by Alma Boykin
“Can’t. Will push my cover. Tobashto use strictly their own kit and Rrahsh Foe-gutter is security and tech, not medical.” Which Rada thought total foolishness on the part of the Tobashto, but maybe they’d been burned in the past.
«Go look, pet. That’s an order. There’s something funny I want your opinion on, and if someone asks you could say that you are looking at what enemies might be using.» Zabet’s sending carried the weight of a command and Rada frowned.
“Well, first I need food and to see if the salesbeing is really as charming as he thinks he is. You want me to order anything for you?” She got up, stretched, and made certain that the ribbons on her tail remained secure. Zabet shook her head and pointed to a small cart with empty plates and platters that Rada had failed to see earlier. “Got it,” and she pulled the room-service cart out behind her when she left.
After getting something heavy on the protein, the mammal went to what she would call the bar. It was a place where one could buy a number of mild intoxicants or stimulants, but not real food, and it served as a convenient meeting place because of its central location among the different wings and sections of the resort’s main building. After considering just how clear she needed her head to be, Rada passed on the second-run keritang and ordered a medium karpotl, straight. The individual running the bar apparently agreed with her choice because it added a few drops more after filling the snifter. Rada raised her glass in salute and passed over her credit-carrier, swirling the liquor a little and sniffing gently as she did. The barkeep passed back her card as the mammal sipped carefully, eye narrowing with pleasure at the hint of “wildness” in the complex scents and flavors. Good stuff indeed, and she carefully inhaled over the next sip to get the full benefit of the excellent blend.
“First Claw Foe-Gutter?” a smooth and familiar voice inquired from behind the felinoid. Rada turned to find exactly whom she had been hoping to find, and she nodded her recognition as she took another sip of karpotl. “I was wondering if you might have any further questions about the products you were interested in?”
“No, thank you. The information has been sent to the ’krrsskalee First Fangs and it is their decision now.”
“Very good. Then perhaps I would not be out of line moving from professional to more social topics.” The male smiled and took the empty space at the bar beside her, giving her a chance to read his emotions. “The local dark,” he ordered, then turned back to Rada. “Pardon if I am too bold, First Claw, but I find you quite attractive.”
Yes, you would Rada snarled behind her shields. Never bedded a Tobashtorak and now’s your chance. His kind repulsed her almost as much as just plain rapists did. All he wanted was another species to add to his collection and had no interest in her as an individual. Disgusting cad. But she acted intrigued, if wary. “Thank you, gentlesir.”
“Please, call me Lothar,” he insisted before taking a swig of his beer. “Again, pardon me if I am forward, but have you had the evening meal yet?”
He certainly was in a hurry! Rada made a forefoot gesture of negation and Lothar looked confused. “Ah, forgive. I forget not all know the paw-speech,” Rada said. “Please call me Rrash and no, I’ve not eaten. I prefer to feed lightly and late in the evenings.”
Rada went back to her room, ignored Zabet’s look of concern, and headed straight into the washing chamber. She stripped off her clothes and scrubbed herself until her skin ached, then dried off and emerged.
«Someone wearing bad perfume or did they spill the vegetable platter on you?» Zabet inquired from behind an e-reader.
“Neither. I just seduced one of the sleeziest males I’ve ever encountered.” Before Zabet died of heart failure, Rada continued, “His imagination gave him a lot better time than I could have, Boss. And trust me, I would not bed that creature if he were the last male in the universe.” She got a large glass of water and sat down across from the True-dragon. “Especially since he let it slip that he was testing me for his boss.”
«Ugh! That’s revolting,» and Zabet’s whiskers went rigid with distaste as her tail whapped the floor behind her seat. «This is an arms-mart, not a flesh market.»
Rada drank the cool water and leaned her head back, eye closed. Manipulating Lothar’s mind left her feeling unclean despite the scrub, and the exertion had drained her physically as well. “Apparently his boss sees the galaxy differently. And they both like it rough, but only if they are giving it. Rough and not always voluntary,” she added.
From the very beginning he’d wanted to restrain her completely, but she’d refused, only letting him secure her legs and blindfold her. At the first possible chance she put both hands on him and slammed his mind as hard as he’d wanted to strike her body. Once he was well into his fantasies she’d freed herself and sat back, monitoring him to keep things from going so far into unreality that he’d wonder about it later. As it was, Rada learned a lot more than she really cared to about that kind of congress. By now she’d thought she was familiar with most of the variations on recreational procreation but yeech. He wanted to “bag an exotic” and to make her feel pain, nothing more or less. Rada sent a silent prayer to whatever deity happened to be passing by that Lothar’s other partners had been consenting professionals who had been very well paid for their suffering. She also asked for justice for any unwilling innocent. Because even some professionals could have ended up scarred by the things he liked to do and see.
«Are you going to turn him in?»
Rada opened her eye and stood up, stretching. “No, because Rrash Foe-gutter went willingly and enjoyed the evening, according to what his brain will tell him. After all, everyone knows that female soldiers really want to be dominated, no matter what they may say aloud,” and both women exchanged angry looks. They’d both disabused predators more than once.
Zabet used her tail tip to flick off the main light. «I hope it will prove to be worth it,» the reptile sighed as she eased over to her chosen sleeping spot.
“I think it will. If I’d actually had to bed that ngeedak it would be a different story.” Rada turned off the side light and lay down in her improvised nest on the floor but could not sleep. She’d almost blown her cover when he produced limb restraints and other toys. The mammal had felt a flashback starting and barely fought it off, covering her terror by acting excited. Once this is over, I will never, ever, ever do this again. Ever, I swear by all that anyone holds holy. She’d refuse the mission and take the strike on her file rather than have to participate in something like that again after this was done.
Rada dozed off. Suddenly, she couldn’t move and her body ached as if she’d been beaten and assaulted. She had been, and the woman struggled, unable to free herself as a human man ordered, “Tell me where she is and how to call her.” Jaws locked, Rada refused. He would not break her, couldn’t break her. Rape hadn’t worked; her conditioning and training held despite his bullies’ brutality. Beatings also failed and she kept her secrets locked away from him. “Tell me where she is,” he repeated, then began smearing something cold over the right side of her face. It stung but did nothing more, and a little bit of Rada’s mind wondered if whatever it was didn’t work with her alien biology, even as another part screamed in warning.
The man, his face in shadow (why? She asked the memory, what’s going on?), lifted a device and held it to her face, pressing the metallic plate against her greasy cheekbone. The machine started vibrating and pain radiated along Rada’s bones as a high-pitched sound pierced her skull. Her teeth felt looser and she could barely see, her ears aching from the vibrations and the ultrasonic noise and her contact lenses clouding over as cracks crazed the glass. “Tell me where she is,” he demanded, turning the machine’s pulses higher and higher. Pain blinded, Rada cried out but refused to tell him. He removed the machine and the pain stopped, but before she could more than inhale his hand swung up toward her. Skin tore, bone and glass shattered, and she saw red and black as raw agony exploded from where her eye had been. The shoc
k collapsed her shields and his anger, raw lust, and enormous pleasure at seeing her blood drove the woman’s mind to the breaking point as her scream cut through the stinking air.
Something cold slapped her face and the worst of the pain ended along with the memory. She stared into a dim room, gasping for breath, water dripping from her face. A silvery shape loomed over her and Rada flinched back, hands raised to protect her remaining eye before she realized that Zabet stood there, not her attacker. The mammal took a deep breath, then another, and another, calming her body enough that her mind might follow. Rada clasped shaking hands in her lap. “Thanks, Boss. Good thing I sleep on the floor,” she whispered.
«Oh hell yes,» Zabet replied, setting down the water bottle she’d used to wake her partner. «I’m surprised you didn’t wake the dead. What happened?»
“Flashback.” Before she could elaborate Zabet wrapped herself around the woman, supporting and holding her with cool, smooth scales and strongly muscled flanks and tail.
«Rada, have you ever talked to anyone? As in a professional?» Concern and more than a little fear came through the True-dragon’s sending and Rada stroked under her partner’s throat, soothing the reptile as well as herself.
«I talked to Himself,» the Wanderer silently reminded her friend. «The letch’s emotions triggered the memory, I think; not evil but nasty, a user.»
The reptile craned her head around, giving the damp felinoid a close inspection. «Hmpf» came the thought, carrying with it concern, relief that Rada’s scream had not woken anyone else, and anger at the male who triggered the memory. The two dozed off together, and despite her fears Rada dreamed no more that night.
As per Zabet’s “suggestion” Rada looked over the medical area the next morning. At first she only found the usual med-kits, self-proclaimed universal bio-weapon defenses, and other combat medical things. Then she noticed the tastefully decorated booth off to the side. The corporations’ bland name and display set off the same bells as had the Filtak literature and Rada stopped, moving out of the main walk-through so she could see more of the display. “Kishon Biologics and Metallics” could mean anything or nothing and the name failed to trigger any memories or associations in Rada’s mind. She looked more closely at the data being projected on the sales display, sounding out the language. The company advertised custom pharmaceuticals, nothing unusual there. But something in the phrasing seemed strange and Rada kept watching the advertisement.
There it was! “And our products have also been used successfully on Sarpas II, Kirschfeld’s World, and Mintao with no secondary effects or generational spill-over. We guarantee complete applicator satisfaction or we will return your credits,” blah, blah, the usual sales pitch. Only someone with a serious knowledge of mass poisonings and bioweaponry would see a link between those three planets and Rada blanched inside. That’s not coincidence. Which means I could be in over my head if I pursue this, she warned herself even as part of her wanted to grill the android that served as a salesbeing for Kishon. Instead she downloaded the basic files from the data kiosk and went her way. Just in case, she also downloaded material from a few other places as cover; if anyone asked she was simply taking back the latest information to her ’krrsskalee.
First Claw Rrahsh Foe-gutter found a place to sit where she wouldn’t crush her tail joints and skimmed through the material she’d collected. After this long working with Himself she’d read or seen almost every possible variation on “our stuff works really well, trust us. No side-effects, we promise!” But that’s not quite what Kishon promised. Rada cleared the screen on her datapad and stared into space, tail tip swinging as she sorted through some memories. Mintao, Kirschfeld’s World, and Sarpas II had all been hit with targeted biotoxins prior to being invaded. But that remained yet to happen; the Mintao invasion, earliest of the three, would not occur for another twenty of the regional years. And hiding bioweapons in staples shipments violated the Laws of War both “now” and in the future.
OK, settle down here, she cautioned herself. First you need to see if there are any other possible connections between those three worlds that might have something to do with what Kishon produces. Then you have to confirm that someone did not just royally f’ up their advertising. People advertised what would happen in the future but only as a joke, especially when someone was talking about things military.
And then there was the neat little tag at the end of the file, identifying Kishon as being a subsidiary of the Karoo Cartel. The Cartel was a big company and the coincidence could very well be just that—coincidence. She’d encountered bad branches of otherwise decent companies before.
She returned from her cloudwalking to discover that the expensively dressed male from the day before happened to be standing in the lounge, apparently checking his own data receiver. Today he wore a form-fitting body suit that left no doubt as to his wealth and physical prowess. Blessed Bookkeeper, why don’t codpieces as fashion statements just die once and for all? Rada snorted. For the same reason that your shirt has no buttons above your cleavage, the acidic voice in her head replied. Yes, well, at least in her case it was not false advertising. The Trader from da Peerlan did his best to lurk discretely and Rada in turn did her best to ignore him. She tucked her datapad into the case hanging from her belt and stood, obviously intending to go elsewhere.
“Well met, First Claw,” the wealthy male said before she could get away.
She dipped her head and made a tail gesture of acknowledgment. “Gentlesir.”
He closed out his file before continuing. “I trust that you are finding what you seek?”
“The scouting goes well,” and her tail rumpled in a noncommittal shrug.
“Is there something in particular your ’krrsskalee has need of? I ask because I have contacts with several companies here,” he offered. Something in his eyes triggered Rada’s suspicions and she lowered her shields just a hair. He was not lying that she could sense but it was hard to tell; the waves of lust pouring off him masked his other feelings.
The Tobashto female swirled her right forefoot in negation. “Thank you, gentlesir, for your courtesy but I am on a scout, not a stalk.”
He covered his momentary confusion smoothly. “Then I wish you good fortune on your explorations, First Claw. Perhaps I may be of service at some point.” It was an invitation and Rada took it.
“Perhaps,” she shifted her weight and turned slightly as she rotated a shoulder, revealing more of her chest to his view. “If you will pardon me,” she inclined toward him slightly and began walking away.
“Of course.” He slipped a data card into her forefoot as she passed, and the contact was enough for her to read his surface emotions and to catch an image. Rada’s skin crawled under her fur and she wanted to throw the card in the closest incinerator. Instead she slid the item into her carry-case and meandered through the mart to the virtual reality section in order to catch the next demonstration of several pieces of artillery and anti-artillery.
Rada found nothing new or exciting in the heavy weapons and transport displays, but it cleared her mind. The Azdhagi preferred their own designs and Rada knew about most of the weapons systems on display from her history research. Her interest lay in how the salesbeings envisioned their devices being used—what deployment patterns, support forces and technology, transportation requirements, and so on. Transportation also concerned both Rada and her cover persona for obvious reasons and she studied several displays with great interest. Although Tobashtorak built and used their own inter-stellar transports, a ’krrsskalee hired by a third party might well have to use their employer’s equipment and Rrahsh Foe-gutter downloaded several data files about the latest in drop shielding and other equipment.
She also made note of a new, high-value shipping concern. Nori High Speed offered secure, “discreet” deliveries within this quadrant of the galaxy. Again, nothing unusual on the surface, aside from an emphasis on low-mass, high hazard cargos, but the darkness lay in the details. �
�In-time delivery guaranteed,” Rada whispered under her breath. Not on time, but “in time,” meaning a trans-temporal delivery option.
Rada found a hydration point, bought something to drink, and then found another out-of-traffic corner. OK, once is accident, twice is coincidence, but three different branches of the Karoo Cartel offering illegal services? That reeks of trouble. The rational side of her mind kicked in and Rada perched on the edge of a flat-topped, table-like piece of furniture and drew her computer out of her carry-bag. After checking for observers, she opened the link to the Dark Hart and quickly downloaded the current-for-this-time rules of warfare and the covenants for the closest active conflicts. The mercenary skimmed the data until she found what she wanted. By the Debt Collector’s dark heart this is getting deep. Rada terminated the link and shuffled the memory record so that anyone looking at her computer would see the most recent sales downloads but nothing more.
The mammal wanted thinking space. She took her gear and swag back to the room, changed into clothes better suited to a hard workout, left a note for Zabet along with the overdressed humanoid Lyonel mer Olbaak’s card, and hunted up the physical exercise area. Rrahsh Foe-gutter needed to stay in form because she could expect a challenge as soon as she returned to Karmali, and the felinoid stretched carefully, working all her joints and testing for catches or pain. She felt nothing out of the ordinary and after clearing the area she set herself, began a series of basic hand-to-hand defense maneuvers before moving to more advanced drills and patterns. Then the mammal moved to the strength-training area, working especially intensely on her upper body. Rrahsh might not have any qualms about doing leg work, but Rada didn’t dare. Then she returned to stretches and cool-down forms.
Two other resort guests had joined her by the time she finished. A Sarpasig concentrated on balance exercise, or at least that’s what Rada hoped it was doing in a corner with a large agility ball. The other guest launched into weight work, in the process giving Rrahsh a very good view of his sculpted muscles and complete-body skin shift. Despite herself, Rada acknowledged the humanoid’s strength and physical attractiveness. Too many creatures indulged in body-sculpt and then failed to keep up the additions and modifications. Not Lyonel mer Olbaak; he put effort into his exercises and it looked as if he was stronger than she was, at least judging by the weights he selected. Strong usually means stiff, though, the female noted.