I was going to answer him, but his expression suddenly went distant and sharp, as if he heard something I couldn’t. “What?”

  “You have a visitor coming,” he said, nostrils flaring as if he could scent the stranger on the breeze.

  What? I touched my chest. “Me?” I didn’t know anyone on their planet.

  The door hit the wall with a bang, seconds before Mace strode into the room, dragging a non– Super Soldier with him. I recognized the man instantly: Bill, the pilot who failed to mention I wouldn’t be able to leave the planet for weeks. He held my bag in his arms and shook like a leaf ready to fall from a tree.

  “Raven, Bill has something he’d like to say to you.” Mace released the man, who slumped to the floor, and behind me, Crew chuckled quietly. Bill, for his part, didn’t seem amused. He looked terrified.

  “I…I shouldn’t have neglected to tell you about the electricity storms, and I should have explained how they would make it impossible for you to leave. Truthfully, we probably shouldn’t have landed. That was…dangerous of me, and it isn’t okay that I did it to take your money.” He held out my bag, shaking it impatiently for me to take. “Here is all your stuff.”

  I blinked. He spoke slowly and really enunciated all of his words. It seemed a bit like he’d practiced the speech, or as though he’d said it several times over and over again. I looked up at Mace who stared at Bill intently, one brow raised expectantly.

  “And?” Mace said, prodding Bill verbally.

  “If there is anything I can do for you during your stay here, please don’t hesitate to let me know.” He squeaked the last bit.

  I rocked back on my feet. “Well, what’s done is done.” I grabbed my bag from him, and he sagged in relief. “Thank you for the apology.”

  He nodded and then ran from the bar. Crew stared at Mace. “You terrified him. What did you do?”

  “Nothing he didn’t deserve. I didn’t hurt him, if that’s what you’re asking. I reminded him his job is to take people on and off planet, and how easily we could find someone else for that position, should he fail to fulfill the expectations of his role. I also might have mentioned I didn’t find it at all amusing how he stranded a young woman here, and how any further infractions would be considered a failure to fulfill expectations.”

  Crew laughed. “I’m surprised you didn’t have him get on his knees.”

  Mace shrugged. “Could have, but I thought that might be a bit much. Do you need anything else, Raven?”

  I shook my head. “I’m good, thanks.”

  I didn’t have much, but enough clothing to wash it without having to be naked in between outfits.

  Mace grinned. “Good. So, everyone volunteered to help. Gunnar is going to stay there until lunch, and then some of Grisham’s guys are going to take over. I’m not sure where Ransom went after, as I’m giving him some space, but I’m pretty sure he went with the group seeking out the stranger. Nothing popped up initially, so whoever he is, he must be good at this. I can’t even hear any extra heartbeats, can you?”

  Was that possible? They could just count so many heartbeats? I supposed it made sense. Crew shook his head. “The exact number there should be, with the addition of Raven’s.”

  Mace touched my arm. “Your heart rate sped up while we were talking. Does it bother you, knowing there’s a stranger around? Because I assure you, he’s not getting in here.”

  I shook my head. “Truthfully, I think the idea that you can hear so well that you can count the heartbeats of an entire town horrified me. I’m always in awe of your power, even when the scope of it sounds scary. I wasn’t worried about the stranger, since I wouldn’t eat the flower if he offered it to me. I’m more worried about the children. How many do you have around here?”

  Crew rubbed his face. “About a dozen. She makes a good point, Ransom,” he spoke to the man knowing he’d be able to hear him. “Assign some people to all of the kids. Thanks for that. I never think about families and kids. I need to. Sometimes, I think I’m not cut out for this.”

  5

  LAVENDER DAYS

  “Seems like you’re pretty cut out for it,” I said as I stared at Crew. “I mean, you’ve led hundreds of men, right?”

  Mace patted him on the arm. “He was a unit commander, so try thousands of men. That’s why so many followed him here. I think what my boy here is trying to say is he doesn’t like being in charge of women and children. Maybe even men who aren’t like us, but basically, he doesn’t care for looking out for those weaker than he is, right?”

  Crew crossed to the bar and poured something like water into a glass. “I wouldn’t mind it at all, if things didn’t happen like they did today. I wish I could keep everyone safe, and I don’t only mean whatever sicko came here and poisoned a kid. That’s never happened before, and it never will again, because I’ll never let my guard down. Someone will be on heartbeat duty from now on, so we’ll have one former Super Soldier assigned to constantly count heartbeats. If the extra person didn’t come on Bill’s shuttle, they’ll need to be caught and interrogated.”

  He wasn’t talking to me, but I followed along well enough to ask, “Does anyone want to fill me in on what other things you’d be worried about happening?”

  “Oh, we didn’t tell you, did we? Sorry.” He winced. “We’ve all known each other so long, sometimes I forget to fill in others. Sorry. I’ll be sure to correct that. So, regular people die so easily—a piece of machinery falls on them, something blows up, a kid drowns. Short of having one of us standing over them at all times—which I don’t think anyone wants, because that’s just weird and unsettling for all parties involved—but, yes, without constant supervision, you guys are at so much risk all of the time.”

  I put my hand on his arm. “I think everybody understands, as soon as they are old enough to do so, that we have a finite number of years. None of us have any idea what will actually take us out, and you can’t have some savior complex. You don’t really believe you’re responsible for our lives? Well, I say our, but I mean people like me, not counting myself. I’m a temporary visitor to your existence.”

  He furrowed his brow for a second before it smoothed out again, then he shook his head. “If we can’t keep them safe, why would they have us here? Why would they let us stay?”

  “Let you stay?” I gawked at him. Did he really think they existed by the good graces of those less powerful than him? “Crew, no one is making you leave anywhere. Few planets could stop you, honestly. Clarke took over our planet. He didn’t ask permission.”

  Crew took my hand in his and squeezed. “Clarke sounds like a megalomaniac now. He was always off, and clearly time worsened his problems. We prefer to think of our place here as a partnership. We came onto their planet, and we share their land. We would leave if they wanted us to go. We don’t want to be treated like conquerors. We want to be part of their lives. When we were working for the company that made us, that was how I always imagined things could be—when I actually thought about changes I would like to make, that is, which wasn’t often.”

  “I’m impressed you did at all. ” Mace laughed. “I never thought about anything more than the next fight we’d face. Sometimes I might’ve wondered whether or not the planet we were invading would have any good desserts.”

  It wasn’t funny, but I couldn’t help but smile at the way he confessed to his sweet tooth. “Did they? Have good desserts?”

  “Not as good as the ones I make now.” Mace winked. “Dessert is my specialty. Speaking of which, since you’re not working, would you like to come with me to acquire some ingredients for tonight? I thought you might enjoy the walk to the mountains.”

  Actually, it seemed like a great idea, and I stretched up on my toes, flexing my calves. I wanted to move. “Sure.”

  “She hasn’t eaten anything yet, so why don’t you feed her, too, and get her something to drink. Are you a coffee person? We don’t have it here—no need for it—but it’s easy enough to procure from our neighbors like you.” Crew smiled. “And maybe you’d like to use the bathroom?” The last part was directed to me, which was good because Mace had run into the kitchen as if he’d been sent on a mission to get me food.

  Since Crew brought it up, I realized I absolutely did need to pee. In fact, thinking about it made the need more urgent. I nodded to him. “Thanks. I’ll go do that. Maybe you are cut out for these things—the watching out for people who aren’t like you thing.”

  As I left the room to head for the bathroom, a smile lit up my face, and I shot a glance over my shoulder to see him return it. I saved a life—even though it likely was more due to luck than skill on my part—and a little bubble of effervescence seemed caught in my throat. I couldn’t believe I got to spend the next six weeks doing things with interesting people who absolutely weren’t going to want to sleep with me. Even if they did, Clarke wasn’t going to tell me I had to in order to continue to live by his good will.

  The circumstances that had brought me there were dire. I’d never get over my grief, as it burned like a hot coal in my chest. But maybe Amias sent me to their planet to have a break? He likely knew about the storms, after all. His ultimate intention had been for me to bring them his note, but maybe he’d had a secondary, secret plan. I doubted it as quickly as I thought of it, though. Thinking back, his focus had remained laser sharp on killing Clarke…but maybe he’d thought of the possibility of me having a break there somewhere in the back of his head.

  I chose to think he had planned it. What harm does it do to think so?

  He and Stone were gone. I could imagine whatever I wanted. It harmed no one, and if it gave me peace, perhaps it served a good purpose.

  I used the bathroom, brushed my teeth with my newly returned toothbrush, and cleaned as best I could with the products I managed to pack. Quickly, I changed into a pair of mostly clean pants, which at least were an improvement over what I had worn traveling. I snagged a clean shirt, glad one of them remained, then pulled my red hair out of the holder that restrained my braid. Twining my fingers into the locks, I began to un weave the braid, feeling the weight of my curls hitting my shoulders like a burden. Funny—it used to be a sign of wealth and society for a woman to have her hair braided, but on my planet, it came to mean prostitute. The intricate braid and the brand on my forehead—a ragged circle of braided ink that went from the center of my forehead to my scalp, where it vanished into my hair—proved me to be nothing more than the property of Clarke.

  Most of the time, I hardly even noticed the brand, but I couldn’t take my eyes off it right then. It happened when I was twelve, which seemed awfully long ago. They put me in a chair, and a man with hair on the backs of his hands tattooed me. Despite the so-called numbing ointment, I screamed the entire time. After they gave me the mark, it became clear. I was this person. They taught me how to spread my legs. Someone paid a lot of money for my virginity—not that I ever learned the price—and that would be my life for so long as I lived. At fifteen, they took my ability to have a baby. I never feared sexual diseases or anything of that nature, as the men went through the med machine before they were allowed to touch us. I simply existed.

  If I behaved, someday I could petition to have a baby. If my petition was granted, I would go back in the machine to have the process reversed, and Clarke would decide who he would breed me with, if they said yes at all. Stone and Amias could love each other as they saw fit. They could even marry, because they were both men, but my future forever would be determined by whomever owned me, whether that be Clarke or his associates.

  Tears flooded my eyes, and I wiped them away. Wow. Where had that come from? I sniffled then said, “I’m fine. Just having a moment.” I spoke to the walls, knowing they could hear me. I wiped the tears away with the backs of my fists in frustration. It was just that I had so few choices, but I remembered a different world. For the first five years of my life, I thought I would grow into a future I didn’t have anymore.

  Why should circumstances, like where you’re born, determine the rest of your life?

  I sighed. The thoughts didn’t help, so I splashed water on my face then left the bathroom to meet Mace downstairs. He looked up as I walked toward him and offered me a smile. It was nice that he didn’t push me about the I’m fine statement, especially since we both knew he heard me lose it.

  “We’re going to look for fruit?”

  “I know just where to find it.” He smiled. “So we’re not so much looking as gathering.” He grabbed a basket off the table. “Then, tonight, I’ll make pies and people will buy some. Dessert is my specialty.”

  It was the second time he’d brought it up, so I decided it must be a real point of pride for him. I nodded, following behind him without further comment. He led me toward a field on the end of the street, through drizzle as light as mist. When we reached the tree line, he stopped walking and blinked at me as if he just thought of something. “Should I have gotten you a raincoat?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t have one, or an umbrella. Is it going to pour? I don’t suppose you have a weather predictor in your brain or something?”

  Mace shook his head, his sideways grin revealing a dimple on his left cheek. It was the second time I looked at one of the Super Soldiers and thought the word adorable, which seemed particularly odd when it came to people like him.

  “Stay here a second,” he said.

  He ran back to their house then returned carrying a sweatshirt with a hood. “Here,” he said as he handed it to me. “It’s mine. Just in case, so you won’t get soaked. If you got sick because I brought you along today, I’d never forgive myself. Also— ” He grinned that sideways smirk again as he opened the basket he carried. “— this is for you.”

  Inside the basket, neatly tucked in a soft blanket, I found a warm bun spread with some kind of jelly and a bottle filled with an orange fluid. He’d brought me food. I smiled at him, my throat feeling a little bit closed in that minute. Words failed me, and it took me a second to come up with what I wanted to say.

  “Thank you.” That seemed pivotal. “I…This is so nice.” I pulled out the container with the orange liquid. “What is this?”

  It was awkward because he held the basket toward me, but when I moved to take it, he tugged it back. Okay. I guessed he intended to carry it for me. All of the sweet things he did for me got added to a running tally in my mind. Where I was from, people just didn’t have that much time to be nice to each other, and I had to wonder what I would owe for the debt of gratitude. We didn’t have to be mean, but the time for kind gestures just wasn’t there. Mace was making me feel all kinds of warm inside, and I tried hard not to be moved by the gestures.

  “It’s orange juice.” He blinked. “Don’t have it where you’re from? I know the plantings were different on all the various planets. No oranges on yours?”

  I shook my head. “No oranges.”

  I removed the lid then took a sip and nearly sighed with contentment. I found the drink sweet, yet tart at the same time. The two tastes warred in my mouth, and I wanted more. And then more. I almost drank all of it at once.

  Mace took my arm with his free one and we walked together as I started on the bun. My teeth sank into warm dough with just the right amount of bite. “This is…amazing. All of it. You bake? You did all of this?”

  “I squeezed the oranges a few days ago, but the buns were Gunnar. I do dessert, he does breakfasts. Amias used to be dinner, but Ransom took that over after he left. He actually makes the alcohol we sell, too. Crew is the one who hunts, when we need it.”

  I never considered how Super Soldiers might earn a living, but there it was. They have to live just like the rest of us. They have to make their way.

  “I never saw Amias cook anything. Not in five years.” I took another bite of the bun—it was delicious. “If I’d known he could do this, I would have pestered him. Seriously? This is incredible.”

  He shrugged. “It’s a bun with jelly, but I’m glad you like it so much.”

  “People don’t…that is, I don’t really have people help me with things all that often. If I’m hungry, I have to sort it out. Or not eat. I mean, I guess that’s not fair. If Stone was cooking, he’d ask me if I wanted something, and I’d do the same. We both fed Amias.”

  Mace shook his head. “Boy, did he luck out, having others feed him. That man could cook. He didn’t like it, but he could do it.” He laughed. “Lucky bastard, getting a family that didn’t know he should be cooking for them.” Mace shrugged. “We’ve always had to do things for each other, even before we were free in the universe. We had to take care of each other on missions. If we didn’t, and someone got hurt, the company would put that person down. So…yeah, we looked out for each other.”

  I hated to think about the way they’d lived, so I focused on my surroundings. We crossed a grassy clearing toward a small hill that looked like it led to a much bigger mountain. My home was surrounded by hills and mountains, with the ocean on the opposite side. Our hills were dead, desolate places but these were loaded with trees and flowers. I took a deep breath. There was a scent in the air I didn’t recognize but loved. A delicate, sweet smell, like deep forests yet somehow more powdery and with the slightest tinge of woodsmoke.

  “What is that?” I took another deep whiff. “That scent?”

  He smiled at me. “Lavender.”

  “I’ve never heard of it.” I heard of oranges but not lavender. So many things I didn’t know, all of it starting to compile a big list.

  Mace nodded. “Well, then I suppose I’m in luck because I’ll get to show it to you for the first time in a few minutes.”

  Eventually, we stopped in front of a field of purple that stole my breath. It looked almost like I could swim through the violet display, as if the sea of blossoms could lift me like an ocean wave might.