Voices by M J Marlow (uplifting novels txt) 📕

to find out why Maya lied for me,” Doug replied.
“You weren’t even afraid of me…”
“Was I in danger, Mr. Carey?” Maya asked him.
“Yes,” he admitted honestly. “I have been in space a long
time without the benefit of female companionship. I was feeling
the urge.”
“And are you feeling the urge now?” I asked as I went to
get my drink. I held out a glass. “Can I get you something to drink,
Mr. Carey? Juice, water, Jarusian ale?”
“Ale?”
“Maya’s father likes it,” I told the man. “Yes?”
“All right,” he watched me pour the drink and took it from
me with a brief smile. His attention was focused on Maya; I might
as well have been invisible. “So tell me how you knew I wasn’t
going to hurt you, girl.”
“What do you know about the Betazoid, Mr. Carey?”
“Race of telepaths and empaths,” Doug recited;
“exceptionally beautiful and healthy. Oh.”
“I didn’t mean to peer into your thoughts,” Maya told him.
“It was a defense mechanism. You weren’t really looking to hurt
anyone. You just wanted companionship.” She looked up as the
door opened. “Father,” she smiled at Aitli. “You know Mr. Carey
from the mining colony. He is here to have dinner with Aden and
Melaura and us.”
“Is that so?” Aitli nodded as his mind swept through the
man’s and found him harmless. “We can always use company, Mr.
Carey,” he assured the man. “There’s just the two of us here.” He
put his arm around Maya and kissed the top of my head. “At least
until the baby comes.”
He went to the kitchen area and I followed him. I was
surprised when the man joined us. We were all soon engaged in the
tasks of putting together a meal. Maya was carrying a stack of
plates when another dizzy spell hit her. Doug caught the plates and
set them aside. Then he made her sit down and put her feet up.
“You are very kind, Mr. Carey,” I smiled as he brought
Maya a glass of juice. “Being out in space hasn’t destroyed your
manners completely.”
“Maya makes people want to be kind to her,” Doug smiled
at her. He reddened as she smiled up at him, and turned away to
see Aitli, Aden and I watching him very closely. “Is there
something else I can help with?”
“I think you’ve done enough,” Aitli said, looking over at
me. He winked at me and I nodded. “Why don’t you finish setting
the table?”
We finally sat down at the table and the meal passed quite
pleasantly. Doug told us about his job as a mine inspector. We
listened to him talk about the friends he had lost in mining
accidents and how that only made him more determined to make
certain they were safe. Maya burst into tears and left the room, and
I followed her to her room. He looked at Aitli.
“It seems I am forever destined to say the wrong thing
around your daughter, Counselor.” Doug frowned.
“You can not have forgotten, Mr. Carey,” Aitli replied.
“My daughter lost her husband recently in a mining accident. She
never had a chance to tell him about her pregnancy.”
“She’s had a lot of trauma for such a youngster,” Doug
replied. “I was sorry to have to be the one to go to her afterwards.
She looked so lost.” He got to his feet. “I enjoyed the meal, sir.
Thank your daughter for the invite.”
“Please don’t be a stranger, Mr. Carey,” Aitli smiled as he
showed the man to the door. “Feel free to call on either of us
again.”
“Really?”
“Of course, “ Aitli nodded. “You are a good man, Mr.
Carey. I would have no problem at all knowing my daughter had
you as a friend.”
Doug nodded and left the apartments smiling. He had come
here to find someone to warm his bed and found friends instead. It
was amazing that he would run across Maya Sutton again after
everything that had happened on the mining colony. It made the
nightmares he had since he had happily broken Lassiter’s neck
worth it. He knew that we had seen into his mind but somehow that
did not bother him. He made his way to a bar and one of his crew
members sidled up to him, a leer on his face.
“Pretty piece you walked off with earlier, Carey,” the man
sneered. “Worth it?”
“Don’t you remember her, Hank?” Doug asked his friend.
The man shook his head. “That was Maya Sutton; Osric’s widow. I
just had dinner with her and her father and the Prince and Princess
of Hazri,” Doug told the man and saw him look shocked. “You
remember me telling you, Hank. Maya’s father is Darius Aitli of
Betazed; the Federation Counselor.”
“Stay away from that one,” his other crewmember hissed.
“Those are the kind who come with strings.”
“She’s only recently a widow, George,” Doug reminded
them. “She’s not looking to replace Osric any time soon.”
“Just the kind of girl guaranteed to make you want to settle
down,” George frowned. “You stay away from her, Carey.” He got
a far away look on his face. “Now that princess! She’s the kind of
woman I could go for. Have you ever seen such glorious hair? And
those eyes! A man could lose himself in her quite easily.”
“She’s married, George.”
“Some men get all the breaks,” George frowned.
A trio of Ferengi listened to the mining engineers talking
about the pretty daughter of the Federation Counselor and the
princess they had lost recently and decided Maya was worth
checking out. If she was as pretty as the tall one stated, they could
always frame the miners for her disappearance. Her father was
important enough to pay for her return; but not important enough
that they could not have a little fun with her while they held her
hostage.
“Are you kidding,” the rounder miner said as the trio
walked out. “The girl and her father are Betazoid? Carey, you’re
insane! Those people walk around in your head.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Doug replied. “They were both very
welcoming.”
“Betazoid,” Daimon Kur smiled as he heard that. “The girl
has suddenly become quite a bit more valuable. Nagus Wesh
would pay top dollar for a mind reader.”
“He wants the imperial princess,” Zun protested. “You
really think he’ll agree to a delay so we can snatch the little mind
reader?”
“We still go after the princess,” Kur reminded them. “We’ll
come back for the Betazoid female later.” Kur nodded. “We’ll
have to tell the crew to keep their eyes open.”
David and I left the apartment the next morning while Aden
was with the Counselor and went down to the market level. I knew
there were men watching me, but none of them came closer. I
began to forget they were even there as David led me through the
shops, introducing me to the merchants. He had spent several years
living here after he had been rescued and there was no one on the
station he had not met. Even the Ferengi, I noted, as he led me to
that shop last. It let the shop attendant pull me to the new fabrics
that had just arrived as David spoke to the merchant.
“The Eliminators were called in on this, Durn,” David said
in Ferengi as he watched me enjoy my shopping. “Our old friend
Daimon Kur had her in his hands.” Durn hissed. “Find out who put
out the contract.”
“For such a high level female as this one,” the merchant
said softly as he watched me as well; “you know the answer as
well as I do. There is only one Ferengi who would dare make such
a move.”
“Wesh?”
“Nagus Wesh now, young one,” Durn informed him. “He
has profited greatly since you last knew him. There is rumor that
he is positioning himself to be declared Grand Nagus when our
current ruler dies.”
“What better coup than to have this princess in his
keeping,” David frowned. “Especially if he can assure that she is
carrying Prince Aden’s child.”
“Exactly,” Durn nodded. “He will have connections then to
the Hazri Empire. The Ferengi will be allowed free rein in sections
of space they never dreamed of plundering before.” For a moment
his eyes danced with dreams of latinum. “This glorious female is
certainly worth loss of life if his bid fails.”
“The stakes are that high?” David was impressed. He was
even more determined to keep me safe now. “I thank you for your
insight, friend Durn. You are, as always, a great help to me and
mine.”
“You have eyes for the princess, friend David,” Durn
smiled over at the young lieutenant and caught the blush before the
man controlled his reaction. “Why not? There stands one of the
most perfect females I have ever seen in my entire life. Even
clothed, the lovely princess stirs this old one’s imagination.”
“She is married to a very dear friend of ours, Durn,” David
replied tightly. “Aden would hand me my head if I tried anything
with his wife.”
I turned just then and wondered why they were turning
away from me looking guilty. I knew they had been speaking about
me. Was it something I needed to hear? From the look on the
Ferengi’s face, I knew that last part of it was probably something I
did not want to know. I turned back to the attendant and showed
her the three fabrics that had caught my eye. We chose garments
for them to be turned into and then I left with David.
“You were deep in conversation back there,” I said as
David took me to the refreshment area and we had drinks.
“Anything I need to know about?” He hesitated and I frowned at
him. “Kindly remember that this is my life you are protecting,
Lieutenant. I will not be kept in the dark if there is any chance of
further threats against me.”
“I have to discuss what I heard with my grandfather,
Melaura,” David hedged. “Once he has this new information,
things could change.” I started to argue and he shook his head.
“This is about more than just you now, Princess,” he said harshly;
“the entire Federation is involved in this matter.”
His chill evaporated when I burst into tears and ran. Gods!
He hadn’t wanted to upset me; he thought as he ran after me, but I
needed to know how serious this all was. He knew I was intelligent
enough to understand how serious this was, but he had forgotten
that I was raised an innocent colony child. I was suddenly thrust
into the center of a very serious situation and he was berating me
like I understood what I was up against and was just being
willfully oblivious. He found me in the Observation Lounge
looking out at the stars. Tears made my eyes glisten like gemstones
and he could not help himself. He pulled me into his arms and
kissed me.
“What are you doing?” I hissed and shoved him away. “I
gave you no permission to touch me!”
“I could not help myself, Melaura,” David apologized
weakly.
“I would have thought that a Star Fleet Officer would be
above accosting married females in emotional distress,” I snapped
at him. He took a step towards me and I shook my head and
backed away from him. “I think you had better stay away from me
for a while.”
David beckoned two men from Security over and watched
me leave. How could he have been so stupid? I was a child;
intelligent, beautiful, and vulnerable, but still only a child. And I
was married to one of his best friends. He had important
information he needed to give to his grandfather. He didn’t have
time to be distracted by a girl he