Ethriel Read online

  Ethriel (Kanosian Warriors 4)

  by C.R Corbin

  ‘

  Table of contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  More from the Author

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  CHAPTER ONE

  Miranda

  "Miranda! Make sure those reports get to Holt as soon as you're done here!" my supervisor, Shannon, said to me and I can only grunt in affirmation.

  Why did it have to be this ship?

  The SS Inari was a special cargo ship commissioned by the local planets and we were to deliver a package to the port of Hitsugo which was quite a ways away. We had just gotten off Haran and were on a direct course, that meant a lot of days being spent here in the ship with all of my coworkers and my bosses...just my luck.

  "Alright so let's see here, so this pile should go under this stack and this...oh god there's coffee stains all over it." I said to myself as I sifted through the papers. With each new stack, my face grew more flustered with the inevitable frustration that I was feeling.

  I had left my home colony of Kirai in the hopes of finding an apprenticeship on one of the ships. After all, I did have a degree in computer science and engineering so I thought that going out here might be the perfect opportunity for me to find some sort of job or internship. I was a freshly graduated Kiraian girl without a lick of sense and in my idiocy, I ended up signing up with the Inari. Only later did I find out signing up with cargo ships were a bad idea as most of the people on there were merely blue-collar workers and not the scientists that I was hoping to cultivate something of a professional relationship with. In addition, the tenure on these ships was incredibly long and I signed a contract that would have locked me into serving one of these crews for...god I don't even know how long my contract would end up being at the end of the day. 6 months?

  There were plenty of opportunities that I could have seized. Working at the ports on Kirai or going towards the outer spaceships that simply made routine patrols around my solar system. Instead, I sought adventure and look where it brought me, to this job where I'm cleaning coffee spills and tossing out papers instead of actually doing work that would be more suited to my skill set.

  My friends made it a point to rub it into my face every time I called back. They would tell me about how they're serving under a prestigious researcher or when they had contracts with a large shipping company. Hell some of them even got government contracts which was especially infuriating and frustrating. I graduated at the top of my class and was now paying for one mistake!

  And the worst part is...the ships were filled with Kanosians.

  Not that I hated them or anything but tensions were still high between our races since the war had only ended a couple of years back. My father had served in the military when the wars were going on and he still has scars from combating them. He regaled me with a story one time about how he was stuck in some trench on an ice world only for one Kanosian to hop into his little hole and claw his teammates to death like an animal. My father got into a struggle with him and was only able to defeat him after using the laser cutter to slice the Kanosians neck, dad ended up getting his left arm amputated after that. When mom saw him come home, she nearly had a heart attack from the shock and I was a bit scared too. This pre-teen looking up at her father who was battered and distant, an eternal hatred brewing in his eyes.

  As for relations now...they are better than outright hostility but I wouldn't call them preferable...strange I know.

  In some ways I wanted them to just attack and rip us to shreds in order to get the stiff and awkward atmosphere off of my chest. Each time I walked into the dining hall there would be little to no interaction between the two of us and every time I had to deliver something to a Kanosian they just bore into me with those cold eyes of theirs.

  Apparently, we were getting some new arrivals this time after we took a quick pit stop on Lehren, a colony that was on the way to Hitsugo.

  "Miranda! Are you done in there?" called out Shannon and I sighed as I nodded, yeah just about it looked like. I had to deliver this final package to the supervising officer and that would be it.

  I picked up the package and started towards the door. As I walked down the hallway I felt the leering eyes of the local crew gaze into me. The men on this ship were absolutely unashamed in their admiration and it showed in the intensity with which they stared and even complimented me. There weren't that many young women on this ship and many of them were already taken. I was one of the "leftover scraps" as I would like to call it. After all what kind of man would want this sort of body? This sort of curvaceous flesh on his bed. None!

  And then there were women like Sheena who were taken at first glance by one of the ship's most dashing officers. She was the cause of many cafeteria brawls that would be had over the last several weeks on this ship. As soon as she got on all the men thought that she would be the one to claim but they underestimated Officer Charo's charms.

  "Miranda! Let me take you out!" called out one of the enlisted men, he was a bold one, usually, they just stared and giggled incessantly like children. I rolled my eyes at him and walked away in reaction to his calls.

  I was here for a job and nothing more. There was little to no interest in men lurking in the depths of my consciousness and I don't think that there would ever be at this point. Perhaps it was all the years of teasing taking their toll on my psyche but I could never picture myself with anyone, especially not one of these Neanderthals. I think if I had a dream man he would be intelligent, incredibly driven, handsome, and muscular...yes there would need to be a lot of muscles.

  But he wouldn't be such a brute like some of the idiots on this craft. The men here were all too caught up in their tiny worlds of midnight patrols, card games, and occasional potshots in the shooting gallery. I don't even think most of these guys have seen battle before. The ship didn't really hire that many veterans of the Kanosian wars in an effort to keep the peace in a way. If there were those kinds of men on this ship I would feel even less protected because I would constantly be looking over my shoulder to see if a battle would be breaking out. That was not something that I really needed at the moment, especially not with all of the stress surfacing.

  I heaved the papers up the stairs and walked into the office of Holt. It was large, larger than the offices we had downstairs anyway. To think that there were holograms and spaceships and people still relied on paperwork to get things done. I suppose old human habits die hard, especially with most people not trusting electronic contracts. It was still a pain in the ass regardless of the reason.

  "Ah yes, Miranda. Set them down right here." Ian said, he was an older gentleman, middle-aged with two kids back on some distant colony that was a bit closer to Earth than here, it was in Alpha Centauri now that I thought about it.

  "Thank you." he croaked out from his slumped position in that chair of his. He looked like he hadn't shaved in weeks judging from the beard growth and it looked like he hasn't been getting that much sleep either. I bit my lip in an attempt to hold back the questions I had for him but they began to leak out regardless of my efforts.

  "Something wrong?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and he shook his head.

  "No, no. The men made me stay up late for the card games yesterday in celebration for my birthday. I haven't got a wink of sleep in two days because of it...And I now have a large pile of paperwork." he groaned and I averted my eyes. Squeaking out a "sorry" while I did so, he only laughed.

  "This isn't your fault, don't worry about it ...You keeping up alright?" he asked. It was rare that we ever spoke, all I knew was that he was the supervising officer in charge of my section of the ship and that was basically it. Everything else about the man had been a mystery to me but I suppose he was merely bored and wanted to humor me

  "Yeah. Everything's fine ...Are the Kanosians all ready to board? How many are we losing?" I asked and he sighed as he flicked his hand and let a hologram spring to life right next to his face. He gazes at it and these various graphs pop up in front of me. His eyes remained glued to the glowing yellow screen as he flicked his way through the various images before settling on one.

  "About 50 are leaving today and...wow that's sort of a large number. Guess the budget cuts gave us no other choice."

  "Is that going to be an issue?"

  "No, not at all. Then again you're an officer so you might know more but I feel like this ship doesn't even need protection half of the time. We haven't even been attacked by a stray bandit cruiser. The reduced number should be fine ...How many are coming on?"

  "About 10. Not that many I’ll admit."

  "Are they good?"

  "Well, they all seem to know their way around blasters and other basic weaponry so I expect that we should be fine. One of them is a young guy, just got out of training actually, looks to be near your age so there's another twenty-something man that will be here for you to preoccupy yourself with. Good record though."

  "Ugh, please don't talk to me about dating or anything like that. I hear enough about it from all of the men that leered at me on the way here."
>
  "Sorry honey. Soldiers will be soldiers you know?"

  "I guess..." I finally said before turning on my heel. After exchanging goodbyes I went towards the cafeteria. It was my lunch hour and I was going to damn well use it no matter what I was told by Shannon or anyone else for that manner. I needed it after Shannon woke me up at nearly 4 am to help her fill out some emails that she had to send. Not that there was morning on this damn ship anyways.

  #

  Ethriel

  "Here we are! New home kid, hope you like it." said Urem, he was one of the soldiers that had been hired alongside me. Initially, I could have taken the opportunity after I graduated to sign up for some bandit hunting but my advisors had told me that signing up with a cargo ship looked real good on the resume for a soldier hoping to move up in the ranks so I went with that. I had just entered the force when they assigned me, apparently this ship was getting downsized in regards to the number of soldiers due to its relatively safe nature and the fact that most of the men wanted off of it so I decided it would be perfect for me.

  "I've seen ruins that are younger." I said regarding the craft as it touched down in front of me. It looked like a collection of brown rusted metal plates slammed together more than an actual spaceship but I suppose that's what cargo ships looked like nowadays.

  I really should have signed up for bandit hunting instead. I was beginning to regret my decision to sign up to do something like this.

  The moment I saw the ship I recoiled as every single negative outcome played itself in my mind. What if I never got to fight and just stayed on guard duty all day? What if working on the ship was a blotch on my record and I had to wait another few years until I got into officer school?

  The ramp drops and I walked up with the small bag in my hand and my armor clasping around my body. It would seem that it wouldn't be needed it but a soldier always came prepared and I wanted to wear armor in order to show these human soldiers that I was a professional, that I was serious. I think all that I got in return was a bunch of stares and laughing at my expense. As if I was somehow a fool for coming onto this ship prepared.

  Whatever.

  The quarters that I was allotted were rather small. A simple bed against the wall, a desk, and a bathroom down the hallway. This space was rather cramped and I had a sneaking suspicion that it was initially designed for humans and not Kanosians but was used to lodge our men. The beds barely fit me and it looked like the walls didn't provide much in the way of noise reduction.

  Ah well. I suppose I should likely get a meal in before we leave.

  I walked down the metal halls and headed towards the cafeteria. The various soldiers stared at me with looks of condescension while I only glared back. It all came to a head once I walked to the end of one hallway in order to access the stairwell and was confronted by a group of human enlisted men who thought they were hotshots.

  "Hey Kanosian! Get me a beer while you're done there!" called out one of the men, he was young with a mop of brown hair atop his head and green eyes. He was surrounded by about four more men, all seemed a bit intoxicated.

  "Excuse me whelp?" I asked him as my red eyes glimmered in the darkness. My blue skin was painted a shade of grey in the golden light of this ship that was shining to my side. I must have looked intimidating but if I did, he didn't care.

  "I said go get me a beer you goddamn crawling dumbass!" he yelled at me and his friends laughed in reaction. I could tell that just wanted to get a rise out of the new guy but...this could not stand. They had insulted my honor!

  My claws pop out of my fingers and I made my way towards him as I gripped his shirt and flipped him over. He flopped on the floor beneath me while I held him down, my fingers were pressed against his neck and I could probably kill him here if I wanted to.

  "Oh shit...Hey man calm down." said one of the human soldiers behind me, the one beneath me didn't even say a word in fear of his throat being cut open by my claws.

  "What the hell is going on here! Oh gods, break it up." growled a Kanosian officer as he stepped up to me, he pulled me off of the human but not before I shot the quivering coward a glare. The officer takes me off to the side while the other man was also given a stern talking to. As I was walking away I spotted a woman in the small crowd that had formed, I was under the impression that there weren't that many young women on this ship but she was...wondrous.

  She had long locks of brown hair that fell down her back and the most lovely blue eyes to match them. She stared at me for a second while I looked back at her. That curvaceous body of her's was..incredible. The expression on her face seemed to be more tired than anything and I wondered how someone so lovely could work on-

  "Are you listening to me warrior? Never do anything of the sort again. I don't care how much he provokes you. Do not, under any circumstances, attack one of your fellow crew members..." commanded the commanding officer. I didn't even really know him but I dumbly nodded anyways and looked at him as he walked away from me. I stay in place and sighed while glancing back at my own hands that had just dug into that man's flesh...

  This was going to be a long 5 krusis. Might as well go to the cafeteria in the meantime.

  I walked towards the glowing doors and waited as they opened in front of me. They slide to the side and I looked at the various tables inside and locked eyes with the man that I had an encounter with earlier. He only shuttered in reaction and attempted to glare at me but it wasn't that intimidating. I made a note to get vengeance somehow...perhaps some laxatives in his food would be a suitable punishment.

  "Here! Come here Ethriel! Come eat with your brethren!" called out one of the soldiers that I met during my assignment. Urem, I think his name was.

  I walked up and greeted all of my fellow Kanosian warriors with a loud "Hello!" and they all welcomed me into their company. I sit down and stared at the large pile of meat and wild vegetables in front of me before digging in. We spoke at length and soon I found myself coming out of my shell, perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if I had brothers like this to endure this experience with.

  And out of the corner of my eye, I could just about spot that woman that had enchanted me so much.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Miranda

  Perhaps this day wasn't as droll and boring as I thought. That fight back there was a nice change of pace in my eyes and I was happy to see it. Too bad that might be one of the only exciting things that were going to be happening once the new Kanosians got settled in.

  The man who pinned that smug prick, Jonah, down was one of the new Kanosians. A young Kanosian that was presumably the same one that I had talked to Ian about. I didn't know for sure but judging by how shiny those horns and how....angelic his face was I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one.

  He probably towered over me at about 7 feet and judging by how his arms flexed when he held Jonah down I could tell that he was incredibly strong, perhaps stronger than average even. I have never seen a human get rag-dolled so easily by a Kanosian until now. Jonah nearly pissed his pants! It was incredible!

  From the looks of it, he knew how to fight as well and from the fire in those red eyes, he didn't look like he suffered fools. Under the light, it was hard to tell if his skin was grey or blue but eventually I figured that it was blue, a light shade. That bundle of spiked black hair shook atop his head and melded with his ebony horns while he held the man down beneath him, looking almost like a god of war in some sense of the term.

  Was I really thinking this much about a Kanosian? Come on woman have some control. So he was impressive while taking down a jackass...don't get all hot for him now.

  I sighed and continued spooning the gruel into my mouth while I glared at the men that tried to sit beside me and chat me up. I usually sat in the corner in an attempt to get the men to avoid me. Lunch was one of the only times I got any real amount of peace thanks to all the other, better looking untaken women hanging out for the men to leer and flirt with. I was left alone, given the honor of eating in the corner by myself.

  "Hello? May I sit here?" asked a Kanosian as he stepped up to me, the same one that had been involved in that brawl from before. I looked up at him with a shocked expression and glance back to the Kanosian tables where a small group of men were staring at him with anticipation in their eyes.