Haven 2: Redemption Read online

  CONTENTS

  Contents

  Cover Credit

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  About This Book

  Beginnings

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  From the Author

  About the Author

  #

  Cover Credit

  Christopher Coyle

  darkandstormyknight.com

  Thank you for adorning my words so beautifully.

  Your talent knows no bounds!

  Sandra R Neeley

  P.O. Box 1464

  Hammond, LA 70404

  [email protected]

  97,672 words.

  Haven 2: Redemption

  by Sandra R Neeley

  Copyright © 2020 SANDRA R NEELEY

  All rights reserved.

  Thank you for purchasing and/or downloading this book. It is the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and/or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes without express written permission from the author.

  Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales, is purely coincidental. The characters are creations of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademarked ownership of all trademarks and word marks mentioned in this book.

  For all of you who love Zha Quin, and Haven 1.

  I hope you love Rokai just as much.

  About This Book

  Haven 2: Redemption

  !Trigger Warning!

  Cast aside and forced to live apart from his family as a child, Rokai ahl has become insolent, resentful, angry, borderline criminal, and a general outcast as an adult. He has managed to build a life for himself in which he answers to no one and nothing. His loyalty lies with only himself. Having been captured, and threatened with execution as a thief and smuggler, he is surprised when the Consortium delivers him into the hands of a certain male. The very male he has resented since he was old enough to understand, that because of this male, he would never be enough. He stalks the corridors of Command Warship 1, on lockdown, arrogantly daring any and all to challenge him. But of course, none do. Until a golden skinned, curvy, human female dares to go toe-to-toe with him — to take from him, and leave him wanting. Who is this fiery little female? Why does she not fear him as all others do? Intrigued, he will not stop until he knows all there is to know about her.

  Growing up on the streets of New York has made her hard and street smart. She ran with her own crew, doing whatever was necessary to survive. Though nothing prepared her for waking up on an alien ship, her lungs filled with viscous fluid, her body and choices no longer her own. But she’s alive — she survived, and in order to move past it all, she’s decided to write off the horrors she’s endured as payment for that survival. Rosalita is not a weak female, but she’s lost confidence. She needs to regain control, to feel powerful again. Manipulation of another is the easiest way for her to do that. And there’s a newly arrived alien roaming the ship begging for confrontation. He seems just the type she’s looking for. She recognizes him for what he is — a player and an outcast. She was one back on Earth as well and reads the signs easily. So, she’s got this, she will take control, she will find her strength once again. It’s time for the alien player to be played.

  Rokai ahl, and Rosalita will perform a delicate dance, the balance of power tilting this way and that. Neither are able to look away from the undeniable pull they feel toward one another. Will they tear each other apart with their power play? Or will they finally see through their own arrogance long enough to realize the only path to redemption lies within each other?

  Warning: Trigger Warning! Intended for mature audiences. This book contains explicit violence, abuse both real and inferred, and sexual situations that may be disturbing for some readers. If you are offended by these subjects, please do not buy this book.

  Beginnings

  Pronunciations

  Name - Pronunciation, Nickname(s) - Pronunciation

  Rokai ahl — Roe kye all

  Gaishon — Guyshon

  Li’Orani — Lee Ore ahni

  Kron — Kron

  Zha Quin Tha Tel Mo’ Kok - Shah Keen Tha Tell Moe Coke, Zha Quin -

  Shah Keen, Quin - Keen

  Zha Tahl Tel Mo’ Kok - Shah Tall Tell Moe Coke, Zha Tahl — Shah Tall

  Eula — Youlah

  Ba Re’ Non Tol - Bah Ray Non Toll, Ba Re’ - Bah Ray

  Kol Ra’ Don Tol - Cole Rah Don Toll, Kol - Cole, aka Blue-Dude

  Jhan Re’ Non Tol - Shahn Ray Non Toll, Jhan - Shahn

  Xallen -Zallen

  Vor - Vor

  Kail - Kale

  Zahn - Zon

  Rel - Rel

  Asl - Acel

  General Lo’San - General Low Sahn

  Vilshhelkrj - Impossible to pronounce - Vennie

  Ehlealah - Eh lee lah

  shraler - shrayler

  Psi - Sigh

  Cruestaci - Crew stah see

  Cruestace - Crew Stahs

  Litah - Leta

  Quarin — Kwarin

  Quari — Kwaree

  Chapter 1

  “Sire, there’s a communication waiting for your attention.”

  Zha Quin sighed. He so hated the diplomacy he’d been forced to adopt since his people were named special envoy to Earth and her people. “From whom?” he asked irritatedly.

  “Chairman Bartholomew,” Communications Master Vennie answered.

  Zha Quin relaxed a bit. “Ah, well, put him through.”

  The holovid screen came to life with a very irritated Chairman Bartholomew staring into the holovid imager on his side.

  Zha Quin realized that Bart was in his private quarters as opposed to the meeting room of the Consortium, so he was free to speak at will rather than follow protocol. “Bart! How are you? You look somewhat irritated.”

  “Somewhat?!” Bart fairly shouted. “Somewhat is not what I’d call my mood after spending the last several hours negotiating the release of a male who does nothing to show gratitude, and everything to be sure his contempt of anything not currently giving him pleasure in some form or fashion is clear and apparent!”

  Zha Quin raised an eyebrow. Bart was known throughout the universe, all known multi-verses even, as being calm, fair and just. To be this irritated while trying to negotiate the freedom of a male, the male surely didn’t deserve the time or energy. “Then perhaps you should have left him to his fate,” Quin said matter-of-factly.

  Bart smiled, a cynical smile. He heaved a deep breath. And leaned forward, staring Zha Quin in the eye. “They wanted to send his head, mounted in trophy fashion, to his family! And I seriously considered allowing it.
I would have had it not been of personal interest to you!”

  “To me?” Quin said, a sneaking suspicion that he may know exactly who Bart had been trying to save began to nibble at the back of his mind.

  “Yes, you. Your brother is being sent back to you via heavily armed Unified Consortium Defense escort. His ship will be kept under our control until it docks with yours. At that moment he becomes your problem, Zha Quin. I am done. Do you understand me? Done!” Bart shouted.

  Quin brought up a hand rubbing the brow just above his nose with his fingers as the telltale pinch of a headache began to grow.

  “I understand.”

  “Good! Now keep a handle on Rokai ahl. Make him understand this is it. His last bail out. The next time, he’s on his own.”

  “I will speak with him,” Zha Quin said, his voice strained.

  “See that you do,” Bart said, his voice beginning to calm.

  “Thank you for interceding on his behalf,” Quin said, looking directly into the holovid imager, his hands now clasped behind his back. “I’m grateful for your efforts to have him freed.”

  “You are welcome. But it is only because of my respect for you that I even bothered.” A tone could be heard sounding in Bart's room off camera. Bart glanced toward it, then back at Zha Quin. “I’m needed. I must go. Please give my love to Vivi. I’ll see you both soon.”

  “I will,” Zha Quin answered just before the screen went black.

  Zha Quin snarled and stomped off the platform his command chair sat upon and bellowed to the ship’s computer. “Missy! Send each of my commanding officers to the meeting room! I am on my way there now!” he barked out as the hydraulic doors whooshed open to allow him to exit the command bridge.

  “Of course, Sire,” the always pleasant, female-voiced computer responded.

  <<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>

  As Zha Quin neared the meeting room, he could hear the rumble of male voices inside. Most had already assembled in immediate response to his impromptu request for a meeting. He detected movement at the opposite end of the corridor and paused before entering the room to see who it was.

  “I’m coming, Zha Quin. I apologize for my tardiness,” Kol said as he jogged toward Quin.

  “No apology needed. How fares your female?”

  Kol shook his head. “She’s only awoken for two short periods of time. She became so agitated that we sedated her - both times.”

  “What is it that agitates her so?” Quin asked.

  Kol shook his head. “We are not sure. I am there. The healer is there. We are not threatening her in any way. Yet on waking, she panicked. She became violent, and out of concern for her safety, the healer thought the best recourse was to sedate her.”

  Quin’s brows came down over his eyes. “I do not think you should sedate your female. If she is frightened, perhaps you should try to earn her trust.”

  “How can I when she is hysterical? I fear she will injure herself.”

  “Who advised you she would injure herself if not sedated?” Quin asked.

  “The new healer. He advised it. He said that of the females rescued from Malm’s ship, only two were able to wake and function on their own. The others are so emotionally damaged that they require being slowly awakened and advised of their situation and freedom gradually.”

  “And you agree with this?”

  “No. I do not. But she is not yet my Ehlealah. She’s not accepted me, nor have I even been able to claim her, so my desires go unheeded.”

  “Mine won’t. And you should have come to me the first time he wanted to sedate your female,” Zha Quin snapped.

  “It was my understanding you hired this healer particularly for the traumatized females. I did not wish to question your authority,” Kol admitted.

  Quin had been stepping toward the threshold of the meeting room his commanding officers waited in. He stopped and faced Kol. “You are family, Kol. Yes, you are one of my elite warriors. But you are also one of my most trusted friends. I cannot be in all places at once. I rely on you, Ba Re’ and Jhan to be my eyes and ears when I’m not there. That includes questioning anything you feel is not as it should be.”

  Kol nodded his head once sharply. “Forgive me. I am not myself of late.”

  “I fully understand. I haven’t been myself since Vivi burst into my life and rewrote everything I believed to be reality.”

  Kol offered a small smile. “I hope to one day have the same complaint about my female.”

  “I shall see to it,” Quin answered.

  The door behind them swooshed open, and Ba Re’ stood there. “I thought I heard you out here. Why are we here? What has happened, Zha Quin?”

  Quin stepped into the meeting room with Kol close on his heels. Kol took a seat at the empty spot beside Jhan, and as one all the warriors in the room waited for Zha Quin to advise them of the situation and hand out assignments.

  Zha Quin stood facing them all stoically. Then he leaned over the table, reaching for the control switch to the monitor that recorded all that took place in this room, manually turning it off so that nothing could be recorded. “This matter does not leave this room. It is not a matter of public knowledge. While it is a matter of importance, one that requires assistance in order to control — it is of a personal nature. I have called you each here without your subordinates intentionally. I trust each of you. Implicitly. And now I need your help.”

  A round of support went up. “Of course, Zha Quin. You need not even ask, just tell us what you require. Of course, Commander.”

  “I’ve received a communication from Chairman Bartholomew. At this moment, an escort from the Unified Consortium Defense is on its way to our ship.”

  “Who are they escorting?” Jhan asked.

  Zha Quin’s face twitched. He took a deep breath. “Rokai ahl. The chairman negotiated his release from those who’d recently captured him — they planned to mount his head and have it delivered to his family as a gift.”

  Kol, Jhan and Ba Re’ all went silent. Their raised eyebrows and surprised expressions giving away the fact that they knew more about Rokai ahl than most gathered here did.

  “Why is he being delivered to us? Why not just take him directly to the prisons on Cruestace? Surely such a criminal would be better suited there than on our ship,” Vor said matter-of-factly.

  “Vor is correct. This male has caused our people embarrassment time and again. His exploits are an embarrassment to those of us who are trying to overcome our reputations as violent, anti-authority males,” General Lo’San said.

  “In truth, he has not actually crossed into full-out criminal activity. Though he has skirted the line very closely a time or two,” Jhan said diplomatically.

  Zha Quin glanced gratefully toward Jhan.

  “Skirted the line? He is a known smuggler. He is a thief! He has time and again dared to snub his nose at our own Sovereign and Sovereigna. He dares to defy any and all authority. He heeds no rule, no law and offers loyalty and respect to none! It is even rumored he has dealt in slavery!” General Lo’San said passionately. “There is no reason for him to be here. Why did they not send him straight to Cruestace, or better yet, lock him up in one of the Consortium’s prisons?”

  Zha Quin sighed as he took his seat at the head of the table. With his eyes cast down at his own hands, he began to speak. “He is nothing if not completely disrespectful. That much is true. He does smuggle — what he smuggles I do not care to know. He does steal. He does not deal in slavery. I am, however, aware that he has a time or two stolen slaves from their masters and freed them wherever they wished to be freed. And he is a bounty hunter — which I understand he is very good at.” Zha Quin raised his eyes to his most trusted officers and friends. “He has embarrassed our people in more ways than you know. Which is why I ask for your assistance now. He will be with us for a while. He will undoubtedly be insufferable, rude, and offensive. He will be angry because his activities have been curtailed. He will be looking for any way possible to esc
ape what he sees as a prison, though it is in fact his last chance at freedom. I need you all to help in any way you can. I need you to help me keep him here. I need you to help me control him. I need you to help me keep eyes on him at all times. Until I can figure out what next to do with him, I need you to help me keep him from death. And I need you to help me keep him from making a spectacle of himself and us.”

  Some males nodded their agreement. Others watched Zha Quin with a confused look on their faces.

  “Why would you take this on? Why would you ask us to take this on? What is he that makes him worth this effort?” Vor asked.

  Zha Quin pinned Vor with a steely glare.

  “They need to know, Quin,” Ba Re’ said, looking intently at Zha Quin.

  Quin's gaze shifted from Vor to Ba Re’, then to each of the men assembled there. “Rokai ahl is a very bitter male. He has never felt wanted or appreciated — hence his behavior. It has never been known if he is on a mission to destroy himself, us, or both. But at the end of it all, it doesn’t matter. I will try to save him in any way that I can.”

  General Lo’San sat up in his chair, a suspicious look in his eyes. “What is he to you, Commander?”

  “He is my brother. And I cannot let him destroy himself without trying to intervene. Chairman Bartholomew negotiated his release as a favor to me. Now, I am at a loss of how to proceed. All I know is that this is his last chance. If captured again, by any of those he has angered over the years, or has yet to anger, his freedom will not be a possibility. So I’m asking you to help me contain him on Command Warship 1 until I can figure out what to do next.”