is that he’s in command and we’ve got targets painted on our chests,” Jennings pointed out. “The commander, even when he was furious, never treated us humans any different than the Cehn-Tahr crew members.”
“We went through hell with the commander,” Stern pointed out quietly. “Nobody who lived through Ahkmau could ever tolerate racial prejudice again.”
“That’s true,” Hahnson had to concede.
“The commander saved us all,” Higgins agreed. “What a hell of a rescue it was, too.” He chuckled. “Do you remember how he came walking aboard the Morcai with Mangus Lo over his shoulder?”
“Yeah—” Jennings grinned “—and the way he walked all over Admiral Lawson to get us transferred to the Holconcom, and then led us out of the admiral’s office while he was still in midtirade?”
“Nobody else in the three galaxies like the commander,” Higgins said with pure nostalgia. “What a hell of a commanding officer!”
Stern sighed. “Good days.”
“Never to be lived again,” Jennings lamented.
There was a long silence.
“So, what do we do?” Higgins asked Stern.
Holt Stern’s black eyes were sad. “We hold on for a little while longer, to see if things get any better.”
“And then?” Higgins prompted.
Stern looked at him evenly. “You guys can go back to the Terravegan military without a single black mark on your records. The emperor would go to bat for you.”
“Yeah, but you can’t,” Jennings said. “I’m not going without you, sir.”
“Nor I,” Higgins added.
Hahnson held up his hand and grinned. “Matched set. Can’t break it up, Holt.”
Holt swallowed, hard. “Well, we’ll see how things go.”
They all nodded.
* * *
SO THE OFFICERS and crew, the human ones, went back to school, in a sense, during their off-duty hours. They grumbled, and nobody saw the sense in it. Rhemun ignored them. He’d never hated a posting so much. He even queried the emperor about returning him to the bodyguard unit, but without success.
He was angry, and he took it out on the humans. In all his life, he’d never been forced into a situation he hated as much—well, possibly once. That disgusting, ambitious female and her covert knowledge of herbs that provoked the mating cycle...
He turned his thoughts away from that pride-wrecking memory and the painful ones that followed it. He felt like a trapped animal, hating his surroundings and those he shared them with. But there was no recourse. He would have to cope, somehow.
* * *
MALLORY WAS SLOWLY regaining her self-respect, and the memory of the man she killed was fading into a still-painful but less haunting one. Meanwhile, she was developing a whole new set of problems.
Her interest in her commanding officer was growing. It had nothing to feed on. He hated her and made no secret of it. But her heart jumped whenever she looked at him. The hormone suppressants were working, after a fashion. But even if he couldn’t smell the pheromones, he could certainly detect her racing pulse and shallow breathing when she was close to him.
It didn’t make her life easier. He found new ways to annoy her, picking out flaws in her inventory system, dwelling on past mistakes. His newest requirement entailed noting every single injury ever suffered by Cehn-Tahr aboard the Morcai into a file.
* * *
IT HAD TAKEN two days, but she managed it. She was on her way to present it to him when Btnu stopped by, complaining of a headache that refused to go away.
She was very fond of the Morcai’s executive officer—Rhemun had replaced Stern with Btnu in that position—but she couldn’t do invasive tests without permission from her commanding officer, Rhemun.
“It will take a little time to arrange,” she said gently, and smiled. “I’ll just speak to the commander about it.”
“Thank you, Dr. Mallory.” He hesitated. “I was also distraught when I killed for the first time. He was a Rojok, and we were at war, but my conscience was damaged,” he said slowly. “I understand the difficulty. We are taught in our culture never to take life, but when we are in the military we are expected to do what is necessary.” He smiled. “It is never easy.”
“No. It never is. Thank you for sharing that,” she said. “It’s nice to know that some of you don’t hate us because we’re human,” she couldn’t help adding with some bitterness.
Btnu looked concerned. “You do not know, about him, about his past,” he said softly. “There is a reason.”
“We didn’t do anything,” she pointed out.
He sighed. “I know, Dr. Mallory. But you do not know. I wish that I could tell you. It is not my secret to tell.”
“You’re a nice man.”
He made a sound like human laughter. “Not a man.”
“You’re a nice Cehn-Tahr,” she corrected, and grinned.
He chuckled. “The commander is working out with the Kahn-Bo. He and Mekashe are in the gymnasium.” He leaned down. “Mekashe is better, but only a little.” He rose back up. “Do not tell him that I said so.”
“Not to worry. I’m usually listening, not talking.” Which was true. She rarely got a word in edgewise these days.
She closed the cubicle and went looking for the commander.
* * *
RHEMUN AND MEKASHE were locked in a heated struggle with the Kahn-Bo sticks. Rhemun was laughing as he applied all his strength to block the other alien’s attack.
Mallory, her eyes on the padd, came into the cubicle and stopped dead when she noticed the intensity of the mock combat. She was shocked at the feelings the sight of her commander stripped to the waist engendered in her. She felt her heartbeat rocket as she watched the play of muscle in his massive chest and arms as he struggled with the other alien. His skin was pale gold, flawless. There was a thick wedge of curling black hair that ran down his broad chest to his abdomen. His spine displayed a thin band of fur that ran its length, barely visible above his waist where the flowing black curls of his hair draped in violent contrast to the golden skin.
He was laughing. He enjoyed a fight. The feline features of his face eclipsed into something almost human as his white teeth were displayed.
* * *
HE WAS, SHE THOUGHT, the most beautiful, magnificent creature she’d ever seen in her life.
As her mind worked, he suddenly stopped laughing and turned. His demeanor changed instantly. He lifted his chin. “Yes, Doctor Mallory?” he
