by Mina Carter
“Let him go,” Eris ordered, her voice hard and rendered mechanical by the suit’s speakers. Rolling her shoulders, she brought all her guns to bear on the small group. “Or…”
There was no need for the “or.” Each and every soldier in the group came to the same conclusion at the same time. Their faces paled as they took in the armed group behind Eris.
All bar one. A dark-haired human held a handgun pressed against the neck of the civilian in cuffs. It took him less than a second to recognize both of them. The aggressor in the combat uniform was Mills, the guy he’d let arrest him on the station so he could get closer to Eris.
A plant. SO13 undercover.
Dammit, he should have just snapped the guy’s neck when he had the chance. But even as he thought it, he knew it wouldn’t have been any good. If it wasn’t Mills, it would have just been another face. Another “soldier” with questionable morals and even less honor than a mercenary.
His attention turned to the doctor. Tall and slender, his features were familiar. They were the same as Eris’s but written in masculine coding over a larger frame. There was no mistaking them as twins.
“Mills. Put it down or I won’t just turn you into swiss fucking cheese. I’ll turn you and your team into fucking jam.”
“See!” Sparky called out from the back of the group. “Preserve-based threats are so much more impressive. Now I suggest you do as she says. You’re out-numbered and out-gunned.”
Mills lifted an eyebrow, his expression tight and eyes shining with an edge of desperation. He yanked Eric closer, trying to fold himself behind his human shield.
“Yeah? I count ten of us and only six of you,” he shouted. “We can take you.”
“Boss…” the trooper to his left murmured. Zero’s enhanced hearing picked up his whisper loud and clear. Clicking the tab in his helmet, he broadcast it to the rest of the team. “Did you miss the fact that’s a Scorperio? And I dunno what the fuck they are… I’ve never seen suits or weapons like that before.”
“We’re your worst fucking nightmare,” T’Raal growled, stepping forward to stand next to Eris. As he did, his helmet folded back to reveal his non-human features.
Ok… ay. So much for concealing their presence and not starting an interstellar war then. Zero joined the rest as they all stepped forward, helmets folding down.
“Oh shit, they’re those aliens… the Lathar….”
Sparky chuckled. “Some of them are. I’m just the bastard about to fuck up your day because I can.”
“We’re worse than Lathar.” T’Raal grinned. It wasn’t a nice expression. It was the kind of expression that prefaced a threat to wipe out your entire family line or cause so much hurt and suffering your ancestors would feel the backlash.
“We’re Warborne.”
“Drop your weapons, now,” Eris ordered, her voice losing any little hint of humor it held before. It was a tiny difference, but stark. The woman had finally lost her patience. She wouldn’t be throwing words next time. She would be throwing bullets.
One by one, the SO13 squad dropped their weapons.
Zero gave a small grunt. Not all humans were stupid then… he had begun to wonder.
“Eric,” she said, her voice a little softer. “Walk toward us.”
The doctor’s eyes shifted sideways, as though he were trying to look through his own skull to see what Mills would do. A bead of sweat broke away and rolled down the side of his face. Then he took a step. His feet moved first, the forward momentum rolling up his body, through his knees, his hips and then finally he pulled from Mills’ hold.
Zero snapped his rifle up, aiming for the center of Mills’ forehead as Eric ran, stumbling toward them.
He scrambled behind Eris, still shaking as he hid in cover. Then he seemed to recall himself, standing up and smoothing his lab coat down, his gaze darting between all the men around him. They all ignored him, allowing him the moment of weakness as they focused on the human soldiers. He had none of Eris’s steel or grit. Zero was surprised he wasn’t a blubbering wreck.
“The woman. The alien,” Eris carried on. “Where is she?”
Most of the soldiers looked blank, shaking their heads and looking at each other in confusion. They didn’t know anything. Like mushrooms, grunts were kept in the dark and fed on shit.
But Mills’ eyes sparkled with something he quickly suppressed. Shrugging his shoulders, he bent to place his gun on the ground, hands spread as he stood again.
“No idea what you’re on about.”
The comms sparked and Red’s voice filled their ears. “Boss… those shuttles just took off. Want me to follow? I should warn you. Scans are picking up hotspots around the facility.”
Sparky sucked in a breath, straightening up in Zero’s peripheral vision. “They’ll have the place rigged to blow,” he said. “We need to get out of here. Fast.”
17
“Move, move, move!” T’Raal bellowed. “Red, bring that ship down to the landing pad. Now!”
Aware they were against the clock, the team didn’t argue, just split and hauled ass. She ushered Eric ahead of her, casting Zero a grateful look as he grabbed her brother, a hard hand around his upper arm, making sure Eric kept up.
“What about them?” Sparky yelled, jerking a finger back over his shoulder at the SO13 soldiers.
“Leave ‘em,” she yelled. “They’re like fucking rats. They’ll find their own way off this bloody moon.”
“Escape pods. They can use the escape pods,” Eric panted, out of breath from being dragged along at break-neck speed. They really were going to have to do something about his fitness levels. The skin between her shoulder blades crawled. They hadn’t even had time to get him into a power suit. If they didn’t make it before the timers blew, he had no chance.
“What about the alien woman?” Beauty yelled.
“Already gone,” Eric gasped. “They shipped her out first.”
The Warborne’s exit from the station was fast and against the clock. Without any idea of what timers had been set, they ran at top speed, heading right for the landing pads on the other side of the labs.
Eris’s heart thundered in her ears as she ran, cycling back around the group to pick up any stragglers if she had to. The threat of the whole place going boom seemed to be sufficient enough incentive. They hit the corridor near the landing pad in time to see the Sprite drop into place, all rail guns and PDCs armed and active in case SO13 came back for a last flyby.
They raced toward the extending boarding tunnel as the Sprite settled on the pad. She spotted the issue at the same moment as Zero did. There was no way her suit would fit. The boarding tunnel was just too small.
“Make sure he gets on board,” she yelled to Zero and turned, breaking away to sprint back the way they’d come.
“Eris!” her brother shouted, trying to shake Zero’s hold off and follow her. But the big cyborg quickly controlled her less-than-athletic brother and hauled him off toward the boarding tunnel.
She sprinted for the nearest cargo airlock, the heavy clunk-clunk-clunk of her suit’s feet loud even to her ears. Scanning locally, she uplinked to the airlock controls and activated it remotely. By the time she reached it, the door was open. Swinging herself around and in, she slapped her other hand over the quick release plate on the control panel.
The airlock was used for cargo, so there weren’t any of the same warning protocols for organics as the door slammed down behind her. If she’d been standing in the way, it would have sheared her in two. Its opposite number rose as soon as it was closed, expelling all the air in a whoosh that would have torn her free and sent her tumbling into space if not for the sheer weight of her armor.
Pushing off the back wall, she used the lighter gravity of the moon and her suit thrusters to race across the rocky surface and around the other side of the ship.
“Tank… best get your ass in here now,” Red’s voice warned in her earpiece. “The others are already aboard, and the lock is
cycling. You do not want to be on the surface when those charges go.”
Eris nodded even though Red, on the bridge of the alien warship, couldn’t see her and dug deeper for more speed. The suit was an absolute dream, more responsive and powerful than she had ever dreamed of, but it still took its cues from her.
“Get that cargo bay door open for me!” She rounded the nose of the Sprite at a run, skidding a couple of steps before she got traction with her boots. A plume of air and lights gave her a fix on the door as she surged forward again.
“Doors open. Engines spooling up,” Red warned. “Get your ass inside now!”
Eris hurled herself forward, stretching full length and using her thrusters just as the ship started to lift off. Her hand caught the edge of the cargo bay doors and she swung herself up and in, sliding across the floor in a clatter of metal meeting armor. Red punched the engines. Eris groaned as the g-forces in the unshielded cargo bay pinned her against the floor. Her head fell to the side. In the strip she could see through the side view shield, the doors had already closed. She smiled and closed her eyes to ride out the rest of the liftoff.
They’d made it. That was all that mattered.
As soon as the thrust cut and Red announced on ship-wide they were safe from the blast zone, Eris levered herself up off the floor and clunked over to the suit’s charging cradle. Now the rush of adrenaline had drained from her system, her entire body felt heavy and her ears rang.
With a groan, she cracked the cockpit seals and clambered out, her movements slow. The cradle closed around the suit, a ladder swinging into place, and she sighed with relief. When she saw Red, she was going to damn well kiss that woman.
“Red!” Zero’s bellow brought her head around. “Tell me she got inside!”
Before she could yell out that she was okay, he appeared at the cargo bay door, almost shunting it from its moorings when it didn’t open fast enough for him.
It took him seconds to cross the distance between them and less time to pull her into his arms. The seconds after that were filled with his lips on hers and a kiss that had been far too long in the making. It felt like an eternity since he’d held her, and she melted in his arms, a soft catch of need and pleasure in the back of her throat.
He kissed her like she was the last woman in existence. Like a starving man given his last meal. Like she was the sun, moon and the stars all rolled into one. Like every cliché saying and description… and none of them would be enough. Mere words would never be enough to describe the feeling and emotion that bound them together or the way her heart ached until he was near.
He was the air she needed to breathe, the energy that kept her heart beating and the will she needed to keep going.
He was her everything. And, from the way he kissed her, she was his.
He broke away with a soft growl, his chest heaving and his lips a hairsbreadth from hers. Slowly he opened his eyes and she bit back a groan at the expression there. Heat and desire swirled in the sudden darkness of his eyes. She bit her lip, wanting nothing more than to forget everything and just haul him back to their quarters. Then not emerge for like… a week. Maybe two. Perhaps if she asked nicely, she could get the other crew to drop food off outside their door?
He brushed his lips against the tip of her nose in a tender gesture as he lowered her to her feet. “Much as I’d like to take this straight to our room,” he murmured in a low voice, “we have company.”
“Uh-huh,” she nodded, her arms still looped around his neck. “Hold that thought, though?”
“You betcha,” he grinned as he let her go and she stepped around him. Then froze.
Her brother stood a few steps off, his gaze flicking between them. “You’re a… you’re—”
“Couple? Together?” she said firmly. “Yes.”
She watched his expression, waiting for the explosion. Tension hung in the air, cloying and electric. Her shoulders were tight, the muscles in her back rigid. She could see no version of this where her brother didn’t give his high-handed opinion on her life and what he thought she should be doing with it. Which probably… definitely didn’t include a relationship with the alien cyborg standing behind her.
But the explosion never came. Instead, Eric smiled, flicking a glance over her shoulder at Zero. “I’m pleased for you. I mean… you did find the one man in the whole universe guaranteed to give mother kittens, so good on you. And thank you… for saving me.”
He opened his arms. There was no thought, no decision-making process. She just stepped forward and into his bear-hug, returning it like her life depended on it.
“You were awesome,” Eric muttered, his voice muffled against her neck. “My sister, the badass.”
“Okay,” Eris pushed away, dashing at her cheeks with the back of her hand. Neither man mentioned the tears, and they wouldn’t, not if they wanted to live anyway.
She smiled, turning around and waving Zero over. “Zero, this is Eric. Eric… Zero.”
She held her breath as she watched the two men face each other. They weren’t squaring off, not exactly. If they did and it got physical, her brother didn’t stand a chance. Not against Zero. Hell, she wasn’t sure he’d stand a chance even if he wore her suit. There was a lot more to being the kind of soldier they were than brute strength and armor.
For a moment, she didn’t think either of them were going to move. Then Eric stepped forward, his hand outstretched.
“Welcome to the family, Zero,” he said with a smile as the bigger man stepped forward to shake his hand. Even in the blood-splattered remains of his lab coat, and having obviously been worked over, he still had enough pride to match Zero look for look.
“Although, I have to give the mandatory warning, even though it’s more than obvious you can beat me to a pulp… hurt my sister and I will find a way to end you.” He grinned suddenly. “That’s if she doesn’t get to you first.”
Eris coughed, somehow managing to cover the strangled choking sound that had escaped her at Eric’s threat.
“Perfectly acceptable,” Zero grinned. “Although, to be honest, can I put in a request for you to get to me first? I think I might sustain less damage than if she gets to me.”
Eric chuckled. “Yeah, I think you might be right.” Then his expression sobered. “So, what happens now?”
Zero let go of his hand, his eyes unfocused for a second.
“Uplink,” she mouthed to Eric, who looked fascinated. “He’s checking what’s going on.”
“Exactly,” Zero replied and his voice had that richness and awareness that told her he was fully with them. “Boss has called a debriefing later. So that gives us time to get you settled and cleaned up a little. If you’d like to follow us…”
“You know,” Zero murmured to Eris half an hour later as they left Eric settling into his new quarters. “I think he’ll grow on me.”
She smiled over her shoulder at him as they headed down the corridor toward their quarters, and the beauty of it hit him like a blaster array. He paused, his heart stuttering in his chest so violently he was forced to direct a query at his onboard for a status report. It came back all clear almost before he’d finished the thought but already he wasn’t listening to it.
All that mattered was her… Eris… his Eris.
He hadn’t missed her words to her brother. She’d said they were together. That they were a couple. No hesitation or prevarication. No looking at him for confirmation. She’d just owned it… and it eased something deep down in his heart.
“Look at me like that again,” he murmured, “and we won’t reach our room.”
Startled, she looked at him again and then her eyes darkened, twinkling with mischief as she stuck out her tongue. The irreverent little display hit him in the center of his chest and he mock-growled, unable to hide his grin at the same time.
Two steps later and he caught her up, turning her in the same move and pinning her up against the wall. He kissed her urgently, bodies pressed tightly as he used h
is bulk to hold her in place. Parting her lips with a hard sweep of his tongue, he ravaged her mouth, taking what he wanted.
What they both wanted.
She whimpered, a soft moan of desire as she wrapped herself around him. He hardly needed to urge her to wrap her legs around him, sliding a big hand down her thigh to cup her ass.
With a real growl this time, he ground himself against her. She was so tiny and delicate, but so strong at the same time. She was his equal in every way, and he couldn’t believe he’d found her.
That she was all his…
Breaking from her lips with a desperate gasp, he kissed along her neck. Hard, biting kisses that made her gasp and grind against him.
“Oh… for fuck’s sake, you two. Get a damn room!”
They both jumped at Skinny’s voice behind them, Zero automatically covering Eris with his body. She giggled, hiding her face against the side of his neck and his heart felt light at the soft, carefree sound.
“This place is turning into a fucking loveboat,” Skinny growled and stomped off, shouting over his shoulder. “At least keep your godsdamn clothes on until you get to your room.”
Zero grinned as Eris emerged from her hiding place against his shoulder.
“He’s right. We should head to our room,” he said softly, reaching up to smooth the loose strand of hair back from her face and tucking it behind her ear.
“Sounds like a plan,” she replied, her voice low and intimate. The husky tone in it hit him south of the belt, his cock hard and aching where he pressed up against her. “And, if I recall correctly, someone promised to show me how roomy these showers are…”
His grin was slow and filled with heat.
“I did. Didn’t I? I’ll get right on that.”
Pulling her away from the wall, he headed down the corridor toward their room. They had two hours before the debriefing, and he knew exactly how to make best use of that time…
Proving to the woman he loved that she was all he needed. All he’d ever need. He might not know who he was or where he came from. He might have nightmares from a life he couldn’t remember. But none of that mattered.