by Keri Kruspe
“Lingering effects?” D’zia’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
“He means, genius,” JR10 again butted in, “the Void Bolt kicked in and...bafooee…your brain was toast.”
Bafooee? Toast? “You mean I lost my memory?” At Ki’s nod, D’zia continued. “Well, how did I get it back?”
“Good thing your friend Ki was here or we’d be in a world of hurt,” JR10 solemnly said. “You lost your memory right in the middle of a sentence. While I knew where to get the antidote, I wouldn’t have been able to give it to you. However, Ki got it done and made you breathe it in because the antidote comes in a mist form you inhale.”
Bits and pieces of his memory settled and enabled him to get a better feel for what was going on. He contemplated his large friend. “Yeah, about that, Ki. What are you doing here? The last I heard you were on some super-secret mission for Qay.”
“I was.” The large male cleared his throat. “I mean I am. But you screwed it up.” Ki folded his arms across his massive chest. D’zia stared at the multitude of weapons strapped to his friend. Along with two disintegration blasters, he had a long katana sword handle that peeked over his shoulder. Crisscrossing his chest were smaller knives joined by his two favorite enhanced fusion blasters. They were nasty, illegal weapons. They made the regulation disintegration pistols look like something your grandmother would use. Ki must be extra paranoid if he carried those. D’zia hadn’t seen those weapons since they left their mercenary days and joined Qay in becoming respectable merchants on the StarChance.
“I did? Oh well, not sorry ‘bout that.” D’zia nodded to the weapons. “You expect big trouble?” Then he finally noticed the clothes Ki wore and his jaw dropped in shock. Calling them clothes was a misnomer. The one-piece suit that covered Ki’s large frame was a weapon all on its own. It was virtually indestructible. D’zia had seen Ki blasted, bombed, buried alive, stabbed, skewered, and bludgeoned. As long as Ki wore the armor, nothing could touch him.
D’zia told no one, but one time he swore he saw his friend morph into another creature while wearing the suit. It was right after he suffered a blow to the head so he figured he could have been seeing things. He’d be damned if he confessed to Ki he watched him turn into a large dragon. If it was true, who was to say Ki would tolerate anyone, even a friend, knowing such a volatile secret? And, if it wasn’t true, he’d have to endure endless teasing until the day he died. D’zia was sure the teasing would be far more painful than if Ki just eliminated him.
“With you involved, it’s always best to assume the there’s big trouble.” Ki unfolded his arms. “Now that you’ve used the only antidote on FiPan, and you’ve made my job much harder.”
“Well, don’t expect me to apologize because I’m cured,” D’zia retorted. He jumped off the table as he searched the sterile, cold room for a shirt. “I’ve got to get out of here and get back to Lora and take the Erkek doctor to Zerin and turn him over to the Imperial Forces.”
“What Erkek doctor?” The intensity of Ki’s dual-colored eyes narrowed as he walked closer to D’zia. “The one who made the antidote?”
Spying an abandoned blue lab jacket, D’zia shook it out to see if it might fit him. Nope. Okay, naked chest it was. “Yeah, the very one.” He tossed the useless coat over his shoulder. “JR10, can you contact Elemi and let her know we’re ready for her to bring us back?”
“Wait, I need that doctor,” Ki grabbed D’zia’s upper arm, his face tense. “I’ve got to take him back to Maynwaring’s lair.”
Holy Goddess, D’zia had never seen Ki so fixated. His eyes blazed with almost fanatical determination. “You do? Why?”
Ki let go of D’zia’s arm and stepped back with a scowl that pulled the scar on his cheek downward into the scruff of his close-cropped beard. “I am bargaining with the pirate to release a human female we had on board the StarChance. He wanted a sample of the antidote, but since there’s none left, I think he’ll accept the doctor in its place.”
D’zia shook his head. “No can do, my friend. I have to take him back to the Imperial Forces. He’s the only proof we have of the Chancellor’s plot that involves Zerin and the Federation Consortium. And he’s starting with the enslavement of planet Earth to modify human women.”
At Ki’s growl, D’zia’s eyebrows went up.
“You’re not hearing me, D’zia.” Ki’s dark blue iris expanded around the green one. I’m taking that fruking piece of shit to Maynwaring to have him release Sherri.” He moved in closer, his voice a low rumble and his eyes narrowed. “Either you’re going to help me or I’ll make sure you’re out of my way.”
Whoa. D’zia couldn’t have been more shocked if Ki had sprouted wings and sung a love song as he danced on his toes. He blinked before answering. “Okay, big guy.” He put his palms up in a gesture of pleading. “You know I’d do anything for you.” He lowered his hands and stepped back, making sure he did nothing to set his friend off further. “Let’s get out of here so we can come up with a plan that lets us have it both ways. What do ya say?”
Ki squinted before his stance relaxed a fraction.
D’zia released his held breath. Thank the Goddess his friend was willing to talk.
“Okay,” Ki murmured. “What do you have in mind?”
* * *
LORA
Damn it, why was it so hot in there? With effort, Lora opened her eyes and glanced around in myopic fuzziness. Everything was blurry, so she blinked twice. Okay, that hurt. She rubbed her eyes with closed fists. An alert in the back of her mind told her something was off about her hands, but she was more concerned about not seeing. She opened her eyes again for a moment before she had to close them against the razor-sharp light blazing at her.
She slumped in the chair to turn her head to the side and put an arm over her burning eyes. She took in a deep, steady breath and tried to see under the shade of her limb. Peeking through the tiny sliver of space between her arm and eyes, she caught her breath at the unfamiliar sight. All too soon the memory of being in the snarky ship flooded back.
“JR11? Are you here?” Wow, her voice was loud. She swallowed with a thick tongue and spoke again in a softer tone. “JR11?”
“Yes, Miss Lora. I’m right here.” The normal raspy whisper boomed as if JR11 turned up the volume.
Lora winced at the sound. “Are you standing right by my ear? You’re awfully loud.”
“I am so sorry, Miss Lora,” At least the little bot lowered her tone this time. “But I’m not anywhere near you.”
Lora lay there trying to brush the cobwebs out of her slow-moving brain. It dawned on her JR11 was actually several feet away and sounded like she was walking hard on a metallic surface. Damn, her spindly little legs were making a loud, clacking noise as she moved. What was with everything being so amped up?
The bright light wasn’t getting any better either. “Hey, JR11, can you ask your ship friend to turn down the light? It’s giving me a headache.”
“I’m right here,” came the condescending feminine reply. Clearly, her holiness, Miss Snarky Bitch Pants, was still around. “Ask me yourself.”
“Elemi, we talked about this.” JR11 chastised the ship on Lora’s behalf.
Lora had no problem sticking up for herself, but she was grateful for the spybot’s protectiveness. Especially since her head was splitting in agony.
A rushing sound came out like a sigh of resignation from the ship. “Fine, I’ll behave.” A short pause as the lights dimmed. “But there’s nothing wrong with the lights. I haven’t changed the setting since she came on board.” Now she gave a condescending sniff. “Obviously, I’m not the cause of the difference in your perception.”
What the hell did that mean? Lora didn’t feel up to fighting with the dumb ship, so she pulled her arm away to contemplate the fine art of sitting up. With concentrated effort, she pushed her bottom back in the chair with her feet on the floor.
Sweat gathered in the usual places, not to mention the eff
ort it took not to pant like a dog. Jeez, she was moving like a woman twice her age before she had to rest. Ugh, her legs were bare. “Elemi, could I have some pants?” A pair of dark pantaloons appeared next to her. With feeble legs, she stood up to put them on before she sat back down with a heavy thump. There, that was better. She hated having her hoo-ha flapping around uncovered.
With concentrated effort, she squinted as her eyes adjusted. She took in the room before she noticed how clear everything was. Whoa. It was distracting how things were sharper and clearer than ever before. She raised the hem of her eggplant-colored tunic and became mesmerized by the visible thread lines. As she studied her surroundings, she swore the pulsating alloy on the dark surface of the wall moved. Confused, she glanced around again.
Then the smell hit her. Sour, like the rotting tuna casserole coated in fuzzy blue-green mold she’d thrown out of her refrigerator once. She put her hand over her nose to block out the obnoxious odor. It didn’t, but at least it filtered some of it out. “JR11, what in the world is that god-awful smell?” A short cloth on a counter next to her caught her eye so she grabbed it to replace her palm.
“Analyzing,” came the soft whisper. A few moments passed as Lora continued to examine everything around her and the various fixtures that caught her attention. She snorted; she was no better than a squirrel distracted by shiny objects.
“The only odor-producing element is the Erkek currently unconscious in Elemi’s confinement center in the back of the ship.”
“You mean other than her,” came Elemi’s observation. “I suppose we’re assuming she can’t smell herself.”
“Elemi,” JR11 warned again. “You must refrain from speaking to D’zia’s TrueBond in a disrespectful manner. If you can’t, I will have no choice but to inform him of your continued attempts to hurt her feelings.”
“Humph,” was the ship’s answer. “Tattletale.” She snorted for good measure.
Far from insulted by the ship’s attitude, Lora found it funny and smiled under the thin cloth covering her mouth. “Any way we can get an air freshener in here?”
“Fine,” Elemi snapped.
A cool breeze passed around Lora, giving her hair a slight lift.
“Better now?”
Cautiously, Lora lowered the cloth and took in a tentative breath. Um…much better. The air was as clear and crisp as an autumn morning. “Yes, thank you. I really appreciate it.” She took in a couple more cleansing breaths. There was a pair of slip-on shoes in the same dark purple as her tunic next to the chair. She bent down and wiggled the shoes over her feet. “Hey.” Lora straightened as she adjusted her toes in the comfortable footwear. Didn’t JR11 say something about an Erkek? “JR11, you said there’s an Erkek here? Where?”
“Elemi currently has him confined in the back part of the ship.” JR11 scuttled across the nearby counter, attracting Lora’s attention.
Wow, she’d never noticed the intricate detail of JR11’s mechanical, deep-purple body before. “Oh, there you are!” Lora held out her palm so the little bot might settle on her again. “You okay?”
With dainty steps, JR11 landed on Lora’s palm and sat down.
She should have asked how her companion was before this.
The pretty, spider-appearing bot nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, I am well, thank you for asking.”
Yep, lower than dirt for ignoring someone who had been there for her. “So, who’s this Erkek and how did he get here?”
“He’s the scientist JR10 and Mr. D’zia brought back.”
The blood drained from Lora’s face and she became lightheaded. “Dr. Numb Nuts?”
“I do believe his real name is Knum’Nz, but your pronunciation is close enough,” JR11 told her.
“What’s he doing here?” she whispered. With a nervous gesture, she glanced around. It was hard to swallow with a dry throat.
“D’zia has plans for him,” came Elemi’s smug reply. “Something about fixing you, not that I imagine anything could possibly help you now.”
“Fix me? There’s nothing wrong with me.” Lora checked the room again as if it would help give her an answer.
“There is nothing wrong with you!” JR11 stated as she scuttled up to sit on Lora’s shoulder. It was her favorite place to rest when she didn’t have to hide in Lora’s hair. “You’re as beautiful as ever.”
Well, what a weird thing to say. “What does that mean, ‘as ever’?”
“Nothing…nothing, I swear!”
Lora peered with narrow eyes at the AI. “JR11? What aren’t you telling me?”
“What your polite friend is trying to tell you.” The gleeful way Elemi spouted the announcement had Lora bracing for what the ship would say next. “Is you look okay…for a Zerin.”
Lora’s mind went blank for a moment. When her brain cells fired up again, she remembered something D’zia told her would happen when they completed the TrueBond process. “Oh, yeah. Well, I know when I became D’zia’s TrueBond I’d take on some Zerin characteristics. No biggie.” Another idea popped into her head. “Do you think I’m pregnant?” She brought her hand over to cover her heart. While she wanted children, she’d rather settle into her new life with D’zia and get used to living with an alien first.
“Oh, no,” JR11 reassured her. “You’re not pregnant.”
That was quick. “Well, how do you know that?”
“Your MalDerVon crystal is clear,” was the prompt reply. “Plus, I’d be able…”
“Hate to interrupt, ladies,” Elemi interrupted. “The scrumptious D’zia is here. Oh, and he brought a friend.”
Before Lora wrapped her mind around the change of subject, D’zia walked into the room with another male Zerin—a huge one—with a scowl to match the scar bisecting his handsome face.
As soon as D’zia spotted her, he ran over and enfolded her in his large arms.
His strength and intoxicating scent surrounded her. The familiar black licorice and ylang-ylang aroma coming off his warm skin steadied her racing heart.
“Are you okay?” He whispered into her ear as he held her tighter. “I’ve been so worried…”
She burrowed into his broad chest…his naked chest. She pulled back as his iridescent pecs filled her vision. Why didn’t he have a shirt on? When she started to ask him, she got lost in his dual turquoise eyes as his reflective pupils constricted.
“Oh my Goddess…” he said in a strangled whisper. His fingers tightened on her upper arms as he pushed her away to examine her.
Her pulse raced at his wide-eyed expression of panic. Her mouth puckered as her quivering stomach twisted. “What? What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You…you…”
What was wrong with him? Why was he stuck on one word? “You…?” she prompted. She shrugged out of his hold and put her fists on her waist. She narrowed her eyes. He was pissing her off.
“You…you…”
She opened her mouth to argue, but JR10 saved her from demanding something she might regret.
“Holy schwiz wizzies, lady!” Perched on D’zia’s shoulder, the larger bot waved one of his forelegs. “You’re a Zerin!”
She frowned at the AI before she noticed D’zia’s clenched jaw and the pinched skin around his eyes. Well, that expression wasn’t giving her any warm fuzzes.
“What do you mean, I’m a Zerin?”
“Haven’t you looked at yourself since you woke up?” JR10 continued with the conversation since D’zia’s mouth evidently didn’t work.
Her mate stood there with that stupid look on his face as he took in shallow breaths.
“No, I only woke up a little bit ago and…”
“Well, woman…er, I mean female. You’d better get it over with and take a gander,” the little bot continued. “But I warn you, you’d better brace yourself for a shock.”
“D’zia,” Lora grabbed him by his forearms and squeezed. She had to get his attention and make him coherent. “Tell me what he’s
talking about.”
He blinked at her and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he returned her embrace. “Look at your hands, my beautiful gariad.” His gentle tone prodded her.
Her mind racing, Lora stared at her hands gripping his firm, muscled arm. At first, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to see. They were her hands, at least the basic construction wasn’t any different, right down to the freckles dotting across her knuckles. As her eyes focused, she noticed her pale skin had a pearlescent sheen. Shocked, she let go of his arms and brought her hands up. To her horror, the hands in front of her weren’t hers.
Instead of the normal four fingers and a thumb, she now had only three fingers, each the same size and width. Where were her pinky fingers? Some instinct had her kicking off her slippers to expose her feet. How did she miss how different they were when she’d put them on? Instead of five toes, she had four—one big one and three smaller ones of equal size.
Her gaze jerked to D’zia’s face. “I need to look in a mirror,” she whispered. What was she going to see?
“Elemi, can you produce one for us?” D’zia asked. He never took his eyes off her.
“Of course,” the ship replied. “Anything for you, D’zia.” Her voice was soft and sultry.
On the wall in front of Lora, a long mirror appeared, big enough to see her whole body. Moving like a woman three times her age, Lora passed D’zia to get closer to her reflection. Her vision was clearer and sharper than ever before, but she had a hard time reconciling how the stranger walking toward her did so with her legs.
The first thing that came to mind was how striking she was. That was a term she’d never used to describe herself before. Her body retained its prior shape, unfortunately, with more poundage than she liked to admit. But, it didn’t detract from her remarkable appearance. Her skin retained its fair fawn color and now had a pearlescent sheen reflecting in the soft light.