Delivered by the Defender (Kindred Tales)

The first time she had felt this, Selena had freaked out. But now she knew what it was—someone was trying to contact her via a Think-me—one of the telepathy machines the Kindred used to talk to each other instead of cell phones.

She opened her mind and at once heard her friend’s mental voice.

“Selena? Selena can you hear me?” Jess sounded upset and distracted.

“Yes, I can hear you—where are you?” Selena sent back. “I just got into the Ma’shorkan spaceport but I didn’t see you anywhere.”

“That’s because I’m not there,” Jess sent to her. “I mean, I am there, but I’m at the other end of the spaceport from where you came in, waiting to get on a shuttle myself.”

“What? Why are you there?” Selena asked. “Is everything okay?”

“No—no, everything is not okay.” Jess’s mental voice sounded like she might be crying. “I just got a message a little while ago that my little sister was in a car wreck down on Earth.”

“What? Oh no—is she all right?” Selena sent, filled with worry and sympathy for her best friend.

“I don’t know—she’s in surgery right now.” Jess’s mental voice was trembling. “I have to go be with her, Selena—I hope you understand.”

“Of course I understand!” Selena sent at once. “You should absolutely go be with her! I’ll just catch the next shuttle back to the Mother Ship.”

She hated that her trip had ended almost before it had begun, but she didn’t blame her friend. Family had to come first—she just hoped Jess’s little sister was all right.

But then Jess’s mental voice came back, stronger than ever.

“No, no—don’t do that, please don’t cancel,” she begged. “If you do, the Ma’shorkan emperor will be so angry with Tolern and me! We’ve been talking you up to him for days—your performance is going to be the centerpiece of the gala!”

“It is? But, Jess—I don’t know anybody else here,” Selena protested. “Where will I stay? How am I going to get to the gala when I don’t even know where I am? And you know my awful sense of direction!”

“I know, I know—I thought of all that,” Jess told her. “You can stay at our place—the Ambassador’s quarters are right inside the palace, you know. And I got one of the palace guards to come and meet you at the end of the concourse—right where the long hallway dumps out into the main rotunda. He’ll have a holo sign with your name on it and he’ll drive you exactly where you need to go in the hover car.”

“But—” Selena began to protest. But Jess’s mental voice interrupted her.

“Just be sure you get there in time for your introduction to the emperor and his three empresses—it’s very important that you don’t miss it. The guard who’s meeting you will have your itinerary.”

“But—” Selena started again.

“Oh, Tolern is telling me they’re calling for us to board and there’s no Think-me communication allowed on board the shuttle,” Jess sent. “Please promise me you’ll still do the gala—we’ll get in such awful trouble if you don’t!”

“All right,” Selena agreed helplessly—really, what else could she say?

“Thank you—you’re the best,” Jess told her. “Just go straight to the rotunda and find the guard with your name on the sign. And whatever you do, stay out of the public restrooms—they’re not safe for women alone. You have to have a man standing outside waiting for you if you’re going to use one.”

“What? Why?” Selena demanded.

But the connection was suddenly broken and she realized that her friend must have taken off her Think-me in order to board the shuttle that would take her back to Earth.

There was nothing to do now but try and get safely away from the public restroom—which she hadn’t even been able to use—and try to find her way to the rotunda, where the Ma’shorkan palace guard was hopefully waiting for her.

7

Selena tried to keep a wary eye on her surroundings as she cautiously exited the public bathroom. She looked all around her, scanning for danger, but all she saw were crowds of people rushing past, apparently in a hurry to make their flights.

Then she heard a stern, male voice saying,

“Come, Lashandra—you take too long!”

“Yes, Master.” A tall, slim, Ma’shorkan woman with pink and purple skin and bare breasts brushed past Selena and hurried up to a Ma’shorkan man with two faces. She nodded her head obediently and murmured, “Forgive me.”

“I will decide later if I should forgive you or punish you,” the man said coldly, speaking out of his top mouth as the bottom one pursed its lips in irritation. “It depends on if we’re late or not. Now, come.”

He took hold of the end of her breast leash, which was dangling down from the silver nipple rings she wore, and tugged it impatiently. The Ma’shorkan woman gave a little cry that seemed to be half pleasure/half pain and stumbled forward quickly, clearly wanting to keep up with her Master before he tugged at her again.