Shalia absentmindedly scratched at the marking Commander Valin had put on her, claiming her as one of his own. The rest of her markings itched as well, but this one in particular was flaring up something fierce.
Valin’s shoulder twitched, and he rubbed a meaty hand across his chest as he paced in front of his men. He was turned away from them, looking past them, a strange look on his face. It was barely noticeable, but from her vantage point bound to the ship, Shalia could see it. The man looked unsettled. Confused, even, but she had no idea why.
Valin spun, his eyes locking on hers. He moved to her, his long legs covering the distance so fast she couldn’t help but recoil up against the cool metal of the shuttle’s frame. The commander placed a meaty hand on her, pulling the collar of her top down toexpose the marking he had placed on her. A look of curiosity flashed in his eyes.
“What have they done to you?” he asked, his thick, long fingers carefully touching her inflamed flesh. His hands were intensely warm on her skin, even on this already warm day.
Shalia felt a little jolt in her gut as he moved his fingers, almost caressing her collarbone, fascinated by whatever it was he saw. She looked down and realized what had caught his eye. It was his marking. The one he had forced upon her. But now it seemed different. Changed. The pigment he had used was mingling with the other colors the Skrizzit had inked into her body.
He’d told her the powerful new pigments would likely destroy the Dohrag marking, but rather than removing it like a white blood cell would devour some foreign body, the pigment had begun blending into the design, keeping its shape but adding highlights to it. It was all new to her, these Dotharian runes, but the Skrizzit had made it quite clear that the lines he had placed on her body connecting them acted almost like living wires of a sort, allowing them all to function as a network rather than individuals.
And now it seemed Commander Valin’s marking was being incorporated rather than destroyed.
Valin’s fingers lingered a moment, pulling her top open wider. Shalia felt her nipples harden with an electric tingle in spite of herself. She glared up at the man, defiant. He met her gaze unflinchingly with a look of annoyance in his eyes. He stepped back, shaking his head.
“You were given the runes,” he growled. “Who did this to you?”
“I don’t know who they were,” she lied. She’d do what she could to protect the Oraku. And as an alien from outside the Dotharian Conglomerate, it was a bluff she felt she was particularly suited to pull off.
“You do not know who marked your body with these damned runes?” he shot back.
“I’m not from here, okay? The Raxxians took me from a world that doesn’t do this whole-body tattooing thing like you do. So excuse me if I don’t know every alien race I come across. This is all new to me.”
Grallox let out a chuckle. The others managed to keep their amusement better contained, but only just.
“Is something amusing, Grallox?” he growled.
“No, Commander.”
“Please, share with us what you find so funny.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Oh, but clearly it is not.”
Grallox, despite his clear dislike of his commander, nevertheless adopted a more respectful tone. This was not the time or place for insubordination.
“It’s just that this one’s got the unit’s mark on her.Yourmark, Commander.”
“I am aware of that. It was I who placed it upon her.”
“Yes, I know. And she’s ours again. But seeing how she’s been given the full set of Dotharian runes, none of us can touch her. Not until they heal. No one can have her. Not even you.”
The men didn’t laugh, but the slight twitches in their jaws and shoulders betrayed their amusement, regardless. Valin let it go, turning his ire toward the little human female who was becoming a very unwelcome thorn in his side. He knew what Grallox was getting at, and much as he hated to admit it, the man was right.
Shalia was a prisoner.Hisprisoner. But with the entire Dohrag camp emptied of guards, there was no system in which to place her. She’d unwittingly forced him into a very inconvenient position. He couldn’t let her go, obviously, but he also couldn’t reassign his station crew to ground duty just to watch one woman. He hated to even think about it so far from the next scheduled warship arrival, but it looked like he only had one choice.
He had to bring her up to the transit station and hold her there.
Normally, Dohrag captives were only transferred up when awarship was already docked and loading with supplies. Moving those marked for manual labor or recreation purposes was easy and immediate when they were already shifting their foodstuffs aboard.
But actually keeping one of the prisoners there? The station simply hadn’t been designed for that. A female aboard their station? There were many rules the Dohrags bent to the point of breaking, but even though their kind could not Infala mate, the other runes did work on their bodies, and as such they viscerally understood the importance in letting them heal properly. Even for brutes like them, mishandling anyone who had just received their runes was simply not an option.
But they could make her life unpleasant, no doubt. Her stay aboard the station would not be easy.
Valin glared at the woman with clear spite. “She comes with us,” he declared, stating what the others already knew. “We cannot leave her here. She will be handed off to the next ship to dock for supplies.”
“That won’t be for a while,” Grallox noted.
