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I looked up at the brute. “He’s… he’s a transman.”
“Transman?” His brow furrowed. “The translator chip lacks this word.”
“He wasn’t born a man but became one later.”
The brute released Travis. “I apologize, we had transmen too.” He leaned forward, looming over me.
At above average height, I wasn’t used to being loomed over. My heart ticked up a notch.
“You cannot, however, blame me for assuming human duplicity,” he said, his voice as cold as the void. “Not when your actions killed every woman and transman of my people.”
I wanted to shout that it hadn’t been planned. The virus was only supposed to make the Varool sick so they’d think they were biologically incompatible with Sagittarian One. The mutation was unprecedented and inexplicable. Also, hadn’t humanity paid enough by losing everyone born with XY chromosomes?
I opened my mouth, but guilt crashed over me, churning my stomach. The Varool was right. Humans had made the virus, humans had released the virus, and humans had lied when the Varool asked if we knew why their women were ill.
The lie had delayed the search for a cure.
Both species had paid—and paid dearly.
Today was supposed to be the first step in repairing the damage, a step only I could take. I owed it to everyone to do my best to make this work.
The retort died on my tongue.
Mom used the lull as an opportunity to step forward. “I am… Admiral Hutchins.” After all these months, she still hesitated to claim Dad’s title, even though she’d been his vice admiral for ten years. “Welcome to Chandra Station.”
The brute thumped a fist to his chest. “I am King Storr, Third of this line and protector of the Varool.”
This was their king? A jolt of anxiety shot through me, setting my heart racing.Oh, god, I won’t have to marry him, will I?The treaty agreement stipulated a “high-born” bride and groom. Without human royalty, I was the closest thing we had.
I also owed a far greater debt that this sacrifice would barely begin to pay.
One of the other aliens stepped forward. Younger and slimmer—though he still looked like a bodybuilder compared to most humans—he had a much friendlier face. “I am Prince Lun. I am the groom.”
A breath rushed from me in relief.Maybe it won’t be so bad after all.Lun looked nice—pleasant even—especially when compared to the glaring king.
Mom waved a hand toward me. “This is my daughter, Deirdre Hutchins, your bride.”
I offered Lun a smile, which he returned.
“No.” A harsh voice shattered the moment. It was the brute, the king. “Deirdre Hutchins is mine.”
The dawning sun of my hope died, snuffed out before it ever burned bright.
CHAPTER TWO
Storr
MY VOICE ECHOED through the cramped room, freezing all of the humans into place. Much like the docking tube we had been forced to use, the human space station was primitive and poorly made. It was little more than a large ring rotating around a central axis. They did not even have true artificial gravity.
My nostrils flared, filled with the stench of inadequate air filtration. How had such a technologically inferior species done such damage to the Varool? If they had not utilized forbidden biological sciences, we would have bested them easily.
It grated, and the anger filled my voice.
Grol shifted, a scowl lengthening his square face. My head of war didn’t trust the humans, even for this peace accord. And why should he? The duplicitous aliens had already proved willing to stoop to the lowest level to get what they wanted.
The memory of my ship’s Healing Hall flashed through my mind—every bed and spare cot filled with one of my people. Each fought her final battle against an implacable enemy. They had been proud warriors—I had hated how the human virus rampaging through their bodies made them cry out in distress.
The silence afterward had been far worse.
