Ronan quickly revised his initial impressions of Janek. Persephone was First among the twenty worlds of the Concordat, the very heart of human space. Janek must be a man of some consequence, but the captain’s words and stance made clear that she regarded him as an intruder and did not trust him.
She had referred to the Pegasus as an “Alliance” ship, and that alliance could only be the one between the Concordat and the distant star systems of the Nine Worlds.
Trade between the regions known as the Nine Worlds and the Concordat had endured during the century of peace brokered by the original Kinsmen. The formal Alliance had been created six years before the Second Shaauri War, only to be disrupted by the blockade.
Shaauri territory formed a vast, irregular bubble of colonies and uninhabited systems between the Concordat and the Nine Worlds. Shaauri wormholes provided the only means of crossing that territory, and any human ship that ventured to do so was captured or destroyed.
The very presence of this ship in shaauri space was proof that the Alliance had found a means of circumventing the blockade.
Who were these people, and what of all Paths was the Pegasus?
Ronan felt Captain D’Accorso’s gaze and put aside his speculation. She gestured to the man at her shoulder. “This is my second-in-command, Scholar-Commander Taye Adumbe of Nemesis.” The dark-skinned man nodded, his eyes bright with curiosity. D’Accorso indicated her two guards. “Weapons specialist Kord d’Rhian O’Deira of Sirocco, and gunner Bendik Toussaint of Dharma.”
Healer Zheng stepped forward at the captain’s nod. “You have already met our chief medic,” D’Accorso said. “She’ll be looking after you until she has completed a medical evaluation and releases you from the infirmary.”
Ronan suppressed a flinch. He would have to learn to bear this altered female’s touch if he was to be accepted among humans, but his shaauri upbringing rebelled.
You are not shaauri.
“You will have the opportunity to meet the rest of our crew at the appropriate time,” the captain said. “Until then you may request, within reason, anything you need. The Pegasus will accommodate any specific dietary requirements.”
Ronan’s ears twitched. “I am human. I eat as you do.”
“Then I presume you’re hungry. If you’ll accompany the doctor, we can begin making you comfortable.”
“Am I to be a prisoner?”
“Not unless you make it necessary.” Though the captain’s voice was light with human whimsy, her gaze had lost none of its sharpness. “Kord will accompany you and Dr. Zheng to the infirmary.”
He understood the warning. Captain D’Accorso would take no chances with him, in spite of her words to Janek and her easy manner. That was as it should be. She was a true First, committed to the safety of those under her command.
And that made him OutLine until proven otherwise. If he resisted Zheng’s examination, as all his instincts demanded, he would give the captain reason to heed the warnings of Kord and Janek.
This was what he had wanted and never dared hope to achieve—escape and an escort to human space. Yet a deep unease pricked at his belly. He could not remember what he had intended once he evaded his pursuers. His mind was as empty of plans as a newborn ba’laik’in.
Empty save for the Eightfold Way. Discipline, and discipline alone, would restore his purpose.
He tilted his head in a gesture of profound respect and stepped between the two guards. “I will cooperate, Captain.”
‘Then I will see you again when time permits.” She extended her hand. Ronan was prepared; even Kinsmen used some variation of the gesture. But the prospect of touching Cynara D’Accorso was a much greater disturbance than he had reckoned on.
Once he touched her, she would become something more than the first non-Kinsman female he had met in all the time he could remember. He would feel the warmth of her skin, her pulse, the vitality and strength so vivid to all his senses. Her seductive scent would enter his pores and flow in his blood. He would begin to admire in her the human qualities he had despised in himself.
“It is common in many human societies to offer one’s hand in greeting,” she said. “I realize that among shaauri—”