Chapter 12Camila

Chapter 12

Camila

Camila read over the new colonist application once again, making sure she had filled everything out correctly. She was lucky that the application was available in English, Spanish, and Chinese, the three most common Earth languages on the colony. She still couldn't read or write Tallean, and she doubted she'd ever be able to learn. The Tallean written language was a baffling mix of pictograms and phonetics, and there didn't seem to be set rules on how they were used.

For example, the word for ship looked mildly like a small boat viewed aerially, complete with little oars on the side. The word for star looked like a star. Easy. So Cami had assumed that the word for spaceship, which was "starship" in Tallean, would be those words combined, right?

Wrong.

Well, it was, but it also wasn't. Because there was a glyph that had a phonetic sound similar to star, and they used that glyph instead, placing two of them below the word for ship, meaning the ship was above the stars. That word meant "starship." The other one meant "idiot" because long ago, it was once thought that people who dreamed of going to the stars on ships were idiots.

That was the last time Camila tried to learn to read Tallean.

She didn't plan on sending in the application to be a new colonist on Reka 5 quite yet. She'd do that when she arrived on the planet.

She was excited! Finally, this was her long-awaited chance at freedom. A life where she could make her own decisions and be her own person again. It had been so long that she'd forgotten how it felt. Back on Earth, she hadn't appreciated what she had. This time around, she wouldn't make that mistake.

This was something she'd dreamed of since she'd heard about Reka 5 early on in her captivity. But she'd been too chicken shit to make a run for it. Or perhaps too smart. She'd lived so deep in the inner planets that getting out would probably have been impossible.

The trip itself would have been worse than her situation, considering anyone who was willing to take her would probably have gone back on their word and sold her for credits anyway. She could have easily ended up in a much worse place.

That was why when Rehden had decided to take her along, she'd rejoiced. At first, she'd secretly hoped that he would form a mate bond with her and treat her well. She'd cuddle in close when they were forced to sleep in the shuttle together.

When she realized that Rehden's temper and tendency to break things were much worse than she'd initially thought, she backed off on that. Still, she'd done her best to keep him happy, hoping that he wouldn't sell her before they got out. Then, she'd planned to make a run for it.

Reka 5 was so close now she could taste it.

She thought of Berus and how he'd actively tried to start shit with Rehden in the kitchen. The way the two acted, she wondered if she'd somehow accidentally triggered mating bonds in both of them. That was not something she needed right now, not with freedom right around the corner.

One day, maybe she'd want a mate or a husband, but she'd figure that out after she'd gotten set up at Reka 5.

She wondered if the Revenge visited Reka 5 often. It should, considering Delaney had come from there, and there were so many humans on board. Maybe when Cami was in a better, more secure position, she could explore what was starting between her and Berus. If he hadn't lost interest in her by then, of course.

Either way, she wanted to keep in touch with the crew of the Revenge . They were the first people she'd met in space that she considered friends.

There was a knock on her door. "It's Roxy."

They knew she didn't open up unless she knew who it was. The door opened, and Roxy came in with Nibbles in her arms.

"Hey, Cami. Emil is about to make an announcement, but I thought I should give you a heads-up. We're at New Rhea, and we'll be landing very soon."

So soon? It had taken Rehden and her a long time, moving from port to port, to get to the outer planets. They'd flown as fast as they could, taking the luxury shuttle Rehden had stolen, a model rated for deep space travel, through its paces. But the shuttle required frequent refueling, and they had to stop often.

Meanwhile the Revenge must've only left the asteroid field a few days ago. Cami wasn't ready for New Rhea yet. Sure, the plan was to only pretend to leave, ducking back into the ship at the last moment after Rehden had already stepped out, but what if the plan went wrong? What if they couldn't stop him from taking her?

Roxy must have spotted her worried look. "Everything will be fine. We have your back." Then, she handed her Nibbles. "Here. He can be your emotional support Nibbles."

"Thank you."

Nibbles was being super cuddly right now, so Cami took him, hoping he wouldn't suddenly decide he was hungry and bite off her hand.

Emil came on to announce their imminent arrival on New Rhea and called for "everyone to meet in the common room, guests included."

That meant facing Rehden sooner rather than later. She could do this. She wanted to be strong like the women on the ship. Roxy and Delaney wouldn't hide and cower, so she wouldn't either. She steeled her nerves and followed Roxy into the corridor.

Cami quickly found out that Roxy had given her Nibbles for more than one reason. The second she got to the common room, Rehden hurried toward her, grabbing at her angrily, but the little creature snapped at his hand, making Rehden snatch it back before he lost a finger.

Had Roxy known the furry menace would protect her?

"Where the hell have you been?" Rehden snarled, staying just out of the creature's reach. "You haven't been in your room. Has one of the males touched you?"

Cami lowered her head and acted meek like she'd been taught. "I've been in the greenroom with Ulrek's mate." It wasn't technically a lie. She'd been there recently. But the times Rehden had knocked on her door when she'd been in her room she'd just ignored it.

Rehden leaned in and sniffed her, risking a chomp from Nibbles' sharp teeth. He moved away in time again. "You do not smell like Ulrek. Good. He offered to purchase you, but I refused. I knew his story about not having slaves was a lie to get you away from me. Did he touch you?"

"No." Again, no lie there. Ulrek had not touched her.

"You'd better be telling the truth." He grabbed her by the hair, and Nibbles snarled, scampering up her shoulder to snap at his hand.

Cami gasped as Nibbles' sharp teeth flashed just inches from her face.

"Why are you holding that filthy creature?"

He raised his hand, and Cami flinched, seeing he was going to knock Nibbles out of her arms. Ckzarr stepped in, stopping his hand before he could strike. The two Talleans bared long, sharp fangs at each other. Nibbles, deciding he wanted to back Ckzarr up, leaped off Cami and went to stand on Ckzarr's shoulder, adding his fangs and growls to Ckzarr's. Cami was sure a fight was about to break out until Dex and Berus came in and got between them.

"Oops, Sorry," Dex said, clearly not sorry at all. "'Scuze me. Pardon me. Coming through." He wedged himself unceremoniously between the two angry Talleans, as if stopping two huge clawed and fanged monsters from fighting each other was a daily occurrence.

Cami was sure he'd stepped in between Berus and Rehden in the kitchen the other day on purpose as well.

She felt a hand on her back and realized it was Berus. She snuck a peek up at him. His gorgeous green eyes took her breath away. But the moment was shattered when Rehden grabbed her arm and yanked her away.

He kept a hand on her arm and sat her down firmly in his lap as the crew collected in the common room. He kept holding onto her even as they landed and walked off the ship and into the private hangar. Cami worried she wouldn't be able to get away, not with how tightly he held her. It was like he was expecting her to run.

She glanced around the large hangar and noticed the rest of the crew getting into place. The plan was that she was supposed to wait for Ulrek to speak with Rehden and give the signal before breaking free and running back onto the ship. She tried to hide her worry and wondered if Rehden could smell her nervousness, that it would give her away. Talleans could smell a lot of emotions.

Ulrek approached and clasped his hands together in front of his chest in a gesture of respect. Clearly, they didn't respect Rehden, and this was merely done because it was expected.

"May the Goddess bless your travels," Ulrek said, the words coming out smoothly from years of practice.

That was the signal. Delaney had explained to Cami that in this sector, it was more common to put a hand to the chest pinky side out and call on the stars, not the Goddess. But Ulrek chose this gesture instead since Rehden would be more receptive to it. Also, it took both hands, which meant he had to release Camila.

The second he let go, Cami turned and ran.