The Commander's Slave by K. S. Augustin Page B

Zehnda yesterday, and I liked it. Perhaps I could train as
his assistant.”
    “ That’s a
possibility.”
    “ Can you tell me more about
your plans?” she asked suddenly. “You have me, but I’m only one
female. What comes next?”
    She had to know more about what he was
thinking but could tell she hit a sore point by the way his
lips--those lips that had suckled and pleasured her
breasts--tightened.
    “ We’re still in survival
mode,” he finally said. “Still on the run and hiding. Everything we
do, even on this moon, is done in as clandestine a fashion as
possible.” He chewed a piece of bread. “My next move is to find a
more secure place to settle, but that may take years. Maybe if we
could find a planet that would lease us part of their land, or an
important Fusion member that would sponsor an enquiry, that would
help. But the nearest embassy world--Adduce--is a month’s travel
away, and I can’t think of any planet that would give land to a
bunch of stateless mercenaries.”
    “ So you’ve got to think
farther ahead?”
    “ That’s right. I have to be
prepared for the fact that it may not even be my generation that
finds a supporter. Which is why it’s so important that we survive.”
His eyes were bleak. “It’s our fault. We thought that gaining
Fusion membership was the answer to our dreams and neglected
forming more local alliances. But the Seti home world was at the
edge of the sector, and it made us an easy target.”
    Asha rose and went to him, kneeling
and laying her hand on his. “You can’t blame yourself, Tangus.
After all, it was your entire planet that made those decisions, not
just you.”
    He looked down at her hand,
mesmerized, then, with a frown, shook it off and stood.
    “ I have work to do,” he
told her brusquely, unwilling to accept her gentleness, her
sympathy. “You can help Doctor Zehnda. But I’ll expect you back
here at the end of the day.”
    Reaching for his jacket, he bunched it
in his hand and left his quarters.
    * * * *
    “ Commander--Tangus, you
can’t be serious!”
    It was three days after Asha had
landed on the moon in the escape pod, and Tangus was ostensibly
conferring with Daurent on the progress in getting the
detection/cloaking net operational. Like any good leader, Daurent
had delegated the task to his engineering team, but he was still
conversant with the successes--and failures--they had
encountered.
    But the discussion had another
purpose, and Tangus waited until the other soldiers left before
broaching the subject in the confines of the Operations
Room.
    “ I mean, I like Asha but
….”
    “ She would make somebody a
good mate,” Tangus pointed out.
    Daurent spluttered. “With respect, commander, I don’t see
why it has to be me ! Why can’t it
be you ?”
    But Tangus had thought long and hard
over exactly why it couldn’t be him.
    “ Because of who I am,
Daurent. How would it look to the other men if I suddenly took a
mate while they remained single? They would damn me for an
egotistical tyrant. And they’d be right. Whereas you
....”
    “ Commander, there are a number of flaws in your reasoning.
For one, while I like Asha, I don’t like her in that way.
She’s a bit too … robust for my liking.” He flushed with
embarrassment at being forced to describe his taste in females with
his superior. “Plus I don’t love her. You may find this hard to
believe, but I still harbor fantasies of finding a woman and
settling down, and I’m not really the polygamous type. Plus--oh I
don’t know, it’s obvious how you feel about her. I don’t relish the
part of playing either the cuckold or the wedge.”
    How could Tangus tell his friend of
the hours he had spent furiously thinking while Asha lay asleep in
the crook of his arm? Because he did feel the responsibilities of
his position heavily and that meant he could not give in to his
dream--yes, he could admit it now in the dark secret corners of his
mind--of making Asha his wife,