by Selena Kitt
Suddenly a row of silver, gleaming spikes appeared along the flat inside surface of the collar. Boone cursed and nearly dropped the damn thing on the floor. “Damn it, Abrahams!”
“Sorry, merely a little demonstration. Those are the medication delivery system. See?” He made another gesture with the remote and clear fluid welled from the hollow tips of the five inch spikes.
Boone shuddered in disgust. The control collar Abrahams had invented to keep his saurian daughter in check reminded him entirely too much of K’s skinsuit for comfort. Looking up, he saw her staring at the collar in his hands, her black-on-black eyes wide. She looked up and for a moment their eyes met and held—then she looked hastily away and wrapped her arms around herself protectively.
“Well, what do you think?” Abrahams asked, obviously indifferent to the tension in the room.
“I think this is a bad idea.” Loki’s eyes were also glued to the black collar and its silver spikes.
“You got a better one?” Boone demanded. “Because I’m fresh out. We need to get the hyperdrive fixed or we’re not going anywhere.”
Loki sighed. “Fine, I’m in. But only because you need someone to make sure you’re not turned into a saurian sandwich.”
“Excellent.” Abrahams rubbed his hands together with a dry, papery sound. “I’ll tell Ilesca to get to work on your hyperdrive at once. It should be all fixed and ready to go the minute you get the collar on Sweetie.”
“Fine.” Boone sighed. “Give me the stunner and show me how to work it. Let’s get this over with.”
“I want your pulse pistol if you’re using the stunner,” Loki said. “I don’t think I want to get close enough to a live saurian to use my gogi knife on it.”
“Sure.” Boone unstrapped the weapon and handed it over.
“Right this way, gentlemen,” Abrahams said. “If you’ll just follow me—”
“This is wrong.” K spoke in a low, tense voice, stopping them all in their tracks. Boone looked at her and saw that she was staring at the floor, her arms still wrapped tightly around herself.
He sighed. “I’m sorry if you don’t agree, K, but my decision is final. Besides, I’m a big guy—I can take care of myself.”
K looked up at him, her eyes blazing. “I do not agree with this. I want to be the one at your side, Boone. Give me a weapon—let me help.”
“So you can kill us all?” Loki snarled. “I don’t think so.”
“I have sworn an oath to keep my vengeance in check until I regain my suit,” K said. Her hands clenched into fists and she stared at Boone. “My word is my bond. Take me with you, Boone.”
“If she goes, I don’t.” Loki crossed his arms over his chest and frowned.
Boone sighed again. He would have liked to have both K and Loki at his back, both of them armed to the teeth. But he knew how that would end—probably with the two of them dead from mutual homicide. If he had to choose one or the other, his instincts told him that K was more deadly. But he’d known Loki for years and though he was dramatic and flamboyant, the Erian was also usually reliable in a fight. Also, if he chose K over Loki he would have no one to pilot the damn ship, even if he did get the hyperdrive fixed.
“Try to understand, K,” he said gently. “Loki and I go way back.”
“So you’ll let friendship and a misguided sense of loyalty keep you from making the right decision?” she demanded. “You’re letting emotion rule you, instead of using common sense, Boone.”
“I’m sorry, darlin’.” He went to K and tried to put an arm around her shoulders but she shrugged it off. “K, please...”
“Can we please get this over with?” Loki raised an eyebrow and tapped the chronometer on his wrist. “Ilesca scheduled me a facial with the one and only salon in his benighted settlement. I’d like to get the saurian thing wrapped up in time to get my pores steamed.”
“Loki—” Boone glared at him, for once not amused by his friend’s flamboyant act.
“Actually, your pilot makes a good point,” Abrahams interrupted. “This is Sweetie’s main feeding time so she’ll be hungry and receptive to new scents.”
Feeding time and I’m on the menu. Great. Boone sighed. “All right, fine. Let’s get it over with.” He folded the black leather control collar carefully and tucked it into his flight jacket, making sure to keep the now-retracted spikes turned inward.
“That’s the spirit.” Abrahams smiled. “Let me show you the stunner. It’s a very elegant design if I do say so myself...”
Boone allowed himself to be led away but a last glance over his shoulder showed K still standing where she was, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. Her strange eyes with their ever-shrinking corona of black were bright with unshed tears. But when she lifted them to look at him, he couldn’t tell if they were tears of rage or sorrow. The vox on his shoulder howled mournfully and then he had to hurry to catch up with Loki and Abrahams.
Chapter Eleven
“I can’t believe he left me here to watch from the ship.” K spoke in a low voice, her eyes trained on the viewscreen where Boone and Loki were visible as small, blurred figures. They weren’t actually that far from where the ship was dry-docked while Ilesca performed the hyperdrive repairs but reception on Minotaur was substandard to say the least. All K could make out was Loki’s small, mincing form taking up the rear and Boone’s much larger one leading the way. In his large hands was a truly massive weapon, one that no Earth-normal human could have handled. His broad shoulders looked tense and no wonder—he was hunting a seven ton saurian and using himself for bait.
Stupid! K thought angrily. Stupid to go on such a dangerous mission with such poor backup. This is where emotions get you. Oh Boone...
“Now, now, dear.” Mom hovered over her shoulder, looking like she wanted to pat K on the back but she didn’t quite dare. “They’ll be fine. I’ve seen the two of them get into and out of more sticky situations than I can count.”
“They’re not fine,” K snapped, her eyes never leaving the viewscreen. The arid landscape of Minotaur looked like a blurry dessert, dotted with rocks and a few scrubby trees with brownish, withered leaves. “Look at that coward.” She gestured derisively at Loki. “Hiding behind Boone. It should be me there with him. I would have been in front, protecting him, not hiding in his shadow.”
Mom frowned slightly. “Forgive me, K dear, but I thought you wanted to kill Boone, not protect him.”
“I have sworn to delay my vengeance.” K looked down. “In the meantime, my fate is linked to his. If something happens to him, I will be in danger as well.”
“Oh, I see.” Mom nodded wisely. “Of course. Well try not to worry, Boone generally doesn’t need much protection. I mean, he is a giant and he’s been well trained in combat.”
K frowned at her, briefly allowing her eyes to leave the viewscreen. “I thought he was a doctor and a scientist.”
“He did a lot of field work before he went back for his PhD.” Mom gestured at Boone’s big figure on the screen. “A lot of xenogenetics research too, all over the galaxy. That’s where we all met—we worked together on the same research vessel.”
“So you’ve know each other for years.” K sighed heavily. “No wonder Boone picked Loki over me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Don’t feel too bad about it.” Mom bustled about, simming them some cups of hot chocolate. “He probably knew if he let you have a weapon, you and Loki would end up shooting each other instead of the saurian.”
“I have more discipline than that.” K gave her a glare. “I’ve been in combat situations since I was a child.”
“I know that, dear, but try to see Boone’s point of view,” Mom sat back down and passed her a steaming mug. “Loki’s almost as good at pouting as he is at piloting. If Boone had let you come with him, Loki probably would have mutinied.”
“And all because I or one of my crew killed his partner.” K frowned. “What was so special about the man, anyway?”
“Loki lov
ed him.” Mom’s voice was very quiet but at the same time, very hard. “You took that love away forever. I don’t think you can understand that kind of loss and I pray to the Goddess that you never will.”
K looked at the small woman and remembered what Boone had told him, that Purists had wiped out her entire biological unit—or family as he called it. There was no anger or condemnation in Mom’s soft, silver-brown eyes, only a sorrow so deep it made K ache just to look at them.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, picking up her mug and taking a sip of the too-sweet chocolate. “I spoke... hastily.”
“That’s all right, dear. You were speaking out of fear for Boone.”
“I’m not afraid for him,” K protested. “I don’t have... feelings like that for him.”
“Oh, I think you do, dear.” Mom patted her shoulder gently, being careful not to touch bare skin.
“Think what you like.” K only flinched slightly at the touch and it occurred to her that she was beginning to get used to being touched. Used to being contaminated. Ugh, who would have thought I could ever get used to such a thing? And yet, somehow she was. She had even begun to crave it—from Boone, anyway. The feel of his big, warm hands caressing her skin, his breath on the back of her neck as they lay together at night, the feel of his muscular arms wrapped around her, holding her close... everything which had horrified her at first was slowly becoming not only routine, but pleasurable as well.
It’s wrong, K told herself. I shouldn’t feel like this. Shouldn’t want those things from him. I wouldn’t want them if I had my suit. Then she remembered the sharp silver spikes protruding from Abrahams’ control collar and shivered. Had her suit really been drugging her with mood controlling chemicals the way he intended to drug the saurian? Would she have been having emotions all this time without it?
K remembered the wonderful feeling of cool nothingness which had enveloped her the moment she first slipped on the black skinsuit as a child. Giving up emotions had been such a relief. Her entire childhood had been one long barrage of pain and fear and doubt—having the skinsuit symbolized an end to the internal conflict brewing within her. From the first time its needles pierced her arms, she had felt a sense of peace that had never been possible before.
And yet, hadn’t she found a kind of peace in Boone’s arms as well? Hadn’t she—
“Hear that?” Her internal musings were broken by the sound of Boone’s deep voice coming over the viewscreen speaker. “Get ready, Loki—here she comes.”
They heard her first. Huge, lumbering footsteps that shook the ground were coming slowly toward them. Thud... thud... thud...
Boone shifted the big stunner up to his shoulder and looked through the round brass sighting ring. It was, as Abrahams had promised, both elegant and extremely heavy. On his home world of Colossus even he might have had some difficulty handling it. Luckily, the lighter gravity of Minotaur made hefting the sleek but bulky weapon possible though not exactly easy.
“You think she smells us?” Loki sounded nervous. Bar brawls were more his style than saurian hunts, Boone knew.
“I’d imagine so. Anyway, I can sure as hell smell her. Whew!” Boone wished he had a hand free to put over his nose. “Damn! Makes your eyes water.”
“That’s not all.” Loki’s voice sounded funny now—strangely tight. “Is it just me, Boone, or do you feel it too?”
“Feel what? What are you—” Boone broke off abruptly as a huge wave of what could only be described as pure lust overwhelmed his system. “Goddamn,” he muttered as his shaft suddenly went rock hard in his flight trousers.
“I know.” Loki shifted uncomfortably. “What the hell is causing it?”
Boone struggled to think past the erotic images which were suddenly crowding his brain. “Must be the pheromones she’s giving off. Abrahams did say they affected humans as well as other saurians.”
“Goddess!” Loki groaned, shifting again. “Boone, did I ever tell you how much I like your ass? It’s so fucking firm...”
“Don’t start,” Boone growled, looking away from the brass sighting ring to glare at his pilot. “We’re just friends. And horny doesn’t equal gay—at least not for me.” Thud... thud... thud... The approaching footsteps reminded him of why they were there. “Not to mention the fact that we don’t have time for this.” He tightened his finger on the stunner’s trigger. “Get ready, here she comes.”
“Here she comes,” K echoed, her heart in her mouth as the huge saurian suddenly came into range. She wished for a clearer picture but even with the blurred image on the viewscreen, it was clear the beast Boone was hunting was huge.
K had studied the giant reptiles which had roamed Earth-that-was as a child and Sweetie bore an uncanny resemblance to one of the larger carnivores. What had been its name? Oh yes... Tyrannosaurus Rex.
“It does kind of look like a T-rex,” Mom murmured and K realized she’d spoken the words aloud.
“What is he waiting for?” she muttered, staring at the giant saurian which dwarfed even Boone’s big frame. Its scaly skin was a deep, purply-blue and its teeth, when it opened its mouth, were as long as her forearm.
“I don’t know.” Mom sounded tense. “Shoot it, Boone,” she urged, as though his blurred figure on the screen could hear her. “Hurry up.”
“Shoot it!” Loki said, nudging him. “Come on, Boone, stop playing around.”
“I’m not playing,” Boone growled, wishing he could take his eyes off the immense mountain of saurian flesh long enough to elbow his annoying pilot in the ribs. Loki was only making it harder to concentrate—as though it wasn’t hard enough already. The blast of pheromones Sweetie was emitting made him feel like he was going to climb out of his skin and a constant stream of erotic images was trying to take over his mind. He was in mortal danger but it seemed like his brain was more interested in replaying every porn vid he’d ever seen as a horny adolescent than saving his ass. Great, he thought angrily, trying to regain some control. No wonder Abrahams wanted someone else to do this—it’s fucking impossible to concentrate around this damn animal.
“Shoot it!” Loki begged. “I swear to Goddess, Boone, I’m either going to come in my pants or shit them in another minute and I don’t know which. So shoot it.”
“Lower your voice—Abrahams said she spoke Standard, remember?” Boone hissed. “And anyway, I’m trying to shoot but the trigger seems to be stuck.”
“Stuck?” Loki squeaked. “I thought you tried it out already.”
“I did—you saw me do it,” Boone snapped. “But for some reason it’s not working like it was in the lab.”
Sweetie, who had been eyeing them with obvious interest, lowered her massive head with a snort. Boone was not encouraged to see that from the blunt base of her skull to the tip of her murderously sharp front teeth, her head was as long as he was tall. Not used to feeling like the smallest kid on the block, he thought, gritting his teeth when his mind wanted to show him a sexy porn star with K’s face and a killer body instead of the sentient eating machine in front of him. It’s no fun, is it?
Not that he was going to have much time to dislike the new feeling if the trigger didn’t hurry up and unstick. What the hell was wrong with the damn thing? He worked it frantically but it stayed stubbornly stuck in the half-cocked position, refusing to move even a fraction of an inch.
“Okay, to hell with the stunner, I’m going to blast it.” Loki drew the oversized pulse pistol and aimed with one trembling hand at the giant beast.
“No, Loki, you idiot!” Boone protested. “Look in her eyes—she’s smart enough to know exactly what you’re doing and besides, a weapon that size is only going to piss her off.”
“I don’t—” Loki began and then the saurian roared.
It was a deafening sound, even over the viewscreen. K had studied vids of Earth-that-was and the saurian’s deep, bellowing claxon seemed to draw notes from a lion’s roar, a steam train’s whistle and the warning call of a massive ship’s foghorn. Th
e descending notes, filled with rage and hunger, sent a shiver down her back. For the first time, on contemplating a combat situation, she felt genuine fear instead of the cool nothingness of Purity. It was a horrible, clammy feeling that made her stomach tense and the palms of her hands sweat. Yet she knew what she had to do.
“My suit.” She turned to Mom and gripped the other woman by the arm, heedless of contamination. “My suit, bring it to me!”
“What?” Mom frowned. “Listen, young lady, don’t you think you’re jumping the gun just a little? Boone told me not to give it to you unless he died and he’s not dead yet.”
“But he will be if someone doesn’t go help him.” K shook her impatiently. “Didn’t you hear Boone say the trigger was stuck? And Loki is no help—I knew he wouldn’t be. All they’ve got between them and that angry saurian is a malfunctioning stunner and a pulse pistol calibrated for Earth-normal humans.”