delay unpleasant tasks, nor do we need time to prepare. We all wish to get this over with as soon as possible. I know no healer will touch me, because using a dermal healing unit would be considered throwing the punishment back in Mathadar’s face. I am no stranger to pain, so I will endure. I have fallen much in such a short duration of time.
We enter an empty loading bay on Mathadar’s shuttle and I shove my uniform open and back off my shoulders. Two warriors step forward to chain my hands above my head. Since scourging my back would rip apart my wings and I would be no use as a soldier, Mathadar will deliver the blows to my chest. When the electro-whip slashes across my chest for the first time, I know true pain.
Grounded
Juliet
“Mother, what have you done?” Chantel’s alarmed voice wakes me from a deep sleep. A mother always knows by the tone of her child’s voice when something is really wrong. Even though Chantel is an adult, I respond to the inflection of her voice by rolling immediately out of bed. “What’s going on?” Grabbing for my weapons, I ask, “Are we under attack?”
“No. It’s nothing like that. It’s something to do with that woman you picked up yesterday.”
Sitting on the edge of the bed, I let out a sigh of relief. “What about her? Don’t tell me she turned up infected.” My anxiety ratchets up a couple of notches. This planet is now supposed to be parasite free. If we find more women infected, it means the war’s not over. I don’t know how much more fighting I can endure, mentally and physically.
“Tell me about what happened when she wanted to be taken to the ship.”
Dropping my weapons onto the bed, I stretch my arms up into the air, cracking my back. “What do you think happened? I told her hell no and got on with the mission.”
“You mean the mission you weren’t even in charge of?”
“Queens command, warriors obey. You know their mantra better than me.”
She drops down into a seat in front of me, running her hands over her face. “Do you realize that your hefty ass sidekick got demoted and punished with an electric whip until he bled last night because of your interference? You’re always like a bull in a china shop, and this time you really messed up.”
“What on Earth are you talking about?” Jerking forward, I reach for my uniform. “Why in the hell would they punish Borak?”
Chantel looks at me with pity. “It seems he didn’t follow instructions given by his chain of command to rescue women requesting sanctuary. He also put a queen’s life in danger by keeping her out in the desert all day on military maneuvers. Most importantly, they’re saying that he didn’t follow her directions when she asked to be taken to safety.”
“Now that makes me mad. It was my decision, not his.”
“Only you weren’t in charge of the mission, were you?”
When I don’t immediately answer, she continues. “You weren’t even following the mission parameters, which were to rescue women and track the Sonarians. It’s like you simply chose the part that was important to you personally and practically ignored the rest. Borak was in charge of that mission and he paid the price for your screw up.”
“What the hell are you saying, they rank stripped him and tortured him because I ran over him to complete the mission?”
“No. I’m saying they flayed him open because he allowed you to interfere in a situation you had no business trying to control.” She pushes out an exasperated breath. “They say you even denied the other woman the right of conquest.”
Trying to get my head around what she’s telling me, I have to admit to feeling a little lost. “I thought that was something from their past, queens fighting against each other for control of ships and such.”
Shaking her head, my daughter breaks it down for my obviously still sleep-addled brain. “Females have the right to fight as a means of settling any dispute. Borak allowed you to steam roll over her and deny this new queen her rights.”
“She was an indigent. Our mission is important, damn it. Why can’t anyone understand that?”
“Draconians don’t really make differences between homeless folks and high ranking military officers. To them we’re all queens, remember?”
Nodding, I realize that I’ve swallowed the bunk Earth Gov has been teaching about the status disparity between the destitute and everyone else. I grew