Chevon's Mate

Evernight Publishing ®

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright©
2016 April Zyon

 
ISBN: 978-1-77233-878-2

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Jessica Ruth

ALL
RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or
distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
 
No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the
case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters,
and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

CHEVON’S MATE

Space Wars, 5

April
Zyon

Copyright
© 2016

Chapter One

Laura Troxell looked up from
the document she had been translating and frowned, then drummed her fingers on
the desk. “Why in the
world
…
”
she
murmured. She had a feeling that the
documents before her shouldn’t have hit her desk. Closing them up into the file
folder, she stacked a couple more reports on them and rose to her feet. With
the files clutched tightly to her bosom she walked toward her brother’s office.
He was one of the highest ranking members of the Craegin Command Structure.
Laurence had taken over their parents’
place
within Craegin society faster than
anyone should have. There had been no mourning time
. Instead
there was only him stepping
into the role of adviser to the rulers of their world.

She stopped, her back to the
wall, and thought for a moment. Maybe Laurence wasn’t the best person to take
the files to. Perhaps she should instead take them to Mikel, her fiancé. He
would know what to do with them. He always knew what to do. She then
nodded,
a smile on her face and a plan
in her mind, and headed off to the right, toward her fiancé’s office at the end
of the hall.

She paused at the door and made
sure that her skirt was straight, her shirt was tucked in and, well, that she
looked good enough for him. He was far older than she was but he had selected
her to be his wife, her out of all the women on Craegin, and that had helped to
pull her out of her darkness after her parents had perished. The fact that he
and Laurence were the best of friends was only a side note.

She knocked on the door and
walked right in.
Laura
knew he didn’t have any meetings scheduled because if he did it would have been
on her calendar for him. She stopped dead in her
tracks
. The files slipped through her
hands and fell from her arms.

“Mikel?” she whispered in
complete shock. “Laurence?” There, right there on the desk of the man she was
to marry, was her brother—naked, a noose around his neck—being rutted roughly
by the man who had told her expressly that sex before marriage was a disgrace
to the
institute
and to the relationship.

“Laura.” Mikel didn’t move from behind Laurence but did undo
the ball gag that was in Laurence’s mouth. “Stop, we can explain.”

“Explain what?” she demanded.
“There is nothing that you could possibly say to me right now that would make
me forget this.” She motioned
from
man
to man. “Go fuck yourself,
you
self-righteous
prick.
” Her voice rose with every
word, but at this point she didn’t care who heard her. “Consider this my
fucking resignation!” she screamed as she spun around and marched out, leaving
the door wide open and not giving two fucks who saw the men in the position
that they were in.

Laura stopped at her desk and grabbed her things, tossing
the framed photos of both Laurence and Mikel into the trash as she walked away.
“Freaking asshole motherfuckers.” She stalked toward the lifts, trying to
ignore the looks she was getting from the men and women in the office.

She paused at the
lifts
, turned on her heels, walked back to
Mikel’s office, and told both men, “I’m keeping the fucking cruise and all the
presents and cash. I hate you both.” And she
did. At
that
moment,
she hated both men more than
she could ever explain.

She then stomped off back to
the lifts, her head held high.
A few
people were giving
her a thumbs-up or clapping, oddly
enough. Laura ignored all of it, pushing everything but the immediate need to
get the hell out of there to the back of her mind.

****

Two
months later
…

“She doesn’t forget
anything,
” Laurence told Mikel as they
lay in bed. “She might have dropped those files but I’m telling you she will
remember them and when she does, our asses will be in a sling, and not in a
good way either.”

“Then we’ll make sure she meets
the same sort of
accident
that your parents did. Are you going to be
okay with that, my little
lubevimal
?”

The word roughly translated to
my
soul
. Laurence smiled. “Yes. You are all I need in my life. We have power
together. We have a shitload of money and we have
prestige.
I don’t need a fucking little
bitch hanging around. She’s been hanging on my coattails all our lives. It’s
time to cut her out.”

“I’m glad you feel the same way,” Mikel said, stroking his
hands through Laurence’s hair. “Because I’ve already arranged for an accident
to happen to her. She won
’t be coming back from that cruise
. And you
’ll
have her portion of the estate.
Life will be good.”

“Life will be
excellent,
” Laurence said with a smile.
“Just make sure that when we are
notified,
you have your face in place. That you can feign enough sadness to make it
convincing.”

Mikel looked affronted. “Of course. I’m a master at getting
people to do what I want them to.”

“You haven’t ever used that
against me, have you?” Laurence asked.

“No, of course not. You would see through it all the same.”

Laurence nodded after a moment,
then settled back against the silk sheets. “True. I do seem to be able to see
through all of your
pretenses,
my darling.”

Chapter Two

The cruise around the system
had been
fantastic
.
Laura had loved every single planet that they’d stopped at and the luxury of
the
journey
had been incredible. She’d met some amazing people, been treated to foods that
she never would have had if
she
hadn’t been on the cruise, and she had also gotten to experience a thrill when
the cruise turned to go so close to the neutral zone between Craegin and
Imarian space.
Laura had
heard so many stories about the
Imarians
and what monsters they were, but she couldn’t see it. She should, she knew they
were her enemies, but somehow she couldn’t see them as such. She could only see
the fact that they were beings just as the
Craegins
were.

Laura had enjoyed every moment
spent with the people on the ship, but
she
knew that once their tour along the
neutral zone was over they would
start
back toward the Craegin home world, and she would have to deal with the
nightmare that was facing her there—finding a new position, a new life, really.

She stopped near one of the
emergency pod stations and took another sip of the potent drink in her hands,
then giggled. “To think I could have been here with
an uptight
son of a bastard.” She
snorted, then laughed again. As she stood there, however, something changed. It
was the slightest of sounds, like the scrape of a boot heel on a deck plate.
Before she could turn around, a vicious blow
to
the back of her head jolted her
forward. Going down hard, she cried out as several kicks and
punches
rained down before darkness
engulfed her.

The shrill alarm sounded through the ship when the pod was
released, but the alarm was just as quickly silenced by the man in the control
room who had been paid off to ensure that no one ever knew there was a woman
missing from the ship.

****

Turning off the vid
chat,
Chevon reclined in his office chair.
He enjoyed his talks with his cousin. They had fallen into a routine of talking
every single week for at least two hours. He got to hear about her adventures
living on his friend Petr’s cruiser, and there usually was some sappy stuff
about her new husband.

He adored Bryerly. She was the
only relative out of the many they had that Chevon could actually stand. The
others all annoyed him to the point he had cut them out of his life entirely,
including his parents.

Bryerly was the only one he had
stayed in touch
with
and watched out for. When he’d been able, Chevon had arranged for her to be
transferred to a safer ship. Fortunately, his friend Fleet Admiral Petr van
Jahnsen had needed a position filled in his medical bays. A position that fit
Bryerly’s
skill set perfectly.

What Chevon had not planned for
was his cousin finding her soul-bond mate in Petr’s first officer. Not that he
wasn’t happy for his cousin, he was. But it also annoyed him to some degree,
too. He had given Tarek a bit of trouble while he had been aboard for a visit
and to perform the wedding ceremony that Petr’s mate, Samantha, had brought
from her home world. Bryerly had fallen in love with the
tradition
and insisted it be used, the
shorter version, thank the spirits.

It had been a beautiful
ceremony, and he would admit—at least in the privacy of his own suite—that his
cousin had been radiant. So much in love with her soul-bond mate that it shone
from within. Tarek was a lucky man, and Chevon would be there to remind him of
that detail often. He had to make sure the
man
treated his cousin right, after all.

He finished his cup of tea, then prepared to head to the
command deck. He had a couple stops to make along the way to check on the new
recruits. His was one of six training cruisers in the Imarian fleet. According
to Petr and several others, his was the choice assignment. He didn
’t
know why exactly but he was
pleased to hear that the crew enjoyed their time learning from his senior
officers.

A quick sonic shower later he
got dressed in his uniform. Pausing before the mirror in the bathroom, he
frowned. He needed to stop by the barber after his
shift
to get a trim. He was starting to look
shaggy around the ears again, his blond hair getting too long for the uniform
code. Smoothing a hand over his beard, he gave it a scratch, then stepped back
to inspect his entire
uniform
.

His walk around the cruiser did not take very long and all
the reports were solid, with only a couple minor problems he would have to
address. Notes on his data pad tucked under his arm, he headed for the command
deck, pausing a few times to speak with some of the crew.

Reaching the command deck, he
nodded to his
first
and went over to check on the logs. Once he was assured everything was well in
hand,
he settled into his chair on the
command deck to start on his reports—unlike many
commanders,
he had them coming out his
ears.

He not only had reports
of
general happenings on his
ship but
also for every recruit training
on the cruiser. It felt like he did nothing else most days. He preferred the
training
over writing down everything,
but the ruling body
demanded
the weekly updates. If they would let him spend that time training the recruits
instead of doing paperwork they would likely come off his ship all the better
for it. Not that he ever let a young
officer
off
of the ship until he was satisfied, but still.

“Sir, we have an intrusion on the border.”

The interruption could not have
come at a better time. “Explain,” Chevon demanded. Setting the reports
aside,
he moved over to the console.

“The alert came through a moment ago. It appears to be an
escape pod, but I cannot say what type. The sensors are not sensitive enough to
get more than that.”

“Plot a course to intercept,” he ordered. “Get us in front
of it. We will need to get it into the landing bay without doing it or us any
damage.”

“Course laid in, sir.”

“Sir, we are having problems
keeping it on the
radar
.”

“It will move in a straight
line unless it hits something in its path. Plot the course from where the
sensors at the border had it, and we’ll get out in front. Our sensors will pick
it up when it is within range and we can adjust. Malek, prepare the bay with a
net.” His first
nodded
and quickly left the command deck.
Chevon
stayed by the pilots to make sure they did not over
adjust
or make any corrections that
might endanger the cruiser.

An hour later they were in position with the pod on radar
coming up behind them. They had matched speed and currently were starting to
slow by small increments. The goal was to have the pod moving slightly faster
than the cruiser, but not so fast that it blew through one of the internal
bulkheads.

One eye on the sensor data of
the pod and the other on the cruiser’s control, Chevon let the officers do
their jobs with minimal input from him. He didn’t want to make them nervous by
second-guessing
, but he wasn’t about to let
them put the ship or crew in any danger.

They were doing remarkably
well, and he had only needed to make two small corrections. He was impressed by
how well they were handling the stressful situation. Making a mental
note,
Chevon turned his attention to the
next steps.

“Once the pod is under the cruiser closing on the bay, you
will need to speed up slowly. We want it to be going only slightly faster than
we are when it runs into our gravity. This is a safety measure for the ship and
for the pod and its passengers.”

“Yes, sir,” they both
said
, their focus absolute.

Chevon
remained quiet as they proceeded to do exactly as he’d instructed. The moment
the pod was in the cruiser’s shadow they began to speed up. If he hadn’t
known
this was their first time attempting
the dangerous maneuver, he would never have guessed. It was textbook smooth.

“Pod is aboard and secure in the net.”

“Thank
you,
Malek, I am on my way down.” Chevon
clapped both of the young officers on the shoulder. “Well done. That was
superb, all of you. Excellent support and
great
flying. That was a
textbook perfect
maneuver.”

Leaving them all to relax for a few moments, he headed down
to the landing bay. He needed to know where the pod was from and, more
importantly, who might be aboard.

“Malek, what do we have?” he asked, walking in. The Craegin
markings jolted him. “Not good.”

“No, sir, this is worse,” his first said.

Striding around the
pod
to the opening where Malek stood,
Chevon froze. Inside was a woman, Craegin by her light coloring, and there was
blood. “Medics?”

“On their way down. We are going to have trouble keeping
this quiet, Chevon. If the ruling body hears of this—”

“I know,” he interrupted. The
ruling body would have a fit and probably claim that spies were now finding
ways over the border by pretending distress. They would likely demand her very
public death. Not an option in Chevon’s world. “I will remain with her and
limit those who have access. You need to deal with the pod, any recordings we
have, and any crew member who has seen the
pod
. This remains internal. If the ruling
body hears anything about this, I will make sure the one who passed them
information scrubs toilets on a backwater moon for the rest of their natural
life.”

“Understood, sir.” Malek saluted, then headed for the
landing bay’s control room.

Chevon
stepped aside when the
doctor
and
chief
nurse rushed in. At their
shocked
looks,
he leveled his hardest gaze their way. “This remains quiet.” Only when they
nodded did he let them near the woman, whoever she was.