Sister Katherine Read online

  In a hurry to fill the infirmary with women who weren’t the blonde, he scooped up a brunette and ran past Lidon, who was now standing alone. The weapons commander nodded his approval as Miv flashed past him.

  The scarred Nobek’s deep voice rang through the corridor. “Excellent work, Nobek Miv. The rest of you can move your sluggish asses like him. Get those women quartered now!”

  That brought on a rush to put women in the infirmary. Miv felt delight that he’d earned praise from the weapons commander, something not often gained. At the same time, he worried someone would bring his pretty blonde into the infirmary.

  He reached the small medical room where Dr. Degorsk waited. As he received the head doctor’s instruction on where to put the woman he carried, Miv covertly noted the other females brought into the room with its few beds. With twenty women, some would have to be placed on the floor. Miv left that concern to the medical staff. He was determined the blonde would not end up in here.

  It was a relief to not spot that cloud of golden hair among the Earthers brought to quickly fill the room. Miv hurried out to fetch another woman, taking away the chance his Golden Curls would be brought in.

  * * * *

  Vadef tapped on a computer keyboard, amused that it had no voice-command interface. How quaintly archaic, he thought.

  It made him work slower than usual. While he’d achieved a great deal of fluency in seven Earther languages, including the English that was employed in the colony’s system, he wasn’t very familiar with the letter layout on the keyboard.

  The colony’s records office was small and sparsely furnished with only a desk and chair. There were vid pics on the wall of the Earther religion’s three prophets, one whose face was veiled from sight. There was also a religious totem that consisted of a cross, six-pointed star, and a crescent moon. The tiny office held nothing else except for a ceramic cup stained brown on the inside. Sitting on the desk to Vadef’s right, it exuded a pleasant nut-like scent that made him wonder about the drink it might have contained.

  Vadef meticulously worked through the convent records, discovering who was who in the religious order’s hierarchy. He had figured out that there was one elder called Mother Superior who was in charge of the colony. Then there were nuns, often referred to as ‘sisters’. Last were the aspirants, young women and girls learning to become nuns. The Imdiko had quickly realized that the aspirants were the colony residents most likely to be underage girls. He’d gone through birth information for those and forwarded the squad leaders vid pics and identification scans of those who were too young for clanning.

  Vadef had worked his way into cataloguing the of-age females, those who could be made prisoners of war. Under Kalquor’s code, that gave the Empire the right to claim them for clans looking for Mataras. The women were pretty spoils to be kept and cared for and who would hopefully carry children for the nearly extinct Kalquorians. The Empire’s desperate need for such women was the reason Kalquor and Earth had gone to war in the first place.

  Vadef blinked as a familiar ethereal face appeared on his vid. The Imdiko’s mouth went suddenly dry as her recorded face seemed to offer him a gentle smile.

  She has blue eyes. Like the sky on a clear day on Kalquor.

  It was the blonde who’d not screamed when he and Miv came for her. The one who’d only wept and prayed as they tried to comfort her even as they took her prisoner. By the ancestors, she was beautiful. Still sad though, even in her picture. Her sweet face smiled a little but there was such sorrow in those large, blue eyes. It gave him the irrational urge to find her and try once more to comfort her.

  Vadef stared at her for long seconds before he could get his mind working again. At last, he looked down at the details of the lovely Earther.

  Name: Katherine Archer, Sister of the Europan Order of The Prophets’ Eternal Brides

  Vadef frowned at the name. Part of it was a title, like the Mother Superior’s. Earthers often had two, sometimes more names, the last being the names of their fathers. So this female would be addressed as Katherine.

  “Kat – Her – In – Ee?” Vadef shook his head. No, the ‘th’ of the name was one sound. And the ‘i’ would be a long vowel with the silent ‘e’ at the end. He tried again. “Kath – Er – Ine.”

  The Imdiko practiced the name, rolling it around on his tongue as if he might taste it. As he whispered her name over and over, he checked other items of interest. She was close to his own age, though slightly older. She was still well within childbearing range.

  Duties: Teacher, counselor, advocate for aspirant punishment appeals

  Special notes: Case No. 18937, exile re: undue alien interest. M.S. eyes only

  Vadef arched a brow. Some of Katherine’s file appeared to be in code. He wondered why.

  His private com channel beeped for attention, and Vadef smiled with affection to identify his Dramok’s frequency. Vadef and Miv’s clan leader was the spyship’s first officer. Simdow had been left on board to command the vessel while Captain Tranis led the group on the colony. No doubt Simdow was hard pressed to keep patient while the majority of the ship’s crew was busy with their invasion and capture of General Hamilton, who they’d found in the colony’s temple. Chasing the Earther general’s transport ship had led them to this little moon. Finding all the women had happened purely by chance.

  Vadef didn’t keep his clanmate waiting for more than a second before answering. “Vadef here, my Dramok.” Because it was a private frequency, the Imdiko thought he could ignore military protocol.

  Simdow’s smooth voice rolled over him like a gentle wave. “Hello, Vadef. I understand they’re keeping you busy down there. Congratulations on your part in capturing an enemy general and 120 Mataras.”

  The Imdiko picked up on the excited note in his clan leader’s tone. “Yes, we’ve been very busy, though I personally can’t take any credit for Hamilton’s capture. You sound like you have news. What’s going on?”

  Simdow’s voice was low, which meant he was still on the bridge of the spyship. He shouldn’t be making private calls if he was on duty. Vadef knew it had to be important for his Dramok to break the rules. Captain Tranis would have Simdow’s head if he found out.

  Despite Simdow’s near whisper, there was no mistaking the delight in his tone. “We have our pick of Mataras from the colony. A Matara for our clan, Vadef! Any one we want except for the one named Cassidy Hamilton. The captain’s clan has already made claim on her. But we can choose any of the others because we’re the next ranking clan on the ship.”

  Vadef’s breath froze in his chest. Captain Tranis’ clan was claiming the one missing girl, an of-age aspirant they’d caught a glimpse of just before taking over the colony. Cassidy Hamilton had been a pretty, pale thing in the darkness of the convent’s night as she ran screaming from their invasion party.

  Still, there was one female who was even prettier. Vadef looked into her sky-blue eyes as he tried to speak.

  In a croaking voice, he told his Dramok, “I think I have the perfect one, Simdow. I’m reading her file right now.”

  He loaded Katherine’s file onto his handheld and transmitted the information to Simdow’s while describing the encounter he and Miv had had with the nun.

  Simdow seemed happy to hear Vadef had already pinpointed a likely prospect. “Not hysterical like the rest? And beautiful, you say. Oh, I’ve got your transmission here. Look, I’m stuck on the bridge until the captain comes back on board, but I’ll put a hold on this Kather-Ine for now. That will earmark her as ours to the other clans. I’ll look at her information at my earliest convenience, and we’ll go from there. That will let the rest go ahead and choose their candidates.”

  The Dramok’s enthusiasm concerned Vadef. After all, Simdow hadn’t even seen the woman, and none of them had experienced any meaningful interaction with her yet.

  The Imdiko asked, “What if Kather-Ine isn’t for us? I mean, I’m quite drawn to her and Miv appeared to be as well, but she wouldn�
��t even speak to us earlier.”

  Simdow chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. There are over a hundred of those women there. If Kather-Ine is not right for our clan, we’ll find one who is. There are only seven clans that can claim a Matara on the ship anyway.”

  “All right. The odds are pretty good then.”

  “I trust your judgment, my Imdiko. If you think this woman is a strong possibility, that’s good enough for me.”

  Simdow’s confidence in him made Vadef feel good. They’d been clanmates only three years, but it had been a good match thus far. With Miv too. Vadef had been underage when he’d joined Simdow’s clan, which had meant he needed parental permission to do so. Fortunately, his instincts about his Dramok and Nobek had been proven out before then, and his parents – all seven of them – had been convinced as well.

  A Dramok and Nobek perfect for me in every way. Vadef’s gaze fell on Katherine’s image again, and he was once more struck by her ethereal beauty. It was like a blow in the chest, in fact. He was going to be the mate to such a stunning creature?

  He choked out, “She’s amazing, my Dramok. She truly is.”

  Simdow chuckled. “I’ll be there as soon as my duties allow.” He signed off, leaving Vadef to contemplate his maybe-Matara with wide eyes and a dazed smile.

  * * * *

  The first thing Katherine was aware of was quiet sobbing in her ear. A familiar voice whispered between the hushed, strangled sounds.

  “Sister. Sister, wake up.”

  She opened her eyes. One of the older aspirants, a 19-year-old named Tina, crouched over her. The scatter of freckles across the redhead’s nose was shockingly dark against her paler-than-usual skin. The girl’s soft brown eyes were shimmery with tears.

  Seeing Katherine waking sent those tears dashing down Tina’s cheeks. Her shoulders sagged in a small signal of relief. “Thank God you’re awake, Sister. We’ve been invaded. We’re prisoners. What do we do?”

  Katherine shook her head a little, trying to clear the drowsy fog from her mind. The nearby cry of terror and desperate shushing helped chase the dazed feeling away, bringing things into better focus. Moans and weeping filled her ears. The sounds of loss and hopelessness. And she smelled … food. Old remnants of meals past.

  Why was she lying on the floor in a dim room? Katherine struggled to sit up, and Tina helped her with shaking hands.

  Katherine looked about. They were in the convent’s dining room. The tables where everyone sat for their meals had been shoved up against the soft blue walls. More white-gowned sisters and aspirants lay all around her on the linoleum floor. That shocking oddity receded to the back of her consciousness when she saw the fierce-visaged Kalquorians surrounding them. She gasped as her heart nearly stuttered to a halt at the sight of about a dozen of the huge alien males watching the women slowly regain their senses.

  Tina clutched at her shoulders, huddling close in her fear. “Sister, please? What do we do?”

  Katherine dragged her gaze from the men apparently guarding them. She looked over her fellow nuns and the few adult aspirants crowded in the center of the room. Most were unconscious, apparently still under the effects of the sedation they’d been given during the invasion. The few who had wakened cowered and clutched at one another much as Tina was doing to her.

  Katherine looked for Mother Superior or Sister Bernadette and saw neither in the dozens of women surrounding her. That meant she was the ranking nun here. She was in charge.

  Katherine swallowed and looked again at the aliens watching them. Her first panicked impression had been of them looming threateningly over the women. Now that she forced herself to breathe calmly, accepting her responsibility over the others entrusted to her care, she saw they actually stood several feet back from the women. The closed doors that led out of the dining hall were guarded the most heavily. The exit into the hall and the one to the kitchen each had two aliens standing before them.

  The Kalquorians weren’t nearly as demonic as the government vids had depicted them. They were Goliaths, bulging muscle against the skintight black formsuits they wore. They did look feral and savage, but Katherine could also see great intelligence in their strangely beautiful purple eyes. Most even seemed to be carefully composing their expressions as more women came around. Heavy brows drew tight at the screams that issued forth in intermittent intervals.

  It’s as if they don’t like us fearing them, Katherine thought. The Kalquorians seemed uncomfortable with the cries of terror and sobs.

  She saw no percussion blasters on the aliens’ belts, though all had empty holsters for such weapons. She did see knives, their dark handles poking out of sheaths. Some of the men had as many as five secured on various places from waists to arms to thighs. Yet no one had a hand near any blades.

  The men kept their distance. Earth had proclaimed the Kalquorians were after Earther women to make into their sex slaves, determined to breed to create even more slaves for their empire. Yet none were raping the helpless women they guarded. As far as Katherine could tell, no one had been harmed except for being tranquilized.

  She put her arm around the still crying Tina and whispered, “Hush a moment, child. Let me think about what needs to be done.”

  Tina nodded and quieted as best she could. The girl continued to weep, but she stopped begging Katherine to tell them what to do.

  The nun thought about the situation. Before the war had started, Katherine had asked the Church to send a delegation to speak to the Kalquorian Empire, to spread the word of God to the aliens and find a peaceful way out of the growing hostilities. Her suggestion had been met with suspicion, especially since she’d asked to be part of that missionary delegation. Katherine hadn’t been so sure her morals had been completely pure herself. The Kalquorians fascinated her. Something about them had captured her imagination, and she’d wanted to meet one, face to face. Even so, she had honestly wanted to find a way to keep war from happening, and discussing God’s love for all his creations seemed to her a good starting point.

  In the midst of an invasion in the middle of a war, Katherine doubted the astounding brutes guarding them would be much interested in a testimonial about how they were all God’s children. However, she did need to at least determine what the aliens’ plans were and how she could best defend those depending on her.

  Besides, the youngest aspirants, the children that Katherine loved like her own, were nowhere to be seen. She had to find out what had happened to them.

  Katherine whispered to Tina. “Do you know where the little ones are?”

  She shook her head. “I only woke a few minutes ago. Everyone under the age of 18 and several of the others are missing.”

  Katherine’s gaze swept the group. It looked like a little more than half the convent’s 178 inhabitants were in the room right now. Besides the youngest, she noted the eldest of the population was also unaccounted for.

  Women who are too old to bear children and the ones under marriage age. That can’t be an accident, she thought.

  She told Tina, “I am going to speak to these men. Do you know which one is their leader?”

  The sweet little aspirant’s eyes widened. She grabbed Katherine’s arm in an almost painful grip. “Sister, you don’t dare! What if they … what if they decide to do something to you?”

  The girl shivered as she alluded to the unspeakable. Her gaze looked around at the alien men, and she bit her lip.

  Katherine patted her hands. “Tina, listen to me. I have to find out what is going on. I want you to stay right here and pray very hard. Pray as hard as you’ve ever prayed. Only God can help us now.”

  Tina’s face crumpled as she turned her gaze back to Katherine. She was a young woman, but she looked as much a child as fellow aspirant nine-year-old Marci Soames right now. “I don’t want to see you hurt, Sister Katherine. You’re the best of them all.”

  Katherine pressed a kiss to the girl’s forehead. “Pray, Tina. If God will not spare my body and virtue, he wi
ll still spare my soul. He does love us.”

  “Bless you, Sister.” Tina let go of her death grip on Katherine to bury her face in her hands.

  Katherine stood. The thin blanket wrapped around her body fell away, and she saw she wore her sleeping gown. It was a voluminous garment and quite concealing, yet Katherine felt vulnerable wearing her bedclothes. Exposed.

  I have God’s love to keep me safe, she thought, squaring her shoulders. I need no other protection.

  She grasped the icon hanging from her rosary beads. The cross of Jesus. The Star of David. The crescent moon of Mohammed. All were fused together in one holy talisman to remind Katherine of God’s love, sent in the form of his prophets. She felt the strength of her faith fill her, giving her courage.

  Katherine wove her way through the still slumbering bodies. Her bare feet padded lightly on the cold floor. The Kalquorians watched her as she went, no one speaking or yelling at her to stay back. She was reminded of the voices of those who had sedated her in her cell. They’d spoken English, only slight accents marring otherwise perfect diction. They had promised they would not harm her.

  Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Katherine reminded herself of the old verse as she approached one huge Kalquorian. She also thought of her steadfast belief that God had created all and therefore Kalquorians were not inherently evil. It was a little hard to do when the dark creature before her was so huge and foreboding. However, the guard’s expression was now more worried than fierce as he watched her approach. He shifted uncomfortably as Katherine drew only an arm’s length away. She caught the scent of him: an almost pleasant musk mixed with something that reminded her of a sweetish spice. He edged back half a step, his gaze dropping from her face.

  She made him uncomfortable? This immense man who could crush her with one blow?

  Gathering strength from the alien’s obvious unease, Katherine asked him, “Can you understand me? Can you tell me who is in charge here?”