Iska

by Arcadia Shield

  As a bounty hunter, Iska couldn’t afford for anyone to track the same mark as him. If they got to the bounty before he did, he’d lose out on a big payday. That was unacceptable. Unacceptable in that he might have to hunt them down and beat the living crap out of them.

  Not that his warrior princess hunted the same prey, but she had that instinct. He could sense it about her. His own primal instincts had kicked in when they met in the games, and he’d kept an eye on her. If she wasn’t his ally, they were enemies. He’d felt an unfamiliar sense of relief when he’d figured her as a friend.

  The alert on his door pinged. Iska always kept it locked. He was never fond of unwanted guests. He jumped up and opened the door.

  Dingbat stood outside. He was a bot, the size of a small Tolong hound, and had been Iska’s sidekick for three years. He didn’t talk back often, followed orders on the most part, and never needed entertaining. All in all, he was the perfect sidekick.

  “Any update on our bounty?” Iska had sent Dingbat to monitor movements of the fugitive they were tracking. The pay out on this bounty would be huge and would set up Iska for years if he pulled it off.

  With a big bounty came risk, and he always did his groundwork before going in to apprehend anybody. But this guy was trying his patience. He’d been tracking him for months, and he kept eluding him. That made Iska’s fur itch and his nerves fray.

  Dingbat followed him into the room as Iska walked away from the door. “The suspect was last seen having a dance.”

  Iska arched an eyebrow. “A dance? Are you sure?”

  Dingbat’s green sensor looked worryingly bright. “A bath.”

  Iska knelt beside Dingbat and rested a hand on his battery. It was blazing hot. “Is everything okay with you? When did you last do a service check?”

  “Forty-nine days ago.” Dingbat’s sensor grew brighter. “Our suspect is having a bad day.”

  Iska shook his head. He wasn’t the only one having a bad day. Dingbat was long overdue a full service. He’d had a few malfunctions in the past. Iska always meant to take him to be checked over, but then a new target would come on his radar, and he’d forget everything else. When he was after prey, nothing else mattered.

  “Suspect is a butthead.”

  “At least we agree on that.” Iska walked to the couch and sat. “Any signs he’s leaving the station?”

  Dingbat followed him. “No. The suspect is in situ.”

  “Good.” It would be much easier to catch him on Prodigy than out in space. There were fewer places to hide, and it was easier to monitor prey in confined spaces.

  “The suspect drinks beer.”

  Iska leaned forward in his seat. “Have you seen him in the Enchanted Captain?” It was unlikely this piece of scum would be so bold as to go drinking in a public place. If he did, it would be a temptation Iska would have to take advantage of.

  Dingbat made an odd whirring sound but didn’t reply.

  Iska sighed and ran his hands through the pale fur on his head. “I get it. You need a break. We all do. How about I give you some down time and see if engineering can run a diagnostic?”

  “You are a butthead.”

  “Easy now, buddy. You don’t want me to have you disassembled.”

  “No disassemble.”

  Iska grabbed his black jacket and slid it on. “Let’s see if we can get somebody to fix you before you blow up in my face.”

  They left his room and headed in the direction of engineering. Iska kept a low profile wherever he went but always made sure to know the layout of his location and where essentials services were. It was also good to know the escape routes and shortcuts if you ever needed them.

  Dingbat lagged behind, obviously suffering from whatever damn inconvenient malfunction was screwing with him.

  “Come on, you piece of crap. Keep up or I’ll chuck you out of an emergency airlock and save myself the cost of your repair.”

  “Is that a Mark Three Tolong hound?” A short, dark-haired human walking toward Iska gestured at Dingbat. “I haven’t seen one of those for ages.”

  Iska nodded. “He’s retro. I like the classics.” His gaze shifted to the pale, skinny redheaded human who accompanied the brunette. She didn’t meet his gaze.

  “He’s great.” The dark-haired female ducked down and ran her hands over Dingbat. “He’s really hot. Is his lag time off?”

  “Not that I know of. He’s been acting up, though.”

  “Have you been working him hard?”

  “He’s used to it. I’m heading to engineering to see if they can do anything for him.” Iska studied Dingbat. He didn’t want to have to get rid of him. Iska was used to the weird little guy in his life, getting under his feet and talking like a defective robot from some old Earth movie.

  A station spider security bot scuttled around the corner and ran straight to the dark-haired human. “Princess, your cocktails are ready for the evening.”

  “Thanks, Ernie.” The dark-haired female patted the bot on its head.

  “You two are friends?” Iska asked, an amused glint in his eyes.

  “He’s my pet bot. I claimed him after I found him malfunctioning and fixed him.”

  “You know how to fix messed up bots?” Iska’s gaze went back to Dingbat.

  “Sure. It’s a hobby of mine.”

  “Care to take a look at mine?” Iska asked. He looked back at the redhead. She still hadn’t said a word.

  The dark-haired woman grinned. “Why not? I’m Heather Roberts. This is my friend, Avril Anwell.”

  He nodded. “Iska Matusa. Do you fix bots for a living?”

  “No, for fun. We both work at My Single Alien.”

  Iska raised his brow. “I’ve heard of that place. You get dates for lonely aliens. Hook them up with female humans.”

  “It’s a bit more complicated than that,” Heather said. “We find lonely aliens and humans true love. We’re repopulating the star system one alien baby at a time.”

  Iska smirked. “Sure you are.”

  “It’s true,” Heather said. “Are you single? Maybe we can fix you up?”

  “I’d be more interested in you fixing my bot.” Iska returned to his study of the curiously pale Avril. He’d never seen such red hair before. It was odd, kind of cute with its strange blonde streaks through it, like someone had painted them on with a wonky brush.

  Avril shifted under his gaze but remained silent.

  “What’s with you?” Iska asked her.

  Avril shot him a terrified glance. “Wh-wh-what do you mean?”

  “Your coloring is odd. Is it natural?”

  Avril’s cheeks flushed scarlet, and she ran her hands over her hair as if trying to hide it from view. That would be impossible. She must draw attention with hair that color. “It is. Well, I mean, I’m not go-go-going to make myself look like this deliberately.”

  Heather stood from her inspection of Dingbat and touched Avril’s arm. “You’re gorgeous. I’d kill for your perfect skin.”

  “And the crazy red hair?” Avril asked.

  “It’s adorable,” Heather said. She turned back to Iska. “Don’t you think Avril’s hair is lovely?”

  Iska ran his tongue across his bottom lip. “Sure.”

  Heather raised an eyebrow. “What’s your bot’s name?”

  “Dingbat.”

  “That’s an interesting name,” Heather said.

  “He’s an interesting bot.” Iska found his gaze shifting back to Avril.

  She chewed on a fingernail and stared along the corridor, acting as if this was the last place she wanted to be.

  “What do you do at My Single Alien?” he asked her.

  Avril stopped chewing her nail. “I induct new aliens as to how to find happiness with their mates and ma-ma-make sure they know what to expect when they join with a human.”

  “Do you think you could match make me?” He wasn’t serious. Love was way off his radar. A fun night and a good orgasm he wouldn’t pass up. Nothin
g else interested him.

  Avril’s gaze shifted from terrified to curious as she appraised him. She wasn’t such a coward when she had something to focus on. “Mehabs can be popular. Some women find fur desirable.”

  “I’m very smooth if you’d like to touch me.” He grinned at Avril as he saw her blush again.

  “I’m fine,” Avril said. Her gaze continued to slide over him.

  Iska felt a tingle of warmth in his stomach. Those green eyes of hers were piercing and looked almost alien. Maybe she was the result of a breeding experiment on Earth before humans even knew there were hundreds of different types of aliens on the other side of the wormhole.

  “Do I come up to your exacting standards?”

  Avril nodded. “We should be able to help you if you do want to find love.”

  Dingbat made a high-pitched squeaking sound and staggered sideways, slamming into Iska’s leg. The flame hot battery seared through his pants fabric and burned his fur.

  “Rusty piece of crap.” Iska shoved Dingbat away with his foot. “Burn me again and I’ll ram a spanner up your tin ass and twirl you into space.”

  Heather knelt and examined Dingbat again. “This poor bot has problems.”

  Iska glanced at Avril again, suddenly conscious of swearing in front of her. He was used to being alone or with Dingbat, who didn’t care how much he swore. Since having the upgrade to include all human swear words into his universal translator, Iska had found scolding hot ways to curse. Humans had some impressively foul language.

  “I was joking about you finding me a match,” he said to Avril. “I move around a lot. It’s hard to find someone who’ll put up with that.”

  Avril nodded. “There will be someone out there for you.”

  “Do you think so?”

  “We match all kinds of aliens. Humans like to travel, so they don’t mind if their mate is mobile.”

  “It’s a life in the stars for me. I never stay in one place for long.” Iska had never wanted to. He didn’t have a home or a family waiting for him. He liked to be free of ties to pursue his hunts. He couldn’t afford any distractions.

  “You’re always on the move?” Now that Avril had gotten over her nerves, she seemed curious about him, and that malfunction in her voice box that made her trip over certain words had vanished.

  “I’ve no other choice.”

  “We all have choices,” Avril said quietly.

  “Is that so?” Iska glanced over to see Heather examining Dingbat. “What choices have you made recently?”

  Avril’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

  “What do you fight for?”

  “I’m no-no-not a fighter.”

  He grinned at her. He was only teasing. She was a cute little human, and the more he studied her pale complexion and green jumpsuit, the more he liked her. She was different to him with his pale, silver streaked fur and liking for black clothing. Black was a practical choice. It kept the blood stains hidden.

  But different was good. Iska always looked for different, something other than him. Something better than him. Someone as clean and pure as Avril was far too fragile for him, though. He’d eat her alive if they were alone together. She had that tempting, innocent quality about her that always stirred something in him. It was like looking at something he could never have but had to sample it to see if he could figure out what being gentle and sweet was like.

  The flush on her cheeks suggested he’d been staring at Avril for too long without speaking. He turned his attention to Heather. “Can Dingbat be repaired?”

  Heather stood and placed her hands on her hips. “I think so. He might need a battery replacement. This is an old model, and they’re prone to overheating. He’s a decent bot. A new battery and a tidy up and he’ll be as good as new.”

  “When can you fix him?”

  “I’ll take him now if you don’t need him,” Heather said. “It shouldn’t take me long.”

  Iska nodded. “I don’t need him. Let me know when he’s ready to collect and we can settle up then.”

  Heather glanced at Iska and shrugged. “I don’t charge for fixing bots. I enjoy it. It’s a hobby.”

  “Even so, I’ll pay you for your time. I’m not a charity case.”

  “How about you pay for any parts I need and buy me a box of chocolates? That can be my payment.”

  His expression was quizzical. “If you say so.”

  “We should get to work,” Avril said.

  Heather groaned. “Our boss is making us pull double shifts. We don’t usually have to work this late. She gave us half an hour off for dinner, and we have to get right back to matching. We had a huge intake of new aliens after the last promotional campaign, and we’re struggling to keep up with the demand.”

  “At least we got a break tonight,” Avril said.

  Heather nodded. “What is it you always say? So long as Diadora doesn’t break our spirits, nothing else matters. The rest will heal.”

  Avril grinned and nodded. “Something like that.”

  Iska stared at her. Those words sounded familiar. “Do you ever play in the holo suite?”

  Avril’s eyes widened. “Now and again.”

  Heather laughed. “Are you kidding me? She’s always in there. She got in trouble today for being late for her training session. Our boss made her do the training in her warrior princess outfit.”

  Iska’s jaw dropped. This tiny, shy human was the warrior princess he’d been flirting with? This was the kick ass warrior, who slew ogres and laughed about it. Never in a million years would he have put the two together.

  “Do you play?” Heather asked Iska.

  Iska’s eyes narrowed. “I dabble. I prefer fighting in real life.”

  “The holo suite is safer,” Avril said softly. “No one actually gets hurt.”

  Iska’s wrist comm buzzed an alert. He checked it, and his gut clenched. The bounty he’d been tracking had been spotted. He took a step away and turned back to Avril. “Perhaps I’ll meet you in a game?”

  Avril looked down, her red and blonde streaked hair hiding her expression. “You won’t recognize me. Besides, I tend to play alone.”

  “Gaming is better with a partner.” Iska chuckled as he walked away. Avril Anwell was Warrior Princess. He couldn’t bloody believe it.

  He could have a lot of fun with this new piece of information.

  But now was not the time to get distracted by this tiny human. His focus was on the money he’d get when he brought down his bounty. Once he’d pulled this off, he could kick back and take some time off. He could pursue his own dream but not until he was ready.

  Iska slowed as he reached the end of the corridor and looked back over his shoulder. Avril still stood in the same spot where he’d left her, her eyes on him.

  A low, deep purr rumbled from his chest. She was quirky but cute. When he had the time, he’d like to get to know her better. If there was fire in the warrior princess in the game, perhaps there was some in the human he’d just met.

  Chapter 3

  “That hot chocolate was delicious.” Avril placed her empty mug down and peered inside it.

  “It was just what we needed after finally getting away from work. I can’t believe Diadora kept us there until past nine.” Heather looked up from her inspection of the circuitry board inside Dingbat. “Ernie, we need two more hot chocolates, please.”

  Ernie scampered out from her bedroom and set to work at the food replicator.

  “I need to get myself an Ernie,” Avril said. “The trouble is, I’d be twice the size I am if he got me all the food I wanted.”

  Heather laughed. “You could do with putting on a few pounds.”

  Avril knew she was too scrawny. It wasn’t that she didn’t eat, but she had trouble keeping still. Nervous energy always burned through her, and she was forever tapping a foot or twiddling something. She’d been scolded by Diadora on numerous occasions because of her inability to sit still.

  When Diadora rais
ed her voice, it brought back memories of one of Avril’s foster moms, who used to yell before whacking her knuckles with a wooden spoon to stop her wriggling her fingers and toes.

  Ernie hurried over with two mugs of hot chocolate and emitted a small trumpeting sound as he presented them to Heather and Avril.

  “Thanks.” Heather took the drinks and passed one to Avril.

  “How’s Dingbat looking?”

  “He’s a bit of a mess. I don’t think he’s ever had a proper service. Iska hasn’t taken the best care of him.”

  Avril bit her bottom lip. Iska, with the pale fur and frown lines on his face, was scary hot. He’d towered over her when they’d met, his muscles bulging in his tight-fitting black outfit.

  Heather placed her screwdriver down as she took a sip of hot chocolate. “Are you into fur?”

  “I like it when it’s on living animals,” Avril said. “I’ve never been a fur coat wearing kind of girl.”

  Heather laughed. “I didn’t mean that. I can’t imagine you running around with a pelt on your back. I meant Iska. He is sort of gorgeous in a dangerous, mean and moody way. Those amber cat’s eyes were intense. He was really looking at you, like he wanted to eat you or sleep with you. I couldn’t figure out what way he was leaning.”

  “I thought you liked your aliens with horns and claws?” Heather dated a huge Picar. They’d met six months ago when the station had been overrun by malfunctioning bots. They were both science geeks and loved nothing more than spending an evening stargazing or pulling apart a complicated science project. Despite the fact he’d lost one horn when he’d been attacked by a group of Banti, Heather still saw him as gorgeous and was head over heels in love.

  “I’m not thinking about me. I thought you might be interested in a certain messy-looking big cat with silky pale fur.”

  “Mehabs aren’t big cats.”

  “You know what I mean. We’re not so different.”

  “He was a bit... intimidating.” That was her understatement of the decade.