Cosmic Captain: Chapter 27

Torvan.

The end tendrils of his xivpa were visible, draped over his collarbones from the darkness of his hood. I remembered what Lovath had said about venom—frobriamine was the scientific name Kryn had taught me—causing skin lesions, particularly on the face. Torvan’s hands were clasped in front of him, and I could see a large, angry welt on the back of his hand between two leathery scales.

“Didn’t think you would show, Qwexil.” He said in that raspy voice I remembered as he approached. It sent cold shivers down my spine. I had big plans to do whatever Torvan wanted to instill a false sense of complacency so I could escape, but the thought of his hands on my skin made bile rise in the back of my throat.

“Difficulties with the krexxian. Drekkers are hard to knock out.” Behind me, Qwexil shrugged. Did that mean Kryn had put up a fight? Qwexil had seemed so confident that no one would know he was gone and he’d slip right back onto the ship with a concocted story about what had happened to me.

Was there a possibility that Kryn hadn’t gone down so easy and might be able to remember some of what happened? I had to hope for that or I didn’t have much left. Whatever tool I’d stolen from Qwexil would be useful if I picked the right moment, but it wouldn’t get me past all the traakian security and it wouldn’t get me off this ship.

The long sleeve of Torvan’s cloak drooped off his arm as he reached out to caress my face with two fingers. It took everything I had not to shudder and jerk away. Instead I stayed paralyzed with 'fear'—it wasn’t so far off from the truth—and let him brush the long hair from my face.

I wanted to cut it now more than ever, but there hadn’t been time on Pretia.

Then his hand fisted in my hair and jerked my head the side. I hissed out of a sharp breath at the pain in my scalp, and I felt the press of a scanner behind my ear. “It has a Federation chip, you bastard.” Torvan growled, hood straightening as he looked back at Qwexil who still had my arms in his grip.

With a scoff, Qwexil said, “The minute boss decided not to deliver, you knew that was a possibility. Even if we left the drekking thing on Pretia as planned, it probably would’ve gotten a legal chip before you could make it to pick up.”

“And what am I supposed to do with an exotic that has a Federation chip?” Torvan was positively distressed and I found a bit of smugness in that.

I heard Qwexil’s tail flick against the floor in irritation. “Don’t get caught? You paid me to deliver, that’s what I did. Don’t scan it in anywhere, just keep it with you.” As Qwexil spoke, I could see one of the traakian guards out of the corner of my eye set down a metal box. “The instruction manual is useless without the old implant, but it’s too weak to get away from you. The drugs still work though.”

Fuck no. I couldn’t handle taking that drug again, it had made me hard for days and it hurt so badly when the krexxians had taken care of the issue. Multiple times, with a machine. It had been as humiliating as it had been traumatic, and I had thought Lovath was going to offload the shit on Pretia. Said he didn’t want it on his ship.

“And what about these?” Torvan ran a long finger over the bruising on my neck.

Qwexil lied, “Lovath saw something he wanted and took it for himself. Wanted to keep the human pet when he realized how good it drekked. It’s slightly used but nothing to concern yourself about.”

Torvan let go of my hair, but the tension didn’t leave my shoulders. He seemed to think for long moments, hands flexing as if to grab me again, then withholding. “Fine.” He spat. “I already wasted the credits on it, so I’ll keep it.”

“Then I’m out. Gotta get back to my ship.” Qwexil was leaving. His hands released from my arms and he was fucking leaving me here with my buyer and owner to go back to the Event Horizon where he seemed so confident he’d never get found out.

I wanted to scream at him not to leave me to behind, to take me back. The moment whatever ship he arrived on left with him in it, I was trapped here for the foreseeable future. Until Lovath found me or I figured out a way to escape on my own. And all I had to defend myself was a single tool I’d stolen from Qwexil’s utility belt.

But Qwexil’s steps echoed away while I did nothing even as my mind raced with ideas. I could stab Torvan right then and make a run for Qwexil’s ship. But could I outrun and evade Torvan’s whole security outfit and Qwexil in just my fucking underwear and pilot a ship by myself to get back to Lovath? With one hand that was useless and no jabber to communicate with?

No, I needed to wait it out. Torvan’s ship had to have escape pods in case of emergency and there was a hold big enough for Qwexil’s entire ship to land in. Maybe there were more ships down there. I just needed Torvan to think I was helpless and harmless. I hated that it was mostly the truth.

I let my own real fear fill my voice with a tremor as I said, “Please…please don’t hurt me.”

Torvan made a hmph sort of sound, reaching out to touch my face again. “You’ll like everything I do to you, human.” The words were soft and his scaly fingers felt disgusting on my skin. I had barely realized how accustomed I’d come to Lovath’s touch that when confronted with someone else’s it felt vile.

I didn’t want anyone to touch me without my permission ever again.

But I had to let him.

I plucked up my courage and held out my arm that pulsated with nerve pain every few seconds. “May I re-wrap this? So I d-don’t get blood on your clothes?”

Torvan clucked his tongue, face still invisible under the cloak even so close up. Maybe there was some tech involved in that. “Not to worry, pet. Let’s take care of it. You’ll forget it hurts after a while.” Which meant he wasn’t going to try and fix it. What did he care if my hand worked or not? He got to fuck me either way. But cleaning it up, at least, would provide a distraction.

Torvan led me back out into the halls of the ship, and motioned for one of his security detail to follow him. The traakian guard was giving me a a leery look that made me question for the first time if Torvan planned to keep me all to himself or share me with everyone.

The thought of touching Torvan alone made me tense up with disgust, but his entire crew? Would they pass me around like a toy until I was boring or used up? Panic was threatening to rise again and I shuddered involuntarily at all the anxious thoughts flooding my brain.

“Relax, pet.” Torvan’s arm was wrapped tightly around me as he led me down the confusing hallways. I had to fight the urge to vomit at his nearness. “You’ll only think about me from now on.”

Thoughts of getting back to Lovath were the single thing that kept me from wrenching away and spitting back at him. I needed to play along for as long as I could. “I’m so scared.” I whispered, and damn it was easy to tell the truth.

He didn’t answer, instead leading me into a bedroom that was vastly larger than the one I was acquainted to. There was so much open space, with comfy chairs and a large bed, and a viewing window above out to the stars. And taking up an entire interior wall was a cage.

The inside had a decent looking mattress on the ground and the equivalent of two fucking dog bowls. One was already filled with water. Torvan really did see me as a pet; well, some freaky sex pet. I didn’t know if I could handle being back in a cage, even if this one had somewhere better to sleep than the floor. Even if Torvan fed me something different from blue gruel. Even if I wasn’t completely naked and exposed.

I kept my fingers loosely wrapped around the tool I’d stolen from Qwexil’s belt as Torvan sat me down on his bed and pulled out my left arm to examine it. After some instructions, his guard left and came back with some medical materials. Torvan took off Qwexil’s gauze and put something on the wound on the back of my wrist that burned so bad I whimpered, then wrapped my arm in new bandages.

My fingers still spasmed with nerve pain every few seconds, and I was terrified of losing the ability to use my fingers ever again if a doctor didn’t properly fix it. But Torvan’s pets didn’t deserve treatment like that, it seemed.

When Torvan and his guard looked away from me to exchange a few more words, I slipped the tool—I was pretty sure it was the space equivalent of a small screwdriver—in between Torvan’s mattress and the frame. I would try to use it if he ever got me in his bed.

The simple thought of it made me sick.

I wrapped my good arm around my bare middle as the guard left, and I was alone with Torvan. The screwdriver could be useful right then but something told me the timing wasn’t right. I was too jittery, and if Lovath was going to come after me, it wouldn’t be yet.

“Rest, my pet. I’ve no interest in you for tonight.” Torvan urged me to stand and guided me towards the human-sized cage. My skin crawled and I felt myself growing light headed, but I took step after step until I was standing inside. The door locked with a sickening click behind me, but Torvan’s words gave me time.

He seemed the type to like things neat and tidy. My arm injury and my exhaustion weren’t so neat and tidy, so that gave me a least a night to think on things. To find a way out before he inevitably decided tomorrow that he wanted to know what fucking a human felt like.

God, I felt so scared and alone. But Lovath was looking for me and he was going to find me. Somehow I knew that for certain, knew he’d never stop until he found my dead body for himself. He wouldn’t just trust that the jabber was deactivated.

I just had to be patient and wait.