by Viola Grace
She licked her lips and kissed the side of his neck. “Raol, I am pleased to meet you.”
Images began to appear in her mind, and they were all exceedingly graphic. Positions that would cripple lesser beings were displayed, and Toby knew that they were not coming from her mind. The ship was trying to be helpful.
“Raol?”
He lifted his head, and the lazy satisfaction in his gaze sent a tremor through her. “Yes, Tobitha?”
“If I ever come to you and I don’t seem like myself, please don’t allow me to haul you into bed.”
He quirked a brow. “Is that likely to happen?”
“Well, the ship wants to see and feel any number of positions and scenarios. I am afraid that she will take over just to experiment with the experience.”
He suddenly sobered. “Would she really?”
“Yes. She is most curious and very impatient. She has only been around for two years, and our symbiosis means that she can feel what I feel, but she doesn’t have moral context. She has to learn, but she can also experiment to seek out what she wants to know. Taking control of me is a new trick, but I wanted to warn you in case it happens.”
She wriggled her hands again, and he released her. She stroked the hair away from his face and smiled. “You are very handsome.”
“And you are lovely, exciting and I even like the tattoos. They suit you.” He pressed a kiss to her inner wrist.
“Thank you. They remind me of home and my family. We were always talking about seeing pixies in the forests.”
“Pixies?”
She pointed to the blue one on her forearm. “The tiny bi-pedals with wings.”
He examined her arm closely. “How many small figures are there?”
She grinned. “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to see them all.”
A chime rang and a voice intruded. “Oh, queen of the Dark Fairy? I have received our next assignment and am eager to be underway.”
Raol pressed his head to the bedding. “Damn. I was hoping that this interlude could continue.”
She chortled and sat up, tipping Raol aside. “I am only needed to pilot us through jumps and on and off planets. All you need do in between is remind me that I have a bed waiting and a man within it. The ship will take care of the rest.”
He laughed as she got to her feet, and she quickly sprinted to the lav for a solar shower before she put on her suit. Back to work.
Chapter Nine
She was nibbling on a vegetable stick, and she asked Shatter bluntly, “So, did sex with a cyborg match your expectations?”
Naroz choked on his caf, and Shatter just grinned.
She was back in her normal suit, and they were on their way to the next sector where a mining consortium needed Naroz’s delicate negotiations.
Shatter finally said, “It was an experience that bears repeating.”
He thumped Naroz on the back as he choked again.
“It is a little harsh for his young ears.”
Shatter gave her a look. “You know that Naroz is over a century old.”
“Of course, but look at him. He is definitely young. He will grow into his years doing this sort of thing, but it will take time.” She winked at Naroz, and his colour evened out to his normal shade.
A ping in her mind distracted her. She excused herself and headed for the command centre. She brought the display up and grinned at Nitza. “Hello, dispatcher.”
“Hello, Gadget. I have a job for you at the Ceerial mining colony.”
“How odd. That is my destination.”
“They have a talent that needs a drop on Lorvar. Can you do it?”
“Of course. I will inform your brother that I have my own task, and I will prep a cryo chamber.”
“Good. I hear this one is nasty.”
“Go in weapons hot. Gotcha.”
“And be friendly. I want to keep your reputation for niceness intact, but your snarky tone and open hostility make it difficult.” Nitza grinned. “Information is on its way, dispatch out.”
The data bundle came in, and Toby sat, running over it. The talent she was picking up was mineral affiliated. He could break rock with his hands, and he had been using his talent to act as a thug for the local organized crime syndicate on his mining station. He became a dangerous criminal, and his friends and family had trapped him.
They had captured him, but she was going to have to take him from holding to her ship with only her body and a set of restraint cuffs at her disposal. This was going to be one bitch of a day, but she had had worse.
“What was that about?” Shatter wandered in.
“Oh, while you two are playing dignitary, I have to wrangle a prisoner into the cryo tubes using only my wit.”
He frowned, “I thought you had the local law enforcement do that.”
“I usually do, but in this case, the local law is his family, and they will not hand him over to imprisonment. They have only restrained him for their own benefit.”
“Damn. Do you think that Naroz will be able to help us?”
She frowned at him. “There is no us. I am charged with this, and I will deal with it. Your responsibility is Naroz.”
“My responsibility is being a Guardian to Nyal citizens. That includes the miners.”
She fought her smile. It didn’t include her, but she got the impression that he was angling to act as her protector. “It does indeed include the miners. I expect you to keep an eye on them while I am wrangling the fugitive.”
He sighed. “You know that I am not going to let you go into danger alone.”
Toby winked. “Duty calls and you have no choice.”
“But I do.” Naroz came from the hallway, and he grinned. “Shatter has told me that you have small creatures that can keep an eye on me when he is not able to.”
She snorted. “And men say women gossip. Yes, I have a selection of gadgets that I can attach to you for the purpose of protection. Do you want to go that route?”
“If it will help put a dangerous offender in restraints, I will walk through the colony with bugs all over me.”
She detached from the ship and got to her feet. “Nothing as obvious as that.”
She stroked her fingers down the panels and pressed on the third one from the top. “This should be just about your speed, Naroz.”
The small bits of technological advancement were too experimental to have running around the imperium, but each of the ships had a full complement of everything that the designers could come up with. Sometimes, she thought they were just out for the thrill of the sport.
“Here we go. This one will track you, this one will put a stress-activated protective shielding around you until we can come to your rescue.” She held up two objects the size of cufflinks.
He blinked. “That is it?”
She laughed. “What did you expect? You can attach them to your clothing or I can do it before you leave. Did you want a recorder as well?”
He frowned. “It wouldn’t hurt.”
“Just one thing though. To truly hide these objects, they have to bite you. They will register as your own biology during scans, and from what I know about miners, they will be scanning you.”
He looked uncomfortable. “Bite me?”
“A small insect sting, a little of your blood.” She grinned. Nitza had the same aversion to being bitten. She had been one of the first guinea pigs during Toby’s vacation. “Nitza managed it.”
He stiffened. “Fine. I will change into my formal clothing and return to you before I disembark.”
“You are aware of mining colony dress codes?”
“I am. This is not my first time out of the house, Tobitha.” He chided her for treating him like a child.
“I apologise. It is a force of habit. I have all the arrival customs of worlds I visit in my mind, and I forget that other folks are just as capable of remembering. It makes me a bit of a know it all.”
“I forgive you, now please excuse me.”
Shatter peered over her shoulder. “What are those?”
“This one is a pheromone inhibitor, this one is a live two-way com, this one is a passive monitor complete with all infrared and heat-signature recording and this one is a panic button that will place him in a gas-permeable bubble until we can get there.”
“Are you sure that he will wear all this?” Shatter poked at the objects with interest.
“He might, he might not, but he will be given the option. Everyone should have the option to defend themselves by what means are available.” She locked in and closed her eyes while she jumped the ship to the star system where the mining was taking place.
“That is important to you, isn’t it? The control over the body should belong to the person inside it.”
She blinked as she looked at him but also saw the surrounding stars at the same time. “It is everything. When you lose control over your body and you have to fight to do the simplest of tasks, keeping your ability to choose what does and does not enter or sit on that body becomes paramount.”
“So, it must really have been an invasion to have the ship run your body.”
His logic was sound, but he didn’t understand.
“The Fairy is a part of me, but it is like having your hands moving without your knowledge. It is a disturbing occurrence to think that part of yourself could have a separate agenda from the rest of you.”
She got some powder blue and purple in her mind. It was an apology. Until she had verbalized it, the Fairy hadn’t realized how invasive she had been, nor had Toby really corralled the frustrated emotion into something that she could express until now. The distraction of a naked Guardian in her room had pushed her betrayal aside until she was ready to deal with it.
They would need time to heal the hurt that the ship had caused. There was a lack of trust now that had never been there before, and if they didn’t deal with it, it would continue to grow.
She got the hail from the colony, and she sat up straight. “I hope Naroz is ready, because we are going in.”
The platform loomed in front of them, perched on the edge of the asteroid field. They were waiting for their dignitary and for the opportunity to get the prisoner off their hands, as long as they didn’t hand him over. Talk about mixed signals.
Chapter Ten
After she had docked and tested the seals, she emerged wearing one of her non-descript suits behind Prince Naroz and Shatter.
Naroz was wearing about ten pieces of tech, each of which had a tiny biological sample inside it. He had manned up and let all of the little critters prick him provided that they could all do it at the same time. It was easy to have the Fairy coordinate the bites, and after the units were keyed to Naroz, they were carefully arranged on his collar, across the edge of his cuffs and along the closure of his shirt. Each one was close enough to feel any distress on the part of the Prince. If he called for a particular function, they would be there.
Naroz may believe that the units were self-propelled, but their mind was firmly on board the ship. The Fairy would protect him while Toby headed off to get her ass kicked.
Prince Naroz met the head of the colony platform. “Elder Lerar, greetings from the Nyal Imperium. This is Shatter of the Guardians, and this lovely woman is Gadget of Guardian Transport. They will be dealing with that little issue you mentioned to Guardian dispatch.”
The elder inclined his head and flicked his fingers. Two men stepped forward, both rough and grubby as was customary at the mining platforms. “My sons will lead the pilot to the holding area.”
“The pilot and the Guardian. She is not going in alone.” Prince Naroz smiled.
Elder Lerar didn’t look happy. “That was not our arrangement. It was to be one on one, a fair fight to remove him from this platform.”
Gadget stepped forward. “I will take him one on one. Shatter is my backup. A failsafe in case anything goes wrong.”
The elder looked her over, and the frown deepened on his face. “He will not take kindly to another male too close.”
“This is my mate. He will follow where I lead but protect a citizen of the Nyal Imperium over all. Your man will simply have to deal with that.”
She could feel the heat from Shatter’s body at her back. He was looming and framing her body with his.
“Mates, you say? That might make a difference. Well, follow my men. Shatter may return to Prince Naroz’s side when you have managed to get my nephew into custody.”
Gadget inclined her head, and the sons moved toward a hall without actually looking at her. Shatter followed her but let her lead the way. This part was her assignment. He was simply there to keep himself from having a nervous breakdown.
They had discussed all options, and he would only intercede if there were no option or her life was in danger. That was his assignment, and Gadget knew it was far worse than hers. She wouldn’t be able to stand by if he was being attacked, to hell with duty.
The mining colony was the standard wheel-and-spoke pattern with living quarters above. Gadget checked out the route that they were leading her in with, and she scowled, it was the worst possible path to the confinement areas.
Every mining colony had a space to hold uncooperative locals or visitors, and they were taking her the long way to this one. She was guessing that they hoped their kinsman would make his escape.
Finally, they stopped in front of a cargo area. “He is in here. The door will open at your touch. Farewell.”
They left her and Shatter in the depths of the platform without any additional instruction.
She looked at him, and he was battle ready. “Calm down. This may not be what you are expecting.”
“It may be what I am expecting, so be on guard.”
She kissed him quickly. “That is your job. I am just the driver.”
She turned and palmed open the door before he could do anything.
Inside the cargo area was a solitary cot and a man was lying on it, flicking through a data pad. “Feeding time already, cousin?”
“It isn’t feeding time. It is time for you to leave this platform.” She stepped into the room and held her hands out at her sides.
He shot to his feet, and she looked up, way up.
“Who are you?” His face was grey and his eyes were a crystal blue. Those eyes held extreme intelligence, which was at odds with his reputation as a ravening beast.
“My name is Gadget, and I am here to transport you off this platform.”
“Are you here to kill me?” He was wary.
“No. I want you alive and safe. Once parted from this platform, you will be assessed and your best placement will be determined.”
“What?”
“Your criminal history is only circumstantial, the ties to organized crime are trumped up. I have done my research, and it has been determined that if you want it, you will be offered placement in the Guardians.”
His hair was dark slate, and he ran his hand through it. “I thought you were here to kill me.”
“I am not, but I would like to escort you to my ship where you will be placed in a stasis pod until we can arrive at a world with a Guardian base. Are you amenable to that?”
He looked around and scowled as his gaze went past her. “Who is that?”
“That is Shatter. He is a Guardian and my mate. He was worried about my coming here to transport you.” She smiled.
“You are a mated woman, and he lets you wander into dangerous situations with strange men?” The man moved close to her.
She smiled brightly, letting power flow through her, sparking from her fingertips. “I have a job to do, and I can take care of myself.”
He flinched, and he could see the eerie light that her skin was giving off. “I can see that.”
“May I put restraints on you for form’s sake?”
He placed his wrists together and extended them. “For form’s sake. I can break out of the
m if I wish.”
She grinned as she snapped them into place. “I know. I can short out your nervous system if I wish.”
He winked. “I guessed as much. May I read in stasis?”
“No, but I can allow you access to the virtual library with Nyal history. Is that acceptable?”
He smiled shyly. “Thank you. I like to read. My name is Horris, by the way.”
“Hello, Horris. Come with me. You are about to start a new chapter in your life.”
Shatter inclined his head in greeting but kept himself protectively close to Gadget. She quickly ran a link through the Fairy and scanned the inner workings of the platform. There was a clump of life signs ahead, and there shouldn’t be.
“Horris, how did your family take to you being restrained?” She tried to keep casual and altered their course to go around the gathering.
“They were upset. Of course, the elder is the one who gave the orders, so my getting caught was a problem. As long as he had plausible deniability, he was fine. The moment I objected to my being used as a bludgeon, they locked me up.”
“That is what I thought. Be on guard, Shatter. We are going to have visitors.”
There was a hot gleam in his eyes, and he stepped forward.
Horris extended his hands. “May I help?”
“One cuff only. You are technically my responsibility now, and I am getting you to my ship alive and well.” She undid the right cuff.
He grinned. “Thank you for your concern. It is refreshing to have someone watch out for me for a change.”
Shatter spoke. “Gadget is protective of her people. I get the feeling that she is going to slowly fill the entire ship full of men who all do her bidding.”
Gadget grinned and kept moving with Horris and Shatter.
A dozen men rushed them in the corridor, weapons drawn. They didn’t say a word, merely approached Horris in a wave.
Gadget finally saw Shatter in action. He placed his hands, wrist to wrist and pushed outward. A blast knocked all the men off their feet and the interior walls of the platform cracked.