Victorious Star Read Free Page A

her, but she was in far too much agony to turn her head that far to see. However, she could see through the broad window to her left. They were still docked in the spaceport. Let’s not panic yet. Maybe this isn’t what it looks like.
    “Are you in pain?” Ravnos inquired politely.
    “Yes, sir,” she replied respectfully and slowly twisted her wrists, testing the cuffs’ strength. A quick glance showed that they were designed with heavy-weapon cyborgs in mind. Regardless of her physical augmentations, she was not going to be able to break them. Damn it, damn it, damn it!
    She saw him flick a finger and sensed movement to her immediate right.
    A crewman with a hypodermic in his hand bent at her side.
    “Whoa, hey!” She tried to jolt away, nearly dislocating her shoulder. The cuffs held her fast to the chair.
    Ravnos snorted. “Relax, it’s for the headache.”
    The crewman pulled her coat’s lapels wide, then unfastened the buckles on the collar of her flight-suit.
    She eyed the needle with extreme doubt. “Isn’t an injection a little archaic?”
    “We are somewhat backwards out here past the Imperial rim,” Ravnos said dryly.
    The crewman pressed a finger to her pulse and stabbed her bare throat.
    Victoria hissed. She hated needles.
    The crewman stepped away, and out of sight.
    Victoria winced. That needle had stung. She looked around for her sword, but didn’t see it. “Where’s my sword?”
    “You won’t be needing it.” Ravnos dropped his foot on the rug and leaned forward. “Your new uniform is in your quarters. You will begin your duties as senior nav-pilot as soon as you have dressed.”
    Bloody Fate, and damnation… Victoria winced. This was exactly what it looked like -- a kidnapping. Bitter betrayal burned in her stomach. And I really liked him too. She glared at him with all the fury in her throbbing temples. “With all due respect, sir, you’ve kidnapped me. I do not owe you duty.”
    “The original term for taking on unsuspecting crewmen is ‘pressed’.” Ravnos’s expression chilled to bitter winter. “And you will serve to the best of your abilities, or you will be disciplined.”
    Victoria bared her teeth in a feral grin. “Then you’d better space me now!”
    “Great Mother,” a voice drawled with amusement. “What have you brought home this time, Captain?”
    Victoria looked sharply to her right.
    A tall, slender man wearing an ankle-length captain’s coat with an awful lot of silver braid lounged in the doorway. His skin was moon-pale; his frost-white hair was pulled back into a long straight tail exposing gracefully pointed ears. His blue eyes, the color of the heart of a flame, roved over her breasts straining against the buckles of her black coat, then focused on her exposed throat. A lethal smile graced his full lips. “Whatever it is, I approve.”
    Victoria couldn’t stop staring. What the hell is a skeldhi doing on this ship? They hate humans!
    Ravnos tilted his head toward her. “First Lieutenant Victoria Stark, this is my executive officer, Commander Seht.”
    Victoria looked from the very human captain to the decidedly not human, perhaps even anti-human, second in command.
    “Number One,” Ravnos continued, “this is our new senior navigation pilot.”
    “Senior navigation pilot?” The skeldhi commander stalked in with poisonous grace and circled Victoria. He looked over at Ravnos. “What did you do with our last nav-pilot?”
    Ravnos’s ice gray eyes focused on Victoria. “Our current nav-pilot shoved a sword through his throat.”
    Victoria ground her teeth. “My sword wasn’t the only blade shoved through him. I distinctly remember yours sticking out of his chest, Captain.”
    The skeldhi raised a silver brow. “Spirited. I like that.”
    Victoria stared at the circling skeldhi, stunned. This close up he was breathtaking. His blue gaze seemed deep enough to drown in and his mouth looked…kissable. She looked away and shook her head. What am I