The Skies of Mahdis Read online

  He let go of her and walked a few paces away. He looked at her and held out his hand once more. “Kassa."

  "No."

  "No?” He said he word hesitantly.

  "No,” Trista said firmly.

  His expression darkened. He closed the distance between them before she could blink. Grabbing her arms, he pulled her to her feet again. His arms went around her, crushing her to his chest. He was solid as a wall. Her knees would have buckled if he'd not been holding her.

  "No?” he repeated with explicit menace. He squeezed her once, hard, then gave her a little push backwards towards the couch. She lost her balance, falling onto it again.

  He held out his hand. "Kassa," he said softly.

  Trista looked at him. She swallowed and held out her hand to him. He looked at her curiously and dropped his hand to his side. "Kassa," he said once more, his voice remaining soft.

  Trista took a deep breath and stood. She took the one step that put her directly in front of him. He smiled down at her. A real smile. One that reached all the way to his eyes.

  He made a wide gesture with his arm towards the couch again. "Vkcek."

  Trista sat down. He smiled again and sat beside her. She shivered from more than the cold. What could he possibly want?

  He saw her shiver and reached behind him. Pulling a small blanket from under the end of the couch, he handed it to her. She gratefully wrapped herself in it.

  "Thank you,” she said to him. His eyebrows shot up.

  "Thank you,” she said again, rubbing the blanket. He nodded.

  "Njopk," he said tugging on the blanket.

  "Yes, thank you,” Trista said again. She realized that was not the response he was looking for, but she said it anyway. She knew he was referring to the blanket.

  "No,” he said, saying the word carefully. "Njopk."

  Her common sense overpowered her stubbornness. If she were to find a way out of here, she had to understand them. She'd need to learn as much of their language as she could, and fast.

  "N-n-japok," she said tentatively. He shook his head and repeated the word slowly and carefully.

  Trista tried to match the consonant sounds again. He shook his head and tried something else.

  He eventually gave it up, but not before he'd tried at least a dozen objects in the room. Trista could sense his frustration. She understood.

  He had flatly refused to even attempt to say the words in her language.

  He suddenly patted her hand and went to his desk. He called for someone and the woman with the cat eyes reappeared. He gave a series of orders then the woman tapped her on the arm and jerked her head towards the door.

  Trista's nerves were stretched to fraying. She wanted away from him and gratefully went with the woman without complaint. They walked back towards the little room Trista had occupied earlier.

  This time, Trista paid careful attention to the corridor. She counted the doors to her right. There were twenty-eight between the room the woman left her in and his room. The cat-eyed woman tapped her arm and pointed to the lever, then stepped on it. Trista went to walk through the door and the woman stopped her. The door closed.

  Trista quickly doused a burst of tired annoyance, telling herself to remember her situation. She stepped on the lever. The other woman nodded and followed Trista inside. She walked to the wall opposite the couch and placed her hand on a small wall tile. The front of the wall disappeared to reveal a counter with strange accessories.

  The woman opened and closed all sorts of drawers and doors, then motioned for Trista to do likewise.

  "Kassa," the cat-eyed woman said. Trista was beginning to dislike that word. It made her feel like a collie.

  She sighed, giving into the inevitable. She went to the counter and began examining the contents of the drawers. It was obviously their idea of a kitchen. She tugged on one door that closed tighter than the others. It opened to reveal chilled foodstuffs. Trista's stomach growled.

  That made her realize how thirsty she was. She picked up a cup and looked at the other woman. “Water?” she asked and mimed drinking.

  "Waa-terr?” the woman repeated. Trista nodded. The woman gently took Trista's hand, cup and all, and held it under a strange knob. Water flowed into the cup.

  Trista sniffed then cautiously tasted it. It seemed to be regular water.

  The woman tapped Trista's arm again and pointed to her own chest.

  "Vanteen."

  "Vanteen,” Trista repeated.

  "Trista,” she said, tapping her chest. Vanteen repeated her name flawlessly.

  Vanteen pointed at the tap and said, “Gzuny. Waa-terr."

  Trista nodded. This word didn't sound too difficult. “G-zunny,” she repeated. “Water."

  Vanteen nodded and smiled, showing off her cat-like teeth. She then went about fixing food for Trista. Trista watched carefully. She'd better learn to feed herself. She didn't know how long she'd be here.

  Vanteen handed her a bowl of something that looked like stew. It smelled edible. Actually, it smelled good. Trista took the spoon-like implement Vanteen handed her and tasted. She nodded in appreciation and swallowed.

  Vanteen squeezed her shoulder briefly, said a few words and pointed to the couch. She flashed Trista a smile and pressed her palm to the tile set in the wall at the door. The door opened and Vanteen walked through it, leaving Trista alone. The door snicked closed.

  Trista set her bowl on the little table by the couch. She crossed the floor in three quick steps and pressed her palm on the tile the way Vanteen had. Nothing happened. She had not believed that it would, but she'd had to try it.

  Trista eyed the bowl of food. She had to eat. She had to find a way to get to a telephone. She had to empty her bladder, too.

  She went into the little alcove and looked around again. She finally blundered onto the way the facilities operated and gratefully used them. Out of curiosity she tried to get hot water for the tub. There was a knob similar to the one in the food preparation area. She waved her hand under it and was rewarded by warm water. Nothing she did could make it getter hotter or colder.

  Nothing she could do could plug the drain, either.

  She finally gave up, exhausted. She stripped off her clothes with shaking hands, planning on kneeling in the tub and rinsing off. She stepped into the tub and the water level began to rise. Trista hopped back out and the water disappeared down the drain.

  She stepped back in and quickly splashed the tepid water all over herself. She didn't care if she got squeaky clean. She just wanted to rinse the rest of the beach sand off her skin. She got out of the tub and realized she didn't have a towel. She darted into the main area and grabbed the thin blanket the man with the sea-green eyes had given her.

  She dried off, shook out her clothes, then put them back on. She wanted to be ready for whatever happened. She lay on the couch, too tired to sleep and too tired to stop thinking.

  What had happened to her? Where was she? Abducted by aliens occurred to her, but that was just so stupid she didn't want to entertain the thought.

  So how did she explain Vanteen and her cat-eyes and cat-teeth?

  Every idea, every theory sounded so incredibly stupid and far-fetched she abandoned them all. The only thing she could be sure of was something had happened.

  And home was a long way away.

  Two

  Kaden Q'winn H'akan watched the monitor screen with far more interest than was permissible. He was not only a leader of his people, he was an avaki. As an avaki, he should not be spying on the new female.

  But he was. Nor did he feel particularly regretful about it. It was easy for the older men to preach on the necessity of remaining chaste. The fires had burned out in them long ago. It was not so for Q'winn.

  His reaction to this new female was giving him irrefutable proof he was not beyond desire. When she'd undressed and stepped into the tub his maleness had threatened to boldly display. It had been quite a long time since that had happened.
/>   He mentally shook himself. He had duties to perform. He didn't have time to sit and watch an alien female get herself settled down for sleep.

  One of those duties needed to be performed now. It was time to go to the Believer's Chamber and refill the Lamp of Sioda. He switched off the monitor and pulled on his avaki robe.

  Several of the Believers were already there when he arrived. They appeared to all be in prayer and he was careful not to disturb them. Still, he knew they were aware of his entry. They would not be serving on the Cael's flagship, Anakin, if they were not aware of their surroundings at all times.

  He filled the Lamp of Sioda and spoke the proper prayers in the proper tones. Tonight the words did not soothe his spirit. Tonight they mocked him. Tonight his well-kept secret whispered and danced in delight.

  He was a kaden, an avaki, and he was jayalor.

  * * * *

  Trista woke with the immediate knowledge of where she was. And where she was not. She looked around the room for any evidence that she'd had a visitor in the night. There was none. She made her way to the alcove and from there to her small kitchen.

  After a few frustrating attempts to get hot water, she took her cup to the tub and settled for warm. She felt like crying over the lack of coffee, or even a teabag, but she refused to give in to it. Nonetheless, sipping the tepid water helped warm her, especially her hands.

  The questions of the night before remained unanswered. Possessed of a logical mind, Trista begin to work with what she did know instead of what worrying over what she didn't. The only problem was, the didn't knows outweighed the did knows disproportionately.

  She'd just circled back to trying to get hot water out of the knob-thing when her door opened and Vanteen entered.

  "Don't you people knock?” Trista asked her and went back to fiddling with the knob.

  Vanteen looked perplexed at the question but obviously understood Trista's attempts with the tap. She reached past Trista and pulled on the knob. It slid out about an inch and clicked. Hot water began to flow. Vanteen pushed it back in and the flow of cold water resumed.

  "Thank you,” Trista said to her.

  "Thh-ank uuww,” Vanteen repeated.

  Trista stared at her. She had to learn to communicate with someone. Vanteen seemed to be the one willing. That man was not.

  "Kassa," she said to Vanteen. She went around the room naming objects. Vanteen repeated the words. When Trista pointed to something they'd learned a few items back, Vanteen got it right on the first try. Maybe there was some hope, after all.

  Trista was just wondering how to begin to communicate questions to Vanteen when the door slid open again. A burly looking man stood there glaring at her.

  "Kassa," he commanded and turned on his heel and began to walk away. Vanteen grabbed Trista's arm and dragged her into the corridor behind the man. Trista recounted the doors to make sure she'd not missed any. Only they didn't go as far this time.

  They entered what was obviously their medical facility. Vanteen urged Trista to lie on one of the tables. Trista balked until the burly man bared his teeth at her.

  She didn't know exactly what that meant but she'd bet one of its meanings was behave or else. She jumped onto the table and sat quietly.

  The woman Trista took to be a doctor was quiet and non-threatening. She gave Trista a cursory examination, drew a small blood sample, then nodded. Vanteen quickly tugged at Trista.

  "Kassa, kassa."

  Trista did not argue.

  Once back in the corridor Vanteen and the man argued. Finally, he shrugged and walked away. Vanteen grabbed Trista's hand and began to run. Hope that Vanteen was going to help her escape exploded in Trista.

  Trista tried to count doors again. She was pretty sure they'd gone past the door to the room she'd been put in. Vanteen suddenly stopped at a door, stepped on the lever, and yanked Trista inside. Her heart sank. They weren't escaping.

  Quite the contrary. They seemed be making a social visit. Several women were in the large room. Trista took in their appearance and tried to keep her knees steady.

  None of the women were ... human.

  Trista stared at them. One of the women had Vanteen's eyes. Another looked almost reptilian and birdlike at the same time. Faces had brow ridges or strange noses and mouths.

  Vanteen pointed at her and introduced her. “Tris-ta,” she said.

  The other women repeated her name. Then Vanteen pointed to each woman in turn and said her name. Trista paid close attention and repeated each one. The way each woman smiled varied. Trista paid attention to that, too.

  Noura, Maor, Gagee, Po, Sirtanna, Alodie.

  Trista's stomach threatened rebellion. Possible answers to the question of what they were all doing here roiled around in her guts, churning acid. She took a deep breath and pushed it away as best she could.

  "Can any of you understand me?” she asked. Confused glances and shaking heads were the only response.

  "Could I have a glass of water?” she asked, watching Vanteen. Vanteen perked up and talked excitedly to the other women. Trista caught the word ‘gzuny’ several times. Maor went to the tap and drew a glass of water for Trista.

  "Wa-terr,” Maor said as she handed the glass to Trista.

  "Thank you,” Trista said. Understanding sparked in Maor's eyes.

  They ran through naming as many of the items in the room as they could before it became obvious they were no longer absorbing information. They were sitting and smiling at each other when the door opened and the burly man stepped in.

  He said a few words to Vanteen. She jumped up and grabbed Trista's hand. "Kassa, kassa," she said urgently.

  Vanteen's tone moved Trista quicker than the command. They sped up the corridor. Trista balked at what she thought was her door. She stepped on the lever and the door to her room opened. She'd been correct.

  Vanteen became more agitated. She yanked Trista off balance and pulled her along with her. Trista went willingly enough. She'd achieved an objective. She could identify the door to her room. Now she had to find the way out of here.

  "Kaden, kassa!" Vanteen kept saying.

  "All right! All right! I heard you!” Trista snapped at her.

  They stopped outside the door of the room Trista had been taken to yesterday. Vanteen laid her hand on the panel and waited. A few seconds later, the door opened. Trista assumed someone inside had given approval for their entry. She didn't have long to dwell on that thought.

  Vanteen all but tossed her through the door, which closed behind her.

  Trista stood looking at the green-eyed handsome man seated behind the desk. He rose with feline grace. Trista fought the urge to take a step backward. The man walked over to her and stood looking down at her. Trista swallowed hard.

  "What do you want with me?"

  * * * *

  Q'winn tried not to show his reaction to the sound of her voice. He didn't understand the words but her voice was melodic, clear and low. Who were these people from this planet out in the middle of nowhere?

  The people of Dannar had been space travelers for a thousand years and they'd never known of this planet. Even then it had been pure luck the Anakin's sensors had discovered it. It had been pure luck they'd found this female so very alone and been able to retrieve her.

  Or had it? He thought of his silent plea to the Goddess Sioda, made many times. Maybe she had answered. Her ways were strange and her plans for the future unknown.

  Q'winn had ordered their findings on this lovely but lonely little planet to be sealed under his security. He had personally ordered that those who knew anything were to say nothing. The planet was isolated and unprotected. It was their isolation that gave them what protection they had. He meant for the planet to still be there when he came back.

  He evaluated the female again. She was pretty enough, even by Dannarri ideals. Not too tall, not too short, athletic and healthy looking. The top of her head was about at his chin.

  Her hair was dark brown and
barely covered her ears. It had looked better when she first came on board. She'd smelled better, too. He made a mental note to have Vanteen show her how to access the soaps and things all the females seemed to like to use. The memory of her stepping into the tub teased at him.

  He'd spent a restless night debating over what he must do. As a kaden it was his responsibility to discover all that could be discovered about these people. As an avaki it was forbidden he have personal interaction with females.

  He'd already crossed that line when he'd spied on her.

  It wasn't the first line he'd crossed in his life, or the most dangerous.

  One way of rationalizing interaction with the female was that the Cael could only protect her world if they knew more about it. That lie mocked him.

  If he gave her his name, there would be no turning back for him. He started to say it and stopped. Better to give her his title for now.

  "Kaden,” he said slowly patting his chest.

  "Kaden,” she repeated promptly and pointed at him.

  "Trista,” she said, pointing at herself.

  He tried not to stare. Her name meant “seeker” in Dannarri. He felt the breath of Sioda laughing down the back of his neck.

  "Trista,” he repeated and felt his world shift. He held out his hand to her. She looked at him.

  "Take me home,” she demanded.

  Q'winn didn't know the words, but the look in those pretty blue eyes told him plenty. She was frightened, but she was also brave. He extended his hand a bit farther.

  "I'm not going to follow you around this room again. I refuse. No,” she said firmly.

  His hand dropped and a smile played at his lips. “No?"

  He grinned. Stubborn, she was, as well as pretty.

  Stubborn could get her into a lot of trouble. He'd have to find a way to get that concept across to her. He shrugged his shoulders and ordered a wall display. Trista immediately recognized it as Earth's solar system.

  "Am I on a space ship?” she asked, her voice shaking. “Where am I?"

  Q'winn looked at her. She'd gone pale. He didn't understand the words but he knew what she was asking. It was the same question all those from other worlds asked when retrieved by the Cael.