Free Blue Galaxy by By Diane Dooley

kissing. Her lips parted; she was unable to refuse. He kissed her—and an entire crowd of crying, kneeling lowlifes and scumbags emitted, en masse, a long-drawn-out sigh. When the cheering started, Sola blushed and broke the kiss before whispering into his ear. “Just for a short while, then. You’re right. We must consummate the marriage. I’ll go find us a decent place to stay.” She pulled back and frowned. “That woman was just despicable. You should be more careful with your…friends.”
    The crowd parted before her as she walked away, followed by a thousand curious gazes, Javan’s among them, fixed to the swaying movement of her rear.
    She was right about one thing: he needed to be lot more careful in choosing his friends.
     
    Javan had never felt better. He’d enjoyed a thoroughly exhausting honeymoon and he’d been able to trick Sola into believing a malfunction required they both strap in while detaching from the space station. He hadn’t quite forgiven her for the painful and embarrassing experience of passing the incendiary device, but was relieved it no longer resided in his gut. And now he had her where he wanted her: hog-tied to the control chair, wrists strapped to the armrests, and ready to answer a slew of questions.
    Except she wasn’t talking. Much.
    “This is no way to treat your wife!”
    “I need some answers. We go nowhere until I get them.”
    “I’m pregnant! How can you do this to me?”
    She didn’t appear scared or annoyed. Instead she displayed her mischievous smile—the one he had such trouble resisting. He also had trouble with her shy smile, her sad smile and all the other smiles, but right at this moment it was the mischievous one that was making it hard for him to stay stern.
    “Answers, Sola,” he said firmly. “First, how can you be pregnant?” He touched the implant in her inner elbow.
    “I deactivated it.”
    “Okay. When?”
    “Before boarding the ship.”
    He stilled. “Before you even met me?”
    Even tied up she managed an elegant shrug.
    “Was marrying me and getting pregnant your plan all along?”
    She studied him dispassionately. “We selected you from a short list.”
    “What were the qualifications for this list?”
    “Desperate for credits, with a decent, low-profile ship. Brave enough and stupid enough to take the job.” She gave another shrug.
    He sat in his command chair. “Anything else?”
    “That was all that was required. I selected you because…”
    “Please, do tell. Why was I the lucky one who was chosen to marry you, impregnate you and probably get killed by your father?”
    She squirmed while he waited for an answer. Flustered, she finally said, “You won’t believe me.”
    “Probably not. You’ve given me no reason to believe anything you say.”
    He watched as she worked up the courage to divulge her secret.
    The words came out in a rush. “I’ve had a crush on you since I was twelve years old.”
    He had to laugh. “Oh, come on. You can do better than that.”
    “I’m telling the truth. After the Battle of Lunar Base, you came back to a hero’s welcome. The dictator met with you. He praised you, decorated you and announced you were alliance-worthy and he would be given a wife—you would become a Blue.”
    Javan was silent.
    “I was there. I was at your wedding ceremony. I was furious they were marrying you off to such a…a…bimbo!”
    Javan shook his head. Impossible.
    “You were so handsome, so brave. You’d saved us. You were a hero. I cried.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “I was very young.”
    “I don’t believe you,” he repeated.
    She turned sharply. “Listen to me. For your own safety there are things I need to explain.” She closed her eyes, paused, then spoke through a tightly clenched jaw. “My father has had a multitude of children with many different women. He was trying to breed certain types of children. We were trained, we were tested and the ones who didn’t make the grade