, her alabaster face rendered paler in contrast to the copper waves framing it, he couldn’t count the attack on Europa as a victory. Hardened warriors overcoming a couple hundred women and girls was no triumph, no matter how much the Kalquorian Empire needed them.
He carried her out of her small room and glanced up and down the stark corridor. The females were all sedated now, thank the ancestors. Lying in rows along the walls, they’d have an hour or two of serenity. How terrible it must have been to be wakened in the deepest hours of night by those their world had declared war on. He couldn’t imagine the horror.
He set the young woman down so she lay next to the wall, his arms feeling strangely empty without her slight weight. Osopa peered toward the end of the narrow, featureless corridor of what had evidently served as a barracks for the colony of females. His superiors stood there, conversing amongst themselves. Captain Tranis and Weapons Commander Lidon, along with their clanmate Dr. Degorsk, were flushed with triumph. He wondered if they’d be so pleased if they’d had to subdue crying girls pleading for mercy.
It’s my fault for hurrying over as soon as we’d caught General Hamilton. When Commander Lidon said to check on how the second attack group was faring, I didn’t think twice. I was in such a rush to look at the females. So many…
“Subcommander, I have counts for you from the other wing.” Nobek Wadas interrupted his thoughts.