The spherical city ship glided silently through the vastness of space. Roughly the size of a small moon, Nova City was a mobile center of commerce; an interstellar market place capable of faster than light travel.
The lower hemisphere housed its propulsion, defense, and life support systems, while the upper hemisphere housed the habitat section; a large dome protecting a sprawling metropolis from the harsh vacuum of space. Several freighters and ships were at station keeping around Nova City, waiting for docking clearance.
Endira Vas was wandering the city aimlessly. The purple skinned Muldaxian beauty didn't know where she was going, nor did she really care. Twenty minutes ago her ship, the Arrowhead, was granted landing clearance in one of the outer docking bays.
Right after the Arrowhead docked and they had disembarked, Vas saw that they had landed next to the burned out husk of a Muldaxian star cruiser. That long, smoldering rectangle of a ship filled Vas's heart with fear and a white hot rage; had she stayed in the docking bay she might have punched the first passerby. "I'm sorry, James, but I have to go," she said to her bond mate before storming off.
Seven months ago, the Verokk Imperium invaded the Muldaxian Commonwealth. A Planetary Coalition strike force had been deployed to drive the Verokk out, but they were not having much luck. An operation that was supposed to take only six months was now in its seventh, and was showing no signs of ending any time soon.
Vas had spent three years on the planet Dorrin as part of a cultural exchange. She was on her way home when the invasion was launched. She was homesick and furious at the universe for what was happening. The only good thing to come out of this mess was her bond mate, James Barret.
A voice coming through her comm-link earpiece brought her back to the present. "We're unloaded, hon," the voice said. "And we've been set up with guest quarters at one of the inns." Vas said nothing. "Vas? Please respond. What, are you having hot, kinky sex and not letting me watch?"
That did it. "I heard you, James, " she said with an edge in her voice. "Is that ship still there?"
"Yeah, it is. It's supposed to be moved to the space dock within the next hour or so. I'll trace your comm-link and meet you. Stay put, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," she said, and ended the transmission.
Barret flinched when Vas closed the channel. She had been getting more and more irritable lately and he didn't know what to do to make things better for her.
The Arrowhead had been hired to deliver a shipment of replication coils to one of Nova City's hotels. They were given a free room for the night in addition to their normal going rate. Barret had hoped that this trip would help Vas get her mind off things.
Seeing that Muldaxian ship had only made it worse. The seven months they had been together were the among best he could remember. A month after they followed Muldaxian tradition and bonded, they had a small Earth wedding ceremony aboard an Terran patrol ship; Vas wanted the traditions of both of their homeworlds honored in their union.
Barret looked down at the silver ring on his left hand. Vas had one just like it. He had insisted on silver because it matched Vas's eyes. Barret thought Vas was ravishing, but it was her eyes that always captured him, silver eyes full of love and hope. Now they were filled with bitterness and rage.
Vas was about to look for a bench to sit on when she heard a voice in her native tongue say, "Ah, a familiar looking face." Vas turned to see a shorter Muldaxian man with balding hair just as dark as her own. His gold eyes shone with a friendly radiance. He looked at the representation of the Arrowhead on the right shoulder of Vas's black flight suit and smiled. "I see we have a friend in common."
"Pardon?" she asked.
"James Barret." The man gestured at the patch on her shoulder. "I'd recognize any depiction of that piece of shit freighter anywhere."
Vas was about to respond when he raised his hand to stop her. "I mean no offense," he said with a smile. "It's just, I remember when James bought that thing. I thought he was wasting his money and that it would blow up within a week." The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hard to believe it was five years ago." The man noticed Vas giving him an incredulous look. "Where are my manners?" he said with a slight bow of his head. "Dismer Bor, at your service."
"Lord High Chancellor," Vas gasped, and quickly returned the greeting gesture. "My apologies, sir, I didn't know you'd escaped Muldax Prime!"
"It's all right, my dear," he laughed. "There's no need to stand on ceremony. Until our government is reinstated back home, I'm just another wanderer like yourself." Dismer gave Vas a quick once over. "May I assume that you are Ambassador Endira?"
Hearing her old title caused Vas's heart to fall. "I used to be," she said softly. "Now I'm just a delivery girl on an Earth cargo ship." Hearing herself say those words made her heart fall even more. She knew she was more than that, but today she didn't really feel like it.
"Well," Dismer said, breaking the silence. "I'm glad James was able to help you out. I just didn't expect him to give you a job."
Before Vas could tell Dismer the true nature of her relationship with Barret, another voice came into earshot. "Bor? Is that you, you old son of a slygrath?"
Dismer saw a human wearing an identical flight suit to Vas's hurrying over to where they were standing. "James!" The two men hugged like reunited brothers. "It's been too long, old friend. You have my spice whiskey?"
Barret laughed and slapped Dismer on the back. "It's in stasis back in my warehouse," he said. "I'll get it to you on my next run." Barret stood next to Vas and put his arm around her shoulders. She in turn wrapped her arms around his waist and melted into him, suddenly very happy for the physical contact. "I see you've met my bond mate Vas."
Dismer's eyes grew as big as dinner plates and his jaw dropped. "When?"
"Four days after we met," Vas said happily.
A huge smile formed on Dismer Bor's lips. Barret had been bonded to Dismer's sister, Alu, until her death five years ago. "I'm glad to see that you've finally honored my sister's wishes and moved on, James. Very glad."
Dismer looked down at his wrist chronometer. "I have a meeting with the city's administrator in about fifteen minutes," he said. "Later tonight I want to treat you both to dinner. We need to celebrate!" He looked at his chronometer again and grumbled. "Dammit, my bodyguard should have been here by now. He's supposed to accompany me to my meeting."
"My apologies, Lord High Chancellor," a breathless voice said. "This city is just too damn big. I got a little lost." I tall, lanky Muldaxian man with shoulder length snow white hair jogged up. When he saw Vas, his eyes lit up, as did hers.
"Hix!" she exclaimed as she rushed from Barret's arms to embrace the Muldaxian.
"Reunions left and right today," Dismer mused.
Barret nodded in greeting at the new arrival. "James Barret," he said.
