Monsters Under Mistletoe

1. Olivia

Chapter 1

Olivia

I glanced around at the eager group and tried to muster some excitement. When we’d boarded this transport ship a few weeks ago, I had been itching to go, but two weeks confined to such a tiny living space with dozens of others was just... not my thing. Not anymore, especially considering it used to be my job. Maybe that’s why it sucked so much now. The reminder of my old job made my skin break out in hives.

“Are you okay there, Olivia?” Stella asked as she ducked into the communal eating and recreation room. It was the one all-purpose room on the ship where everyone gathered. Stella was a stunning, confident woman, but there was a hint of tiredness about her face that was hard to shake—courtesy of her kid, who was going through a teething phase.

Like me, Stella was human. Most of us on the ship were. But unlike me, she’d somehow gotten here from the past, by literally traveling through time—so the rumors went. Her mate was Kertinal, a native of planet Ker, where displaced humans like me had been granted sanctuary. “Displaced” was what most of the others called themselves, but I thought it was a silly euphemism that was driving me crazy. We weren’t displaced; the Earth government had sold us out after we’d each been convicted of a crime we may or may not have committed.

The Kertinals had rescued us and given us a home in one of several human compounds or sanctuaries on their planet. This was supposed to be a fun field trip for my group, led by Stella and her mate, Ru’ol—a chance to get away from the compound for a Christmas experience more enjoyable than being stuck behind gray walls. Frankly, the Kertinals were anything but creative. They focused on what was utilitarian, practical, and cheap to build.

“I’m okay,” I said to Stella, who was still waiting for me to answer. Unable to help myself, my eyes drifted over the crowd to the one guy I had known before all of this happened—Eli Stark, a pilot to my navigator skills. He was the guy I’d had a pretty bad crush on back when we both worked for the same private charter company. We’d been on trial together, convicted together, and fake executed together. We’d even ended up assigned to the same damn compound, but now his face was the last I ever wanted to see. It was the very reason my excitement for this trip had soured as much as it had.

Stella, sharp as ever, saw where my eyes had landed and offered me a gentle, understanding smile. “Eli again, huh? We’re almost at Strewn. There will be plenty of space to avoid him there. Come on, Liv. Where’s your Christmas spirit? Make some lemonade and all that jazz.”

That’s why I liked her. She said exactly what she was thinking, and she usually made me smile while she did it. She was right. I shouldn’t let Eli’s presence dampen my mood, even if the small transport ship had made it really hard to avoid him. He seemed to have made it his mission to bump into me as often as he could to try to engage me in conversation. It was driving me nuts.

“How long?” I asked curiously, my old navigator skills itching at the back of my mind to get a look at an onboard computer and some star charts. I was in an entirely foreign quadrant of space; if I allowed myself, studying the charts could be so much fun. But I was done making mistakes. I wasn’t going to let myself be responsible for anyone or anything, only myself.

“I think Ru will give the heads-up for docking any minute now,” Stella responded, then laughed when I turned and ducked out of the room to jog to the small bridge at the front of the ship. Her mate was a skilled pilot, and I really wanted to see him dock this ship at the fantastical shipyard in space that we were visiting. I’d been to shipyards before, but never one as big as this, or as impressive.

The view did not disappoint, even if the sight of the pilot startled me a little. I was watching from the bridge, accompanied by two Kertinals, one of whom had a baby strapped to his chest. No wonder Stella had been so cheerful; she got to take a break.

Ru’ol handled the ship’s controls as confidently as any pilot, and with nearly twenty years of experience under his belt, that came as no surprise. His dark skin was crisscrossed with glowing red lines, and his horns had a strange quirk that caused them to branch like antlers—very Christmassy. The little one he carried in a sling against his chest was fast asleep, a tiny boy with soft gray skin that hinted at pink beneath it, but the same red lines lay like a fine net of lightning bolts over his cherubic features.

Then the space station grabbed all my attention. It crouched like an enormous spider next to the biggest floating mass of broken ships and wreckage I’d ever seen. A central hub at its heart moved in gentle rotation, while nearly a hundred different docking arms stuck out in every direction. Some were clearly building yards, where new ships were in various states of construction; many others served the horde of ships that came and went like a swarm of bees. Small scavenger ships picked over the floating wrecks nearby.

This place was pretty cool, and Stella hadn’t lied—it was definitely huge and fantastical. Now I understood how one place could have a monopoly on all ships built by a neutral commercial faction. Most big shipyards back in the Alpha Quadrant were owned or run by the UAR, the government, but none were this big. The ship I’d navigated for the small charter had come out of a very tiny private yard on Earth Colony Four.

Even with a sleeping baby against his chest, Ru’ol effortlessly docked our transport vessel in our assigned berth. The second Kertinal, who had functioned as our navigator, chef, and communication specialist, was giving me odd stares as he talked with Strewn’s control tower. He was also going to double as a guard for us humans because, even in a shipyard that banned slavery, we weren’t entirely safe. With only two actual guards assigned, Ru’ol and this guy were going to have to work extra hard to keep ten humans safe.

“And we’re back,” Ru’ol said fondly. “You’re Stella’s friend, right? Olivia? I heard you were a Nav like Da’tor over there. Miss it?” I shook my head fiercely at the question, even though I felt a brief twinge of longing in my chest. Nope, I didn’t miss it in the least. I was not going to put myself in another position of responsibility like that. No way. Getting accused and fake executed for getting some fancy suit lost in an asteroid field for a few hours was enough.

I glanced at the hovering debris field I could still see beyond the docking arm our ship now rested against. It looked far too much like the kind of field I’d gotten turned around in; being that close to it made my hands clammy.

At least I wouldn’t be able to see it from inside Strewn, and we were supposed to head to a bar run by a human girl and her Kertinal mate, a friend of Ru’ol. They were putting on a special Christmas party just for us. I hoped I’d get back in the right mood once we got there. A distraction and a stiff drink might be exactly what I needed, though I didn’t expect the promised eggnog to taste right, this far away from Earth.

Not much later, I joined the eager group of humans, my backpack slung over my shoulders at the exit hatch. Everyone was talking in excited tones, and it was contagious. I wanted to see all the different aliens too, and I was curious about how a Kertinal would deck out his bar for Christmas. I also wanted to see what the space station looked like on the inside.

Then Eli sidled closer and offered me that big, charming smile that had once swept me off my feet. “You think they’ll have mistletoe at the bar, Livliv?” he asked in what was supposed to be a sexy drawl. The sound of that stupid nickname made my stomach twist; how had I ever found that charming? Past me was such an idiot.