Chapter Nine

"D on't worry, Naya. Vicious will protect you and Menace."

Naya glanced at Hallie before stepping off the elevator into a private hallway. Her stomach was in knots. The idea of being taken away from Menace scared her. It wasn't as if she was in love with him or anything, but he'd been very good to her. He cared for her and would protect her. She couldn't say the same for other men aboard the ship.

"You seem very confident in your husband's abilities."

"He's not the kind of man people challenge." Hallie unlocked her front door with a press of her thumb to a red pad. "When Vicious gives an order, it's followed without question."

She wondered if Hallie was one of those people who followed orders given by Vicious. She had a sneaking suspicion the short, spunky woman was the general at home and Vicious was the one jumping to follow her orders.

One step into Hallie's home and Naya's jaw dropped. It wasn't the size difference that stunned her but the homey, inviting warmth of the space. Hallie's home was laid out almost identically to the one Naya now shared with Menace. The furniture and materials were all the same with only a few differences in upholstery colors and the paler, softer gray on the walls, but Hallie had done something extraordinary with the blank canvas of her home.

"Your home is beautiful." Naya admired the framed painting on the entryway wall. It was a simple design with the letters V and H intertwined and nestled in two feathers. There was something familiar about the look of it. "Where did you buy this?"

"I painted it." Hallie lovingly touched the frame. She gestured toward the open living area. "I've done all the artwork in our home."

Naya entered the living room and scanned the stunning pieces on the walls. "You're very talented."

"Thank you."

"And you sew!" She fingered one of the plush decorative pillows on the couch. The lilac hue complemented the silvery upholstery. She spotted the sewing basket on the floor. It was piled high with embroidery projects. A stack of completed pieces, baby clothes and bibs, sat on the cushion of the chair.

"You can order fabric and sewing supplies through the clothing store." Hallie gathered up the sewing supplies on the couch and moved them to the basket. "I was finishing up some sewing when the alarms sounded. A friend of mine is due any day."

Naya picked up one of the small bibs. "You're very good."

"I'm not nearly as good as my oldest sister but I do all right. Do you sew?"

Naya laughed. "No."

"Would you like to learn?"

"Not really," Naya admitted and hoped she wasn't hurting Hallie's feelings. Clearly this woman relished her homemaking duties.

Hallie surprised her by laughing. "I like honesty. Sewing isn't for everyone. You could always barter if you needed sewing services."

Naya perked up. "Barter? Now that's something I know how to do."

"Really?" Hallie motioned toward the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink? I've got tea and juice."

"I'll take tea if it isn't too much trouble."

"It's not."

Naya glanced into the large formal dining room. The embroidered tablecloth and centerpiece of candles and flowers were gorgeous. Hallie had even made chair covers to soften the harshness of the all-metal look. "How in the world do you keep houseplants and flowers alive up here?"

"A friend of ours brought me some of the hardiest houseplants available on Calyx. One of the biologists in the science department let Vicious buy a special growing light and some food for them. I move them under the light a few hours every evening and feed them once a week. So far, so good. Would you like one of the plants?"

"No way." Naya shook her head. "I have a tried-and-true brown thumb."

"I'm sure you're not that bad." Hallie showed her to the small table in the spacious kitchen. She brushed crumbs off the simple runner and caught them in her hand. "Sorry. Vicious seems to think kitchen elves clean up after him." Naya smiled and slid into a chair. "He's, um, really intimidating."

Hallie laughed. "He's not as scary as he looks." She dumped the crumbs in the silver trash receptacle. "Well, okay, he can be that scary but never with me or any other woman for that matter. He only shows the grrr side when it's absolutely necessary."

"Is it necessary often?"

"Only when he's defending me or his men."

Naya rubbed her finger across the bright-white flowers embroidered on the runner. "You're happy here?"

"Very," Hallie confirmed and took down the tea supplies from a cabinet. "You're from Connor's Run, right?"

"I am."

"Well, I came from Harper's Well. My life with Vicious is heaven compared to the hell I endured there."

Naya didn't doubt that. "He makes you happy?"

"Yes." Hallie cast a quick smile her way before fidgeting with some strange machine built into the wall. "We love each other very much."

"Was it hard in the beginning?" Naya watched as the contraption whirred to life and spit steaming-hot water into mugs. "That's amazing!"

"You probably have one in your quarters. Most of the units in the officer housing section have the same built-ins." Hallie carried the tray with mugs and sweeteners to the table. "Sugar. Milk. Honey. Help yourself."

Naya sweetened her cup of tea with a drizzle of honey and gave it a stir. Hallie opened a sleek black door and retrieved a covered dish. "I did a breakfast casserole this morning. Would you like some?"

"I would. We didn't have time for breakfast before the alarms started."

"There will be another drill in a week or two, but it will be in the evening, which is just as annoying." Hallie dished out a portion and put the plate into another weird device. She tapped a keypad and it started to hum. "This machine heats food quickly. They sell frozen boxed dinners in the commissary that can be quickly prepared with this. I don't like them very much, but Vicious swears they're delicious."

Naya made a mental note to ask Menace about them. To a girl who couldn't cook, the prospect of putting a frozen box of food in that super oven sounded like a lifesaver.

The machine dinged and Hallie removed the hot dish. She brought it to the table with utensils and a napkin. After grabbing a couple of cookies from a jar on the counter, Hallie came to the table. Naya poked her fork into the fluffy egg-and-bacon casserole. She spied bits of potato and specks of cheese. One bite proved that it was as delicious as it smelled. So Hallie could sew, paint, keep house and cook. Naya wanted to hate her but couldn't. That smile and gentle air about her were too disarming.

"To answer your question, it wasn't easy in the beginning. Vicious is basically the ideal Harcos male. What I mean by that is that he is maddeningly arrogant."

Hallie said it with a grin but Naya guessed she hadn't always found her husband's arrogance so amusing. "Menace has an arrogant streak in him as well. He seems to think that if he just says something will be one way, it will be."

Hallie rolled her eyes and laughed. "The whole I'm-going-to-make-you-happy thing, right?"

"Yes! What makes them think they can just catch us in a race, drag us back to their weird-ass ships and make us into happy little wives?"

"Tradition," Hallie answered simply. "They've been taking wives from their treatycontrolled territories via the Grabs for hundreds of years."

"It's a bad tradition. Can you imagine how many unhappy couples there are?"

"Not as many as you'd think," Hallie replied. "At least not in this sector. Our wives' group has access to the census data from the ships taking part in the Grab program on our planet. The divorce rate is less than ten percent."

Naya swallowed her mouthful of food. "Divorce?"

Hallie smiled knowingly. "They keep that part of the contracts quiet. I never saw it in mine, but it's there."

Even though Naya was starting to care for Menace, she wanted all the information she could get—just in case. "How does it work?"

Hallie didn't hesitate to give her the answers. Naya respected her all the more for it. "Well, first, you need to know that the first thirty days of a Grabbed bond are on shaky ground legally. For instance, if you leave your quarters without an escort, you're considered lost property. Whoever finds you first gets to keep you."

"What?" Outraged, Naya dropped her fork "That's ridiculous. What am I? A wallet?"

"It's an awful rule. A few months ago, something like that happened on the Arctis ."

" Arctis ?"

"It's one of the guard ships that flies with us. After the last Grab, a bride got away from her husband and was taken by a land corps soldier. It became this huge mess.

They deployed the SRU team from the Valiant ."

"SRU team?"

"They're an elite group of soldiers who deal with so-called ‘special' circumstances. Terrorist threats, hostage negotiations, escorts and other high-risk things like that."

"Oh." Naya breathed a little easier. "I thought maybe you meant they were secret police."

"No. The men on the SRU teams are good, upstanding men." She hesitated. "There is a unit that's sort of like the secret police but they're called the Shadow Force. I can't imagine you'd ever come into contact with them, so I wouldn't worry about it. They don't go after citizens like the secret police on Calyx. They're focused solely on the Splinter movement and terrorism."

"Good to know." Naya scooped up another forkful of her breakfast. "Being arrested three times in Connor's Run was enough for me."

Hallie's gaze snapped to her face. She smiled sadly. "You can add me to that club."

Before Naya could ask her why she'd been pinched, Hallie scooted back in her chair and stood. "Let me get you some of our pamphlets. We're having a new wives meeting later this week but you may as well take the information with you today."

Naya watched Hallie leave and tucked right back in to her breakfast. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten something so good. When Hallie returned, she slid a thin stack of pamphlets onto the table and sat down.

"Each pamphlet will give you information you'll need to make your transition to this new life successfully. The first one is about navigating the ship and using all the different devices in your home. The second is about your rights aboard the ship and in this new society. The procedure for filing for a separation is in there. The blue one outlines your access to medical care and explains the most common medications and procedures. The green one is all about shopping in the retail section as well as understanding the monetary system here. It's credits, by the way."

"Credits?"

Hallie nodded. "You'll get the hang of it." She lifted her wrist. "The chip they gave you is your method of payment. It's attached to Menace's bank account. The money is deducted automatically."

"That would have been handy back on Calyx," Naya murmured. "I wouldn't have had to chase down so many people who owed me money."

"You were in business?"

"I owned a pawnshop."

"How cool is that?" Hallie seemed impressed. "You're going to be a great addition to our wives club."

"I am?" Naya sipped her tea. "I'm not so sure about joining a social club."

"Oh, you have to!" Hallie practically pleaded with her. "It's so nice to get together with other women from our planet. We're so outnumbered by men here. Plus we're doing good work."

"How so?"

"We've created a domestic violence resource center. Next month, they're opening a new counseling division in the med bay for couples who need a little help adjusting or communicating. We're getting a distance learning program so those of us who want to finish our educations can do so. Some of the mothers in the group have started a playgroup and even have a babysitting pool that they use to give one another a day or night off every week."

Naya wasn't so sure about that babysitting stuff but she thought the idea of counseling was probably a good one. Finishing school had always been a dream. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to come to one meeting."

Hallie beamed. "You'll love it—and I make cookies!"

Naya laughed. "I'm sure you do."

Hallie held her mug in both hands and sat back in her chair. "What can I say? I'm a happy little homemaker. We all fill different roles in life. Who knows? Maybe you'll open the first wife-owned business on the ship."

Finished with her breakfast, Naya reached for the pamphlets. "Is that even possible?"

Hallie shrugged. "I don't see why not. There are vacant storefronts in the market. You wouldn't be able to run a pawnshop. I'm not sure the concept would work here. They don't do debt or credit here."

"I wasn't really thrilled with running a pawnshop in the first place," Naya admitted. "It was just the easiest business for me to get into at the time. The only way to make a business work is to find a need that isn't being filled in the current market."

"You mean like having access to comforts from home or clothes that fit and aren't ugly as homemade sin?" Hallie pinched the front of her boxy dress. "If you saw what kinds of alterations I have to make just get my clothes to fit!"

Naya sized up Hallie. "You must have a ton of fabric left over."

"I turned some of it into napkins or throw pillows The rest is in my scrap box." She made a face. "Vicious thinks it's silly for me to keep the scraps but old habits, you know?"

"Oh, I know." Naya's gaze fell to the top pamphlet. Surprise gripped her. The drawing on the front was all too familiar. "Who drew this?"

Hallie broke a cookie in half. "I did. Why?"

Naya's startled gaze jumped to her new friend. What had Danny said? The Artist had been Grabbed and lived happily on a ship. Could it be? Was Hallie the young woman she'd known only as the Artist? "I bet my aunt Ruthie Frances would love one of your paintings."

Hallie stiffened. Her shocked expression slowly faded. "I know Ruthie would."

Ruthie Frances. Red Feather. "Should we keep talking in code or do I just come right out and ask?"

"Ask me."

"You were part of the Red Feather. You drew passports."

"I did. And you?"

"I'm very good at smuggling."

Hallie's eyes widened briefly. "Wait! Are you Dankirk's contact in Connor's Run?"

Now it was Naya's turn to be surprised. "I was. You know Danny?"

"I spoke with him via my sister just the other day. He has a list of women who want out of Harper's Well. Dankirk helped my sister escape to the colonies. How are things now? Has the smuggling chain been busy?"

"There were riots in The City five weeks ago. The government clamped down pretty tightly."

"Riots?"

"Over food shortages," Naya explained. "We had people pouring into Connor's Run and Grogan's Mill. There were so many cargo ships from the Jesco colony making illegal flyovers and taking passengers that the colonies put up a barricade. The backlog for customs processing in Safe Harbor and Jesco is so bad that some of the illegal immigrants were dying in the cargo holds."

Hallie gasped in shock. "That's awful."

"The fees for those kinds of transports have gone up tremendously. The ships we work with like the Shepherd are still doing low-fee transports, but it's getting harder and harder to move people. Finding people to sponsor immigrants is almost impossible. The colonies have also stopped offering paperless entry for women who win the Grabs. I had to buy fake papers for Jennie and me. They weren't nearly as good as yours."

"Jennie?"

Sadness squeezed her chest. "She's my friend. Her number was pulled in the lottery so I bought my way onto the list. We had a pact that we'd both run together and get taken together if we couldn't escape."

"Is she here with you? I can put a call through to her quarters and have her over if you'd like to see her."

Naya gulped down the grief that swamped her. "No, she actually made it to the safe zone where her boyfriend was waiting."

"Oh," Hallie said quietly. She reached across the table and grabbed Naya's hand. "I'm sorry."

Naya looked at the friendly hand gripping hers. Hallie's kindness overwhelmed her. "Thank you."

"I know how hard it is to adjust to your new life. I'm not promising it's going to be sugar and sweetness. There are going to be bumps. You're probably going to want to thrash Menace a few times but you'll get through it. If you're meant to be together, that is. If you're not? You come to me. I'll make sure you get your separation papers and I'll help you find your way to the colonies and your friend."

Naya gawked at Hallie. "You'd do that for me? But Menace is your husband's friend. Wouldn't that make things difficult between you?"

"You let me worry about Vicious. You just worry about your relationship with Menace." Hallie pulled her hand back. "If you can make it work, I think you'll be very happy. Menace is a wonderful man. Vicious wouldn't count him among his closest friends if he wasn't loyal and honest."

Hallie hadn't said anything that Naya wasn't already thinking when it came to Menace. "I do like him. He's been patient and sweet with me. The sex is pretty awesome too."

Hallie actually blushed and dipped her gaze. "Yes, these Harcos men seem to be masters of seduction."

"Boy, that's no joke. I thought Menace was going to make me pass out last night."

Hallie laughed. "Yeah, I've, uh, been there quite a few times."

Naya knew enough about Hallie's hometown to guess that she was probably a virgin when she'd come onboard the Valiant . What a shock her first introduction to sex with her sky warrior must have been!

"Why don't we go dig through my closet and see if we can find you some shoes?" Hallie gathered up their dishes. "The first pair Vicious brought me was too big, but I bet they'll fit you just fine."

Naya followed her out of the kitchen. Once in the spacious master bedroom, she couldn't ignore the door to the couple's playroom. Naya didn't even want to imagine what a frightening man like Vicious did to poor Hallie in there.

Following her gaze, Hallie shot her an apologetic look. "I should probably warn you about the officers-only club. Menace will want to take you there."

"A club?"

"It's a place where officers and their wives and sometimes their single friends get together to play in public or the theme rooms."

Naya's gut clenched. "I'll pass."

"You might not be able to," Hallie replied, her voice muffled as she stepped into the oversized closet. A moment later she reappeared with a pair of simple black flats. "These aren't the most supportive shoes, but they'll do until Menace can get you something else."

Naya sat down on the bench at the end of Hallie's massive bed and slipped on the shoes. "Why wouldn't I be able to pass on the invite to the sex club thing?"

"Vicious and I had only been together a day when he came home with an invite to a private party given by General Thorn. I didn't want to go. I was terrified, honestly, but I knew that if we didn't go, Vicious might be snubbed by his superior. For officers, the promotion game is one that includes making appearances at a variety of functions. Vicious gave me the choice to say no, but I couldn't do it." Hallie sat down next to her.

"I ended up wearing a cat costume."

"Wait. What? A cat costume?"

Hallie giggled and clasped her face in her hands. "I know. How ridiculous, right? General Thorn has a fetish for cat-play games. There are actually groups of couples who get together here on the Valiant for puppy-and-cat play parties."

"I don't understand." Naya tried to process Hallie's information. "You dress up like a cat or a puppy and pretend you're one?"

"It's a little more intense than that for couples who are really into it but, yes, basically," Hallie said. "It doesn't do anything for me but I know a few women who enjoy it very much. They find extreme pleasure in giving total control to their husbands, their masters."

Naya shook her head and slipped on the shoes. "That's batshit crazy, Hallie."

"In this society, they believe everyone is entitled to their desires and their brand of kink. If you go to the officers' playroom, you'll probably see some strange things. Well…strange to women like you and me," she clarified. "To these guys, it's as normal as breathing to see a woman tied up, flogged and taken in public by her husband and his two best friends."

Naya blinked a few times. She would never admit it aloud but there was something oddly alluring about Hallie's description. "I don't even know what to say to that."

"To each their own, I guess."

Naya took a few test strides in the shoes. They were a little roomy on the sides but they'd do. "Were you really angry when that party was over and Vicious brought you home?"

"No," Hallie said, her face flushed. "Actually I found it all rather arousing there at the end. Vicious showed me that there's no shame in exploring my sexuality. When I'm with him, when his hands are on me, I feel braver than ever and so incredibly secure."

Naya understood that. "I felt that with Menace this morning. It was…uncomfortable."

"I know what you mean," Hallie assured her. "This mix of pleasure and pain and dominance is confusing. Even now, I sometimes have nights where I struggle with giving up control to Vicious, but when I do? He always rewards my trust."

Naya caught the subtle emphasis Hallie used when she said reward . Oh yeah. One night with Menace and Naya understood all about rewarding trust.

A chime interrupted their conversation. "What's that?"

"The front door," Hallie explained. "Have you used your control console yet?"

Naya shook her head and Hallie gestured for her to follow. In the entryway, Hallie showed her a big green screen. The word visitor flashed in white in the center.

"This alerts you when someone is at the door. You can tap this corner square to see who it is. If you don't want to answer for some reason or you're busy, your visitor will be able to leave you a vid-message that you can watch at another time."

Hallie tapped the upper corner and the screen changed from green to a picture of a man. With his face down, only his dark-brown hair was clearly visible.

"I haven't seen many of these guys with dark hair."

Hallie smiled. "Darker hair is common in the men who have mothers who were taken in Grabs."

The man on-screen lifted his face. Naya winced at the sight of such a scarred face. One eye had been totally gouged out and was nothing but a puckered scar. A gash like a lightning bolt marked that same side of his face. "What happened to him?"

"Terror was attacked on a mission. Vicious had to sew him back together." Hallie touched her arm. "Please don't stare at him."

Naya glanced at the scarred man on the screen. "I won't."

"Thank you." Hallie walked to the door.

"Is he like Vicious and Menace? You know, scary on the outside but soft on the inside?"

Hallie shook her head and grabbed the door's handle. "No, Naya. He's even scarier on the inside than he looks on the outside."

With Hallie's frightening assessment ringing in her ears, Naya hung back and waited. Hallie stepped aside and Terror entered the apartment. His gaze moved to Naya and then back to Hallie again.

"I should have known your little welcoming committee would have reached Menace's new woman first," Terror said. "Have you finished interrogating her or do I need to drag her down to a holding cell to get her life story?"

Hallie dared to thump his arm. "Be nice, Terror."

Naya didn't find his teasing remark very funny. She warily watched Terror as he strode toward her. He had an air of mystery around him. The way he carried himself reminded her of the secret police who had terrorized her so many times. Her internal alarm pinged instantly. She knew the type. He might have Hallie fooled but this guy wasn't what he pretended to be.

Terror stopped a bit too close, purposely invading her personal space, and extended his hand. "I'm Terror, a good friend of Menace."

"Naya." She quickly shook his hand and tried to let go but he held tight. His fingertip rubbed her wrist, right where her pulse beat wildly. She wasn't amused and yanked her hand free from his.

Terror's one eye narrowed. "You're from Connor's Run." He wasn't asking. "I hear you ran a pawnshop down there. I can only imagine what kinds of interesting things came through your front door."

Naya's gut clenched but she schooled her features. This wasn't the first time she'd had to deal with some slick government type trying to get her to incriminate herself through friendly conversation. "I had a unicycle come through the front door once. That's about as interesting as it got."

"A unicycle?" Oblivious to Terror's subtly aggressive questioning, Hallie interjected herself in their conversation. "From the circus three years ago?"

Naya dragged her gaze to Hallie. "You remember that? Did you get to go?"

Hallie shook her head. "We didn't have the money but I got to see the animals and some of the performers from afar." She tugged on the sleeve of Terror's shirt. "Would you like some tea? I have cookies."

Terror nodded. "I'd like that. It will give Naya and me time to get to know one another a bit better."

Hallie hesitated. "You won't be rude?"

Terror laughed, the sound dry and harsh. "When have you ever known me to be rude?"

"Oh I don't know. How about last week when we had lunch on the observation deck?" Hallie arched a dark eyebrow. "If you make my guest uncomfortable in my home, I'll make sure that Vicious makes things very uncomfortable for you, Terror. Got it?"

He actually smiled at Hallie. "Yes."

Naya wanted to run after Hallie but didn't move. She wasn't about to show this frightening man one glimmer of weakness. He couldn't possibly know anything about her past. Even if he had somehow gotten his hands on her police reports, there wasn't anything concrete in them. She'd never been formally charged after her arrests.

"Let's sit." Terror gestured to the seating area. Naya calmly made her way to the closest chair. Terror took a spot across from her, probably so he could watch her every move. "You must have been very scared when your number was pulled in the lottery."

"I'm not sure scared is the right word." Naya didn't miss the peculiarity of that question. He asked it almost as if he knew she hadn't been on the original roster.

"What word would you use? Excited? Determined?"

Now she knew something was up. "Resigned. Hopeful."

"Really?" He eyed her carefully. "You're lucky that you were Grabbed by Menace instead of the pilot, Flare. You caught yourself a very good man. Very well-connected," he added.

"You seem confused. I didn't do the catching. I was the one taken down and collared. Menace was just lucky enough to catch me."

"We'll see."

Naya fought the urge to tell Terror to go fuck himself. "I don't know what your deal is, Terror, but if you have something to say to me, just fucking say it already."

"Is everything okay?" Hallie appeared in the living room. She took one look at Terror and frowned. "What are you doing? Did you upset her?"

"I think there's been a misunderstanding," Terror smoothly replied. "You know I'm not very good at making pleasant conversation, Hallie. I think I may have accidentally offended Naya."

Naya couldn't believe how slick Terror was. She glanced at Hallie. The other woman looked supremely annoyed and not at all convinced. "Terror, I think you should—"

The front door opened and Menace's familiar voice met Naya's ears. She sagged with relief as he came into view with Vicious. She had to force her feet to stay still. She desperately wanted to jump out of her chair and run to him.

"Terror!" Menace grinned at the other man. "I didn't know you were back onboard."

"We got back last night." Terror gripped Menace's hand. They clapped each other on the back. "I was just talking to your lovely wife. She's quite a catch, Menace."

Naya wanted to shoot him the finger so badly but kept her hands folded in her lap.

Menace turned his gaze on her. It was a look of pure adoration that warmed her skin. "Yes, she is."

He held out his hand and Naya happily joined him. She was afraid to ask but had to know. "Is everything okay now?"

"Everything is fine, Naya."

Burrowed close to Menace's strength and heat, Naya wanted to believe him but one glance at Terror shattered her hope. She'd seen that look on the faces of the secret police investigators who had roused her out of bed in the middle of the night and thrown her in a cell for weeks on end.

Somehow Terror had caught a whiff of her past. Like a dog with a bone, he was never going to let go. He would unearth every misdeed she'd committed as a teenager. There was no escape now. The past had finally come back to haunt her.

Menace slid an arm around her shoulders and kissed the crown of her head. "Don't worry, sweetheart. No one is going to take you away from me." Oh how she wished that were true.