“How do you communicate like this?” he asked.
All Chumloo can—if they bond with their pets, Chummy replied.
“Their pets? You think I am your pet?” he murmured.
Yes. You and Raia. You belong to Pi and me now, Chummy answered with a smug expression.
“Can you tell me about—Raia?” he asked.
Chummy wiggled his nose and looked at the door. Behr turned his head and followed the small creature’s gaze. He gaped in astonishment when Chummy rose off the bed and floated over to the door.
I smell food!
Behr sat up. After glancing down at the bed, he noticed that Pi had already disappeared. He shook his head in wonder as Chummy floated out of his cabin. Pushing the covers aside, he rose from the bed and quickly dressed. He smiled when the tantalizing aroma of food caught his attention and his stomach growled.
“This has to be the strangest freighter crew I have ever encountered,” he said, heading into the bathroom to finish freshening up.
Several minutes later, he exited his cabin and walked across the corridor to the galley. Raia was humming under her breath as she prepared a meal. She glanced over her shoulder and smiled at him before returning her attention to the food she was preparing.
“Ander always loved cooking. He said the food tasted better than anything a replicator could prepare. He also said the art of cooking helps create a sense of calm and balance within our bodies. I’m still working on that part, but since the replicator died, I have to admit the homemade food is better,” she said.
“I thought the only thing you had was cookies,” he confessed from where he stood in the doorway, watching her.
Twin snorts from the table pulled his attention away from her, and he shrugged at the amused looks in Chummy and Pi’s eyes. Raia had warned him that the two understood a lot more than most people thought they could.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.
She lifted her hand to her mouth. He watched the movement, captivated by the way she licked the droplet of sauce from the tip of her finger. His body reacted as much as his mind did. He had an unexpectedly intense urge to capture her finger with his tongue and suck on it.
He quickly looked up at her face when she cleared her throat. He didn’t miss the rosy glow in her cheeks nor the way her gaze was locked on his lips, as if she imagined the same thing. The hiss of water boiling over the pot interrupted the moment, and she turned her back to him.
“You can set the table. There are plates and utensils in the third drawer down on the left,” she said, waving to the cabinet next to the table.
He walked over, retrieved the items, and arranged four place settings. Pi and Chummy were seated in what looked like a child’s seat that attached to the edge of the table. Unsure of what he should do, he retrieved two additional plates and placed one in front of each creature.
“Look out, this is hot,” she warned.
He twisted around before stepping aside. She placed a large casserole dish on the table. He stood still, unsure of the protocol for the meal. She returned with two bottles of Curizan beer and a bowl of fruit.
“Is there anything else?” he asked.
She looked up from where she was dishing fruit onto the plates in front of Chummy and Pi. “Could you pour some Muza cream for these two? I’ll have to make some more once we arrive at our destination,” she said.
Behr nodded and completed the simple task, placing the two cups in front of the seemingly ravenous creatures devouring the fruit on their plates. The scene was so unexpected after the last month of his confinement that he chuckled and shook his head. Raia looked up at him with a questioning expression.
“I don’t know if this is real or if I’m hallucinating,” he confessed.
Raia laughed. “You’re hallucinating, but we promise not to wake you up,” she quipped.
He slid onto the seat across from her and filled his plate. “I don’t feel like we’ve been properly introduced—or that I know what in the hell is going on,” he admitted.
Her expression softened, and she paused, holding her fork in midair. She lowered it back to her plate. She fingered a chain around her neck and gripped something hidden under her shirt before releasing it with a deep sigh.
“My name is Raia Glossman. You already know that I’m human and that I was hired to break you out of prison. At the moment, it is too dangerous to meet up with your friends. I knew the Marastin Dow military establishment would be pissed off once they found out you had escaped, but I wasn’t expecting them to send out their entire fleet. At the moment, my freighter looks like a Curizan research vessel since we are near one of the few sovereign sites the Marastin Dow have agreed not to attack. The Marastin Dow military ships are giving us some space, but it won’t last long once we’ve passed through the safe zone. I’ve heard chatter on the underground communication links that Maradash has hired three of the best tracker assassins in the region to find us both—though of course he thinks I’m a Dregulon. Until we get out of Marastin Dow space, we need to keep a low profile. Once we are out, I’ll notify your group to pick you up on Sanapare. It’s located deep inside Curizan territory, so the Marastin Dow military aren’t as likely to kill you there. Of course, the hired assassins will still be a problem, but it’s the best I’m willing to do for a hundred thousand credits. If Maradash finds out I helped you, I’ll have more than enough to worry about. The sooner we part ways, the safer it will be for me,” she said.
Behr listened in silence. Raia pulled her gaze away and focused on her food. Regret filled him. His situation had placed her in danger. His thoughts turned to the rebellion that had begun before he was born.
“My father always believed that our people deserved more than a life filled with cruelty and death. He was a scientist—an archeologist. His primary focus was ancient civilizations. Normally, all Marastin Dow children are taken away from their parents when they are between five and seven years of age. They came for my older brother when I was three. When my mother resisted, they killed her and took him. My father returned three days later and found her nailed to the front door of our home,” he said.
Raia stared at him in horror. “What happened to you?” she murmured.
“My father retrieved me from the spot where my mother had hidden me and took me away,” he said.
“If he took you away, how did you end up back with the Marastin Dow military?” she asked.
“He and the others involved in the rebellion understood that in order for it to succeed, they would need people on the inside—those who knew the military and could hopefully recruit and lead,” he explained.
She stared at him in disbelief. “Are you saying that your father and other parents sacrificed you and their kids to… to the cruelty and horrors they knew you would have to live through for their cause? Why didn’t he just take you away? You could have gone to Ceran-Pax! There is a village there where anybody can live without fear, thanks to the Curizans. They are protected there,” she said.
“We don’t want to live on someone else’s world, Raia. We want to live on our own world,” he replied.
Raia looked down at her untouched food on her plate. He held back his groan of dismay. This was not a good conversation to share over a delicious meal.