Hitting the Target Read online

  “I’ll take your word on that.” Trey sighed and ran a hand through his long, golden-brown hair. “It’s been good chatting with you, Brother, but my break is almost up and I’m scheduled to perform a surgery at one.”

  “You must go then.” Sylvan nodded. “It was good chatting with you too, old friend. And as always, please let me know if you need any help. Millions of light years might separate us, but we are only a fold in space away and my warriors can be there any time you need them.”

  “I appreciate the offer,” Trey said gratefully. “But we’re hoping to integrate with the Ormyulians peacefully.”

  “We’re here to help you with that too,” Sylvan said. “I know you have no priestesses among you. The Sacred Grove aboard the Mother Ship stands ready to help if your warriors need guidance or if you want to schedule any Joining Ceremonies.”

  “We’ll take you up on that, I’m sure,” Trey said, smiling. “I have several warriors already who are anxious to Claim their brides.”

  “Just have them place a call to the Mother Ship and schedule a time for their ceremonies in the Sacred Grove,” Sylvan said. “We’ll be happy to fold space for you any time.”

  “Thank you.” Trey smiled again. “I’ll do that. And now I must go—kiss your lovely bride and your little ones for me. I’ll speak to you later.”

  “Go with the Goddess,” Sylvan said formally and gave a final wave before signing off.

  Trey watched as the viewscreen in his office at the Care Center went dark and sighed deeply to himself. It was good to hear from his old friend again, but his mind kept returning to the girl he’d been dreaming of. Was he really Dream Sharing or was she literally just a dream—a figment his imagination had come up with to ease his loneliness?

  The first time he had Dream Shared with a female had been so long ago, but he could still remember her face. They had arranged to meet…and then he’d gotten word that she was dead, carried away by the terrible female-killing plague. Would he lose this new girl too? Was that why he was afraid to admit he really was Dream Sharing—because he feared to lose her as he had lost the first female he had loved?

  “Goddess,” he said softly, staring at the darkened viewscreen. “I don’t know if this female is real or not. But if she is, you’ll have to bring her to me. There’s no way I can get to her.”

  There was no immediate answer to his soft prayer but then a strange feeling came over him—a mixture of peace and anticipation. It was almost as though the Mother of All Life, which all Kindred worship, was whispering in his ear.

  “Wait,” she seemed to say. “Just wait…”

  And then there was a sharp rap at the door of his office and the face of Lydiah, the head healer’s aid, popped in. She had dark hair pulled back into a tight bun and a practical, no-nonsense air about her.

  “Healer Treygar, your patient is prepped and ready and your instruments are sterilized. Would you like to scrub in now?” she inquired briskly.

  Trey realized he’d overstayed his break.

  “Oh yes, of course. Thank you for coming to get me, Lydiah,” he said, rising from the chair, which was a little too small for his muscular frame.

  The Ormyulians were considerably smaller than the Kindred, which made all their furnishings a bit too small. Thank goodness he had brought his own surgical instruments with him, Trey thought. He didn’t relish the idea of performing surgery with the tiny tools supplied by his newly adopted people.

  “No, problem, Healer Treygar.” Lydiah smiled up at him and nodded her head in a friendly way. She was strict but fair with the healers’ aides under her charge and respectful, though not overly deferential to the healers themselves.

  Trey liked her and her mate, a female named Teela, immensely. They had even invited him to Last Meal or supper as they called it here—at their domicile several times. Teela had been one of those rare and fortunate souls who had lived in the North but had managed to get past the Great Barrier to the South where she had met and mated with Lydiah. It was a daring escape but one she didn’t speak of often—her eyes were shadowed when she did, and Trey was afraid to ask why. Maybe not all of her party had made it across.

  He wondered if his own little female—the lovely girl with the pearly blue eyes and creamy brown skin—might be standing by the Great Barrier now, waiting for a flicker, hoping it would be long enough to get through, praying that the guards wouldn’t see as she dashed across…

  The thought made his blood run cold and the beast inside him rumbled uneasily. Neither of them wanted the little female to risk herself that way. And yet…how else was he ever going to meet her?

  Sylvan was right, he decided. The Goddess herself would have to take a hand or he would never see her anywhere outside his dreams.

  Chapter Five

  Mia stood by herself in the busy transport station and clutched her bag to her chest. Maybe there were more people in this Southern city where The EYE agent had taken her or maybe this was just a busy time of day, but she had never been surrounded by so many people at once and it was disorientating.

  With one hand she yanked on the hem of her new Bountiful-style dress, wishing she could make it longer somehow. When the Commandant had presented her with the new clothing, she had been aghast.

  “I…I can’t wear that!” she’d protested, looking at the skimpy garments he held out to her.

  But he’d shaken his head and looked at her disapprovingly.

  “There’s no way you’ll appeal to the Kindred in those shapeless clothes,” he’d declared. “You must dress in the Southern fashion or he won’t even look at you twice and all the time and expense I’ve poured into this project will be wasted.”

  He’d forced Mia to change while he watched—an operation which made her skin crawl. Though she turned her back to him, she could still feel those sharp black eyes sliding all over her exposed skin like seeking fingers, trying to pry into places they didn’t belong.

  At last she had finished and turned reluctantly to face him. The Commandant’s eyes had grown wide and then narrowed in a mixture of lust and greed. He circled Mia like a predator examining its prey, looking her over from every angle.

  “Well, well—I chose better than I knew,” he murmured, at last coming to a stop directly behind her. “You may not be the Republic’s ideal, but you’ll do, my dear—you’ll do.”

  “I will?” Mia could feel his hot breath on her neck and a smell like stale caffeine brew and nico-sticks reached her nose, making her stomach clench.

  “You most certainly will. In fact, maybe I’d better break you in a bit before that big Kindred gets to you. I’m beginning to feel a bit needy now that I see you in that sweet little dress.”

  He had run his hand over Mia’s mostly bare shoulder and then reached around to cup her right breast.

  “No, please!” Mia had stiffened, wanting to get away from him, wanting to run. But all the training she’d had in the Republic-run school told her she had to stay put. The Commandant had said he felt needy—as a woman, it was her duty to meet those needs. But she didn’t want to—oh God, she really didn’t want to!

  “I’d be doing you a favor, my dear,” the Commandant had breathed in her ear. “It’s said that the Kindred are absolutely huge in the cock department. Wouldn’t you like me to stretch you out a bit before he gets to you? Otherwise he’ll rip you in two trying to get his shaft inside you.”

  “You…you said you picked me for this assignment because I was a virgin,” Mia had reminded him desperately. “You said my innocence would attract him. I…I need to stay a virgin!”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” The Commandant had purred. “He might like you better if he doesn’t have to endure your first-time tears and jitters. Yes, the more I consider it, the more I think I’d better break you in, my dear. That will be best for the mission—I’m certain of it.”

  As he spoke, his clammy hand had been massaging her right breast and twisting her nipple painfully through the thin material