Nikhil(22)

Treyvon's eyes widened slightly at how she challenged his Commander, and Nikhil looked down at her with pride. His True Mate had been through a great deal, but she hadn't let it break her as it had so many of the other survivors. She was strong and had fire. She was the perfect True Mate for him.

"Ashe Mackenzie," Treyvon's words broke the stare down Gryf and Mackenzie were having. "You are currently on the planet Pontus. Does that mean anything to you?"

"No. Should it?" she asked.

"It is a small planet in the Kaliszian Empire near the Tornian Empire," Treyvon told her.

"Okay."

"That means nothing to you?" Treyvon questioned.

"No."

"What about the planets Crurn, Imroz, Dzhalil or Kuzbass?" Treyvon continued to question.

"Never heard of them."

"Luda or Tornian?" Treyvon tried again.

"No."

Treyvon leaned back in his chair, thinking. This female didn't appear unintelligent, or uneducated, even though she did not know how to open a door. But different species did things differently. "What planets do you know then? What ones do you travel to?"

"You mean physically or with satellites?"

"Physically."

"We've only ever traveled to our moon. We don't have any ships like the one the Ganglians took us in."

"You..." Treyvon looked at her in shock. "You do not travel to other worlds? Do not interact with other species?"

"No. While there are those that believe there is life on other planets, we've never had any direct contact with them. Not until the Ganglians took us. And now that we've 'interacted,' as you so nicely put it," she gave Treyvon a hard look, "with the Ganglians and Zaludians, I can honestly say we're not missing much!"

"I can understand that," Treyvon agreed. "You have unfortunately experienced two of the worst species in the Known Universes. Had I been able to prevent it, I would have. And if possible would like to make sure they are not the first the rest of your species encounter, but I need your help to do that."

"My help?"

"Yes, we have no idea where your home world is."

"What? How is that possible? I mean we were brought here on a ship."

"On a Ganglian ship," Treyvon said, "and none of them we have encountered contained any information on any previously unknown planets or species."

"How is that possible? Were we the only ones taken?"

"No. There was a ship six weeks ago now, a Ganglian ship. It is what brought our attention to what was happening here on Pontus." He gave her a regretful look. "They carried Jerboaian males in their haul that we believe they were going to sell to the Zaludians for the mines... and a female. But they deleted all their navigational history."

"A female?"

"Mackenzie," Nikhil turned to face her, not liking how pale she'd suddenly become.

"A Jerboaian female?" she asked, remembering the terrified squeals of the Jerboaian females as they'd been dragged away, one by one, until there were none left. Even worse, she could still hear the pain-filled cries that followed. But even more terrible was when they stopped and all you heard was the hum of the ship's engine. And you knew...

"No. She was similar to you, yet still very different, and the Ganglians severely abused her. It is why we need to understand why they abused her and not you." Treyvon flinched when Nikhil began to growl angrily at him. He understood Nikhil's anger and he hated pressing a female like this, especially one that had obviously survived a great deal, but they needed this information. The Ganglians would never have sold a female to the Zaludians. There was no point in it. They would have used her themselves then sold her if she managed to survive.

"They didn't know I was female," she whispered, putting a hand on Nikhil's chest and to Treyvon's surprise, the growling stopped.

"How could they not know?" Treyvon asked because looking at her now, there was no way he would mistake her for anything other than what she was, a beautiful female.

"We were all dressed the same. My hair was pulled up, and it wasn't this long." She touched the hair hanging down past her shoulders, absently fingering the bead in her hair. "The guys made sure they never did."

"You’re saying the Ganglians never knew you were female?" Treyvon asked in disbelief.

"No. I mean yes, they never knew. They may be vicious, savage creatures," her eyes flashed at Treyvon, "but they aren't that smart. Neither were the Zaludians. They just believed what the Ganglians told them."

"Yes, they would," Treyvon agreed. "Can you tell us more?"