Quin's Fresh Start Read online

  Quin’s Fresh Start

  by

  Alyssa Hope

  Text copyright 2017

  Alyssa Hope

  All Rights Reserved

  Is it necessary to say that any resemblance between aliens (blue or otherwise) and any living people (real or otherwise) is purely coincidental?

  All beings engaged in sexual acts are over the legal age of consent in their own particular universes.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1.

  Chapter 2.

  Chapter 3.

  Chapter 4.

  Chapter 5.

  Chapter 6.

  Chapter 7.

  Chapter 8.

  Chapter 1.

  ‘Quin would be perfect, he has the skill set we need for this. But he …’

  There was a sudden silence when they realized that he’d come into the room. That was part of the skill set, he thought bitterly. The ability to sneak up on others. He still had the skills, he just wasn’t any good for anything anymore.

  ‘Why else do you think I would be perfect? Come on … There are many here who can be stealthy.’

  There was silence. He looked around the room, trying to figure out what was happening, and what they didn’t want to tell him.

  ‘But not as many with medical training?’ he finally suggested.

  They tried not to look at each other, or him.

  ‘You think I can’t do whatever it is? You think I’ll break, or I’ll let you all down? At least tell me what you think I can’t do.’

  Kaji, the ship’s Second Officer, sighed.

  ‘Quin, we just don’t want to see you hurt anymore. There is a situation where one of our people, we think probably one of our Lost Children, has been imprisoned, and is going to be executed.’

  ‘So we get them out, now. Why is it even something we’re talking about, and why does it need me?’

  ‘They are bearing, and injured.’

  ‘Gods. And we’re sitting here talking about it?!’

  ‘Another of his triad is there with him, also sentenced to die, but we don’t know where their third is … we think he may be dead, but nobody knows. To transport the bearing one without the third, when they’re already injured …”

  There was silence around the table.

  Quin felt a knot of grief and pain building in his gut. He sat down and tried not to throw up. Everything came back to him, everything that he thought he had been able to bury in his memories.

  ‘Quin, are you alright?’

  Stupid question. He hadn’t been alright in a long time.

  He could still feel it in his mind and in his soul, the moment that the building had collapsed on his beloveds, when they had died on that strange planet so far from home. The young ones they had been trying to rescue had died with them, and they had found their bodies all together, even in death his beloveds still trying to protect children not of their race.

  Why had they even been there, trying to save other people’s children? He had wanted to hate those of other races who had caused his beloved’s death, but in the end he couldn’t because Bini and Dara had felt so strongly about saving all children. It had been an argument they had often had.

  ‘One day we’ll have little ones of our own, Quin, gods willing, and maybe the time will come when they need help from someone. All children are precious, beloved. You know this.’

  He had known this, in his heart, and was eternally sorry he hadn’t insisted on being sent down to that place with his beloveds. If he had been there at least he could have died with them, and there would have been an end to this pain. With this assignment maybe he could make amends for living. Maybe, if he was lucky, he could finally die too.

  ‘Why have they been jailed, and how do we get them out?’

  He felt the sigh from Kaji, of relief or resignation? Kaji was in charge of expeditions such as these. One of Kaji’s triad was a human, he remembered, and they had adopted a mixed race baby.

  ‘The planet where they are, they have a very narrow-minded moral code. It’s illegal to have relations between species, they say it’s impure. For this, these two have been jailed and will be executed. Their third will be killed, too, if they find him. These backwards creatures don’t believe in triads, either, as though it is something to believe in or not. They think bonding should be only between two of the same species and color, and only two. We still don’t know if their third, who we are all looking for, is one of ours or a human, or even another species.’

  Quin thought that he would be punished endlessly, for all time, maybe beyond the end of time.

  ‘If no-one knows who or what their third is, then the two in prison? One is ours, what is the other?’

  ‘The other is a human, Quin, an earth human.’

  ‘Gods.’ One of theirs was going to die for a bond made with a different species.

  ‘We do not choose our bonds, Quin.’

  ‘I know that, Kaji. And I’ll do what I can to help get them out. You know that.’

  ‘Yes, thank you. We need to send in someone with some medical training, to be caught and put in jail with those two, or at least with the one who is bearing. We need to evaluate and stabilize the bearing one, and see if we can get information on where their third is. And then get all three of them off that barbaric planet.’

  Quin thought about the two who he had lost. ‘Gods, why would their third not be tearing the walls down …’ Realization set in. ‘There is another child. Their third is protecting another child, isn’t he?’

  Kaji stared at Quin, and then looked around the room. He got slow nods of agreement from the others there.

  ‘Maybe that’s it. You see, this is also why we need you. You think well. If you go there claiming to be their third, we think that you will be thrown in with them, and then once we know how far along they are and how badly hurt we can decide how to get them out. The people who hold them are primitive, and have little technology. It shouldn’t be difficult, once we know what the medical situation is.’

  ‘Your information is accurate?’

  ‘Yes, we’re as sure as we can be. We’ve heard this from the embassy of the Verians, who don’t like it but can’t interfere beyond passing on information. Unless someone actually takes refuge in their embassy, of course. The Verians in turn are getting information from some people in the town who are more progressive and don’t approve of this either.’

  ‘When do we move?’

  ‘We’ll be in orbit in several hours, and have a fix on the town and this prison soon after that. We think we have two days before they are executed. You can get what supplies you’ll need together, and rest.’

  They all knew he wasn’t going to rest. None of them would. Two days didn’t give them a lot of margin for error.

  He put together a small pack of medical supplies, and wrapped it as tightly as possible in what looked to be a ragged dirty piece of blanket. Once he was inside the prison, he hoped he would be able to have that transported to him. He wasn’t sure how bad it would be in that prison cell, but he hoped that it would be bad enough that a small bundle wouldn’t stand out. He added a few small weapons, just in case. He was a medic, but he could also fight, and would for the life of one of theirs, and for an unborn one.

  Then he sat and prayed to the gods that this little family would find the safety that his hadn’t.

  Chapter 2.

  The town wasn’t quite as bad as he had expected it to be, although it was the middle of the night and he couldn’t see very much. He moved cautiously through the streets towards the location of the prison, and was getting close when he was tackled by several large bodies. He instinctively began to fight, but then remembered that he wanted to be caught
and thrown in jail.

  He relaxed, and to his surprise his captors relaxed as well. They examined him in the light from a street lamp, and looked pleased with themselves.

  “Take it easy, big guy. You’ll just get yourself arrested if you go up there.”

  He stared at them, wondering how to explain that he wanted to be arrested.

  “That’s your blue friend up there?” one of them asked. “We’re trying to get them both out, no point in you being in there as well. Why don’t we all work together on this?”

  This was making no sense at all, and he decided that perhaps some limited honesty was going to be the best approach.

  “I’ve been sent to get them out, but to do that I need to be in there with them. One of them isn’t well, and I can help.”

  They let go of him entirely, and sat back to look at him in surprise.

  “Seriously?”

  “Yes, seriously.” Did they think he was joking?

  “You’re from off planet?”

  “Yes. The universe is larger than just this place, you know.”

  Several of them winced, and he remembered that maybe they were on his side and he shouldn’t anger them.

  “Not everyone here is as ignorant as those who are in charge right now”, one said defensively.

  “Yes, I’m sorry. But one of our people is in your jail and sentenced to death. You understand, we need to do something about this.”

  Somewhat to his surprise, they nodded agreement.

  “You have a plan?”

  Of course he had a plan, he hadn’t come all this way without a plan, but he also wasn’t stupid enough to tell them what it was.

  “Do you?”

  “The guard on duty tonight, he’s sympathetic to us, but we’re trying to figure out how to move those two out of there without all of us ending up dead. The authorities are harsh. Our contact says they’re both very sick, and we’re not sure if they can even walk.”

  “Can’t you just go in and take them? Pretend to tie up the guard or something?

  “No, that would get the guard executed, and his family, and maybe us and our families. We’ve been trying to get someone in there for a couple of days now, just so we can see how badly off they are, and maybe we can get them to the Verian Embassy, but none of our people looked blue enough.”

  They settled back and looked at Quin.

  “Am I blue enough?” If the situation hadn’t been so grave he would have laughed. These were adults acting like a bunch of school children trying to pull off a prank.

  Quin sighed. “Fine, how do we do this?”

  His new friends, wearing hooded cloaks to hide their faces, hauled him up to the front doors of the prison. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it wasn’t much of a prison either, Quin thought.

  The jailer on duty saw his captors, and groaned.

  “Not again! Blue paint all over one of your buddies? Seriously? You think I’m going to risk my life for that?”

  “No, really, look, this is the genuine one!”

  The jailer looked more closely. “Damn, it is.”

  Quin was formally arrested, although without much of a search for any weapons he might be carrying. He could have brought a lot of things in with him.

  His jailer smiled at him, not unkindly. “Getting in is easy, it’s the getting out that is more difficult. I’m sorry I can’t do any more. I have a family to look out for.”

  This was indeed a low-tech prison. Getting out would be simple, and could be done in any number of ways. He didn’t bother telling his captor that.

  The jailer led him down a hall to the back of the building, then a heavy door clanked open, and he was pushed in.

  “Here you go, ladies, here’s your other one.”

  The two in there already, huddled together in the back of the cell, just held onto each other more tightly, radiating fear.

  Quin tried to send out reassurance, grateful that they could talk in their minds, silently. ‘It’s alright, I’m going to get you out, and then I’m going to find your third. Just for now, pretend I’m your third, alright? That way they won’t keep looking and he’ll be safer.’

  In the dark, he tried to figure out which was which, and then to his horror realized that both of the shadowy figures in front of him were swollen with child. He didn’t have to pretend his cry of shock and pain.

  ‘No! Oh, sweet ones, we didn’t know both of you are bearing. And these heathens want to …’ Quin choked, and then pulled himself together and focused his mind on Kaji.

  ‘Kaji, both are bearing, both far along. This complicates things. Can you send the bundle now, please?’

  A bundle appeared in the shadows and he quickly pulled it into a hug with the two, who were still staring at him numbly. They were both small and of slight build, and far too thin, but the size of their bellies suggested that they weren’t too far away from giving birth.

  In the dark it was hard to tell them apart, although the blue one who was of his people had black eyes, and the pale skinned human had blue eyes. Blue eyes to match the color of his beloved’s skin, Quin thought. Their babies would be beautiful.

  ‘I am Quin, who are you, sweet ones?’

  The one who was of his people finally spoke. ‘I am Dari, and this is Yselt. Why are you here?’

  Quin wondered if they had suffered brain damage. ‘I am here to get you both out, before these heathens can kill you and the babies you carry.’

  ‘To get us out?’

  ‘Yes, Dari, Yselt, we can transport you both out of this prison, as soon as we’re sure that you are medically stable. And then we’ll find your third, and get all of you back to the ship, where you can be safe.’

  ‘What ship?’

  Quin took a deep breath. ‘The Crusader. Our ship. You’ve been here a long time, haven’t you, sweet one?’

  ‘Most of my life, I think.’

  ‘Well, there is a whole universe away from this miserable planet, and one part of that universe is a planet full of people like us, other blue ones, who are your family. They’ll welcome you, and Yselt, and your third, and your babies.’

  ‘Our babies …’

  ‘Your babies will be safe and loved, believe me. We cherish all babies, all children, no matter what the race, or how many races.’ He meant this, he realized.

  Quin was surreptitiously unwrapping the bundle while they talked, and to anyone watching it would look like they were just holding onto each other and hugging.

  ‘May I examine you, please? Both of you? I’m a medic. We need to know that you’re healthy enough to transport. If you aren’t, we’ll blow the doors of this disgusting place down and take you out that way.’

  In the dim light, Quin moved carefully to take vital signs on them and the babies they carried. He sent all of the measurements and the readings to the ship, to the doctor waiting there.

  Then he settled down to wait, and opened his tunic. ‘Please, if you’ll both nurse on me, you’ll get strength from that. You need it, from the looks of you, little ones. You’ve been putting everything into the babies.’

  The blue-eyed human looked surprised. ‘You can nurse outside of a bond?’

  ‘Yes, we can, I can.’ He hesitated. “I had a triad, but they were both killed in an accident on another planet. But I can nurse you, and that will help you and your babies. Please, nurse while you can. We may have to move soon, and the babies need all the strength you can give them.’

  Gods, would these poor thin creatures even be able to move at all? Would their beautiful babies be healthy? Dari latched on first, and Quin gave himself over to the forgotten pleasure of having a beloved at his breast, even if it was someone else’s beloved. Yselt watched and then followed suit, more nervously, and Quin wrapped his arms around both of them.

  ‘How did you come to be here?’ Quin asked him, as they nursed.

  ‘I was born here, my parents were slaves’, Yselt said, ‘and it wasn’t too bad, at first, we were house slaves. But then thin
gs changed, we were sold, and our new masters were cruel. Our father died there. They owned Dari and our other one, who is also blue, and the three of us bonded. We didn’t mean to, but we couldn’t help it. We kept it a secret, and when … our third … had a baby they thought it was just the two of them. But now with Dari and me both bearing, we couldn’t hide it. We know it’s shameful, but …’

  ‘Shameful! Never.’ Quin was surprised at how angry he suddenly was. ‘Love is a good thing, no matter how many people, or what color they are. And for our people, bonding in triads is normal. Poor little ones, you’ve been abused in more ways than one.’

  ‘Dari, are there other blue ones here?’ Were there more that would need to be rescued?

  ‘Not that I have ever seen, other than our third. I think our masters would have bought them, to try to breed us, if there had been. They like exotic pets, and were angry when we were taken away from them.’

  Quin couldn’t even find words. Breed them? Pets? He held the two and rocked back and forth, crying inside.

  ‘Dari? You are not pets. You are people, intelligent beings. You and your third were stolen from your homes, our home planet, when you were children, and wrongfully brought to this place as slaves. But we are here to take you home. You and Yselt and your babies, you’ll all be safe now.’

  He was interrupted by a message from the Medical Officer on the Crusader.

  ‘Quin?’

  ‘Yes, Karo?’

  ‘We need to get them out of there and back to the ship right away, or they could lose those babies. And maybe their lives. They will probably survive a very short transport from there to outside the prison, and we can meet them with a shuttle craft and a medical team. The odds are better that way than taking them out in the middle of a fight. They can’t be stressed.’

  ‘We don’t have their third yet.’

  ‘The risk is very high, Quin.’

  ‘Kaji?’

  ‘I heard. We’ve found a secure place to land a shuttle not too far from the prison. It’s your call.’