Free Of Blood and Angels (The Two Moons of Rehnor, Book 3) by J. Naomi Ay Page A

cell.
    She shook her head no.  “You are not to be
left alone, Madame.”
    “Says who?” I demanded.
    “Andorus serves the MaKennah ka Rehnor,
our Overlord,” she said again.  “The MaKennah has the powers of a great and
wondrous god.”
    “Yeah, yeah,” I heard that,” I snapped. 
“Give it a rest.”
    Hevzi stared at me.
    “What?”
    He shrugged and turned back to his
console.
    “Can you get me some coffee, please?” I
asked the Andorian.  “Decaf single tall skinny vanilla latte?”
    “Yes, Madame,” she cried jubilantly as if
I just rewarded her.  She ran off in the lift I was planning to use.
    Hevzi snickered.
    I glared at him and my cell as I waited
for the lift to return.  When it did, I had lost my signal. 
    “Sorry Commander,” Lt. Perina, the
communications officer, called after I waved my cell at her.  “We're already
into the dark.”
     
    By the end of the week, I had four
Andorian crew following me around including my once translator, Tilia.  They
would take turns, whoever was off duty became my personal servant.  Despite how
many times I would yell at them to leave me alone, they stood outside my cabin
or in the bridge elevator or where ever else I happened to be.
    “This is ridiculous, Commander,” Captain
Richard growled after summoning me into his office again.
    “I know, Sir.  I've told them to leave me
alone.”
    “Do you know why they are doing it?” the
Captain demanded.
    I thought carefully before answering.
    “They think my husband is their overlord?”
    Richard laughed heartily.  “Yes, I did
hear that from the Andorian Prime Minister.  Seems your husband is either the
Infidel or the Savior depending on which planet he is on.”
    “You know about the Infidel stuff on
Rozari?” I gasped.
    “Of course.  I had to approve his petition
for boarding privileges didn't I?”
    “I guess,” I replied, feeling pretty
stupid.  I wondered what else the Captain knew.
    “I'll see if I can put a stop to this
while you are aboard,” Richard said.  “But I can't make any promises about what
they'll do when you are ashore.”  He laughed again.  “Looks like you've got
your own groupies.”
    Unfortunately, the Captain was not able to
put an end to the Andorians attending to me.  Citing cultural differences, the
Andorian government claimed it was their religious duty to serve me and by
preventing that on board, Spaceforce was violating their civil rights.  Nobody
seemed to care about my civil rights.
    I think I developed an ulcer during this
time.  I almost hoped that Andorians were following Senya around Rozari,
keeping an eye on him.  Between the annoyance of their constant hovering and my
worrying about him, I barely slept and felt like a hole was burning in my
stomach.
    Two days before we emerged from deep
space, I was working two shifts because the Captain had a report to finish and
could not sit the com.  I was tired.  I had been on duty nearly twenty hours
and I dragged myself down to my cabin to sleep for a brief four hours before I
had to take the com again. 
    “Katie?”  Jerry nearly scared me out of my
skin by coming up behind me as I unlocked my cabin door.
    “What the hell were you doing?” I gasped.
    “I was just waiting to ask you
something.”  He threw up his hands.  “No need to bite off my head.  Do you
think I have enough money in my budget this year to request another nurse?”
    “Come in,” I sighed even though I was so
tired I could hardly see.  “Let me just pull it up for a second and look at
it.”  I pushed open the door to my cabin and turned on the light.  I shrieked!
    “What?” Jerry shrieked back.
    “Senya!” I cried and raced over to the
bed.  He was lying there face down, covered in what looked like red dust with
cuts all over his arms and legs.  His hair was filthy and matted with red mud. 
“Senya!  Senya!” I shook him.
    “Katie, what the hell is going on?” Jerry
grabbed my arm. “He's not