Osopa blinked, realizing he’d somehow moved his gaze from the captain and weapons commander to the woman with the copper hair. How long had he been looking at her, musing over the fascinating dots of darker color that scattered across her nose and cheeks? He directed his attention to the security officers gathering around him with their reports.
He noted everything down. One hundred seventy-seven females. Several in the other wing were elderly, beyond childbearing age. Quite a few were underage in the hallway in which he stood. There were still a sizable number in their prime, however. Lifebringers. Real lifebringers, unlike the females of his own kind. Earthers weren’t victims of the rampant infertility destroying Kalquor.
His gaze had drifted to the redhead again. He impatiently focused on his work, assigning the security team to take the prisoners to areas where they could be safely held: rooms identified as the chapel, the infirmary, and the dining hall. He also assigned guard duty, giving himself a shift in the dining room.
It would be bedlam when the captives awoke and found themselves prisoners of war. On the moon of Europa, near Earth, they must have thought themselves safe from Kalquor.
I didn’t sign up for terrorizing women and children. He’d take guard duty anyway and face their fear and hatred. Weapons Subcommander Osopa, second in charge of security on board the spyship captained by Dramok Tranis, was a stalwart fighter. He wouldn’t slink to the ship and hide from the shame of taking females prisoner. After a stellar career that had seen him rise in the ranks earlier than most, he refused to take the easy path.
Nor was he the kind of man to act like a lovelorn fool. Why was he staring at that woman again? He was mesmerized by the fiery hair, the milky skin with its scattering of dots, the well-shaped lips that pouted outward, as if she waited for a kiss. The voluminous gown she wore had settled over her, revealing a slight body, its angles somewhat severe in contrast to the curvier prisoners. She might be the type of person who stayed on the move, seldom to lie about in indulgence. Someone like himself.
Enough. He needed to remove himself from her presence. He would go to the other wing and get his thoughts in order. He had a job to do.
Commander Lidon and the captain were moving on to the other wing. Osopa followed his superiors, glancing at the beauty with the hair of fire before she fell out of sight. A strange ache throbbed in his chest.
Captain Tranis spoke to him. “Report.”
Osopa did so, providing the information that there were nearly a hundred and twenty females available for clans. Despite his earlier misgivings, excitement filled him.
One hundred twenty to add to the nearly two thousand Earther Mataras already on Kalquor. It wasn’t a lot to save a species, but it was a start.
They entered the other wing. Women lined up alongside each wall, two rows of them. So many in a single space. It boggled the mind.
And wrenched at the heart. When they discovered their fate, that they would be taken from the lives they’d known—
They’ll be treated well. Doted on by the three men in their future clans, wanting for nothing for the rest of their lives. Clans were centered around their life-bearing Mataras. What brought fear now would offer joy later. They’d be fine.
Keep telling yourself that. Especially when you try to sleep later.
“Let the seven male-completed clans of our ship choose their Mataras in order of seniority.”
Osopa started at Captain Tranis’s statement to his clanmates. Fortunately, Commander Lidon and Dr. Degorsk were too intent on their clan leader to notice.
My clan gets a Matara? A lifebringer to love? Osopa’s thoughts immediately went to the pale redhead.
Commander Lidon wasn’t a man to exude delight, but his satisfaction was palpable. “They’ll be pleased with that, Captain. What are your orders as far as the rest are concerned?”
Tranis turned to Degorsk. “You’re the lead on that, Doctor.”
“The protocols from the empire’s psychiatric board recommends positive sexual immersion to fight the effects of lifelong repression. Apparently, most Earther women regard themselves as evil, unworthy of passionate regard.”
“Really?” Osopa was too shocked to remain quiet. Lifebringers who couldn’t recognize their value? How was that possible?
“Really. They’ve been taught to loathe their own bodies. When appropriate enemy females are captured, we’re to awaken their sexual cravings and prove how desirable we find them. They’ll return our regard and admiration, or so I’ve been told.”
“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” Osopa muttered. “They’re beautiful.” Again, his thoughts flashed to the redhead.
My clan could select her.
Pick a mate based on her appearance? Hardly a basis for a lifelong commitment. Especially since he’d met spoiled, gorgeous women on Kalquor. Females were in short supply, but the stunning ones were often courted by the vid-show industry. His Dramok father had been a vid star and had dealt with his share of self-absorbed divas. It was no wonder Osopa’s mother had come from the fine art community. She’d been lovely before the shuttle accident had left her scarred, but she’d been modest and undemanding.
Beauties who’d been fawned over until they believed they deserved whatever they desired were usually more trouble than they were worth. Osopa needed to forget the redhead. Someone else. Someone less than breathtaking.
Perhaps the first female he’d seen, the girl who’d raised the alarm that an invasion was in progress. Pretty enough, but a far curvier, indolent-appearing young woman, dressed from top to toe in white. A woman of ice, instead of the slender woman of fire.
She’d been nowhere to be seen in the other corridor. He searched the unconscious faces surrounding him.
Commander Lidon walked with him as his clanmates drifted away, also inspecting the females lying in the hall. “Did you suspect when you woke this morning that we’d be choosing mates?”
“No, Commander. Who could have imagined such an event?”
Captain Tranis called to him. “Where’s the girl we saw outside?”
“We haven’t found her.” Osopa flushed to have considered the ice woman, whom his superior was apparently intent on. “I looked for her myself.”
Lidon smirked before moving off to join his clanmates. “My apologies, Osopa, but your clan will have to choose someone else. It seems my Dramok and Imdiko have made their selection.”
Osopa tried to deny the image of the fire woman drifting through his mind. It didn’t have to be her when there were over a hundred Mataras to select from. There were only seven clans serving on the spyship, so there was an embarrassment of options.
We’re third in rank, thanks to me being weapons subcommander. The captain’s clan has chosen. We’ll have to wait for Clan Simdow to make their selection.
Two members of Clan Simdow had assisted with the invasion. Had they noticed the redhead?
He’d sent Nobek Miv and his Imdiko Vadef to transfer Mataras to the various assigned areas. Dramok Simdow, the first officer, was on board the spyship. He wouldn’t be able to come down to the moon as long as Captain Tranis was on site. It might be a while before Osopa and his clanmates could make their choice.
Their choice of a female mate.
Realization hit him like a physical blow. A lifebringer for his clan. For him, Subcommander Osopa, at the mere age of twenty-nine, a warrior just beginning to rise in rank. His clanmates had even less status. There were clans on Kalquor with great prestige and money who had yet to claim a Matara. And here he was, with the opportunity most only dreamed of.