Embrace the Passion: Pets in Space 3

by Smith, S. E.

  “Roberta? You’ve named them?”

  “Just that one. She was instrumental in foiling… has the captain figured out who planted the fake one?”

  “Viktor has some people working on it, but we may not find out until we can return to the station and apply pressure to people in person. In the mercenary way.” Ankari made a face. “There are a few bounties on his head, though, so he suspects it was someone trying to take Mandrake Company out of the galaxy.” She looked toward the engineering equipment.

  Chanda shivered to think how close that had been to happening.

  “But since Roberta was instrumental,” Ankari said, “I’ll be sure to give her an honored place in an uncrowded cage.”

  “All she needs to be happy is an apple.”

  A soft agreeable trill sounded.

  “It must be nice to be an animal and have such simple needs,” Ankari said, gathering Roberta in one arm, then lifting a hand in farewell before heading out.

  “I have simple needs too,” Kor murmured softly, the words for Chanda alone. He lowered his hand from her shoulder.

  She turned, finding that he still stood close. Their chests almost bumped.

  “Oh?” she asked.

  His eyes still had that intensity in them, and electricity seemed to crackle in the air between her and Kor. He brought his hands to her waist, resting them lightly there, then leaned down and kissed her. His warm lips definitely held a charge, sending tingles of energy through her. She leaned her chest against his and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, delighted to have found someone who appreciated her work, who appreciated her. And if she could in some way, through her game or through herself, make his nights a little better, she appreciated that too.

  “I didn’t think the doctor could do that,” someone commented, reminding Chanda that they were in the middle of Engineering.

  She drew back slightly, her cheeks flushing with heat again.

  “Would you care to go somewhere more private?” Kor murmured, gazing at her and ignoring the commentator.

  “Your cabin, perhaps?”

  “To play games?”

  She squeezed his hands. “Whatever you like. Perhaps you can explain this monk celibacy thing to me.”

  He grinned. “I can explain that I’ve retired from monking to work among the stars again.”

  “And play games among the stars?”

  “Most definitely.”

  They walked out together, holding hands.

  THE END

  Author’s Note

  Hello, and thank you for checking out “Quashi” in this anthology! If you’re interested in reading more stories in this universe, there are several Mandrake Company novels available, starting with Mercenary Instinct. The longer works get a little further with the characters’ romances and do have naughty bits, so please make sure that’s your cup of tea.

  You can also get a free novella in my Star Guardians universe by signing for my newsletter on my website: http://www.rubylionsdrake.com/

  STAR CRUISE: MYSTERY DANCER

  Tassia Megg is a woman on the run after the death of her elderly guardian. Her search to get off the planet in a hurry comes when chance directs her to an open dance audition for the luxury cruise liner Nebula Zephyr’s resident troupe. If there is one thing Tassia can do, it is dance!

  Security Officer Liam Austin is suspicious of the newest performer to join the Comettes. She shows all the signs of being a woman on the run and seems to fit the Sectors-wide broadcast description of a missing thief, accused of stealing priceless artifacts. As he gets to know Tassia during the cruise, he starts to wonder if she’s something more – a long vanished princess in hiding from deadly political enemies of her family perhaps? And what’s the story with the three-eyed feline companion other crew members swear Tassia brought aboard the ship? Does the animal even exist?

  As the ship approaches its next port of call, all the issues come to a boil and Liam must decide if he’ll step in to help Tassia or betray her. Life is about to get very interesting aboard the Nebula Zephyr as Liam tries to uncover the truth. Could F’rrh, the peculiar alien cat he has been hearing about, be the key to the mystery and Tassia’s fate?

  To my daughters Valerie and Elizabeth, my brother David, and my best friend Daniel for all their encouragement and support!

  1

  Tassia concealed the food she’d bought under her coat and snuck up the back stairs of the cheap hotel, hurrying to their room before anyone could challenge her. Food wasn’t allowed in the rooms but Madame Xandrina was too ill to go out. The greasy sandwiches Tassia’d had to buy weren’t the right thing for an elderly invalid, but it was the best she could do with their limited credits. Soon, she’d have to sell something else from their ever shrinking stash of artifacts.

  Putting the brightest expression on her face she could manage under the circumstances, Tassia keyed open the portal to their room. “I’ve brought sandwiches, freshly cooked stew and a tiny box of juicy kleemta berries.” She shut the door behind her and went to place the container on the battered bureau. “You love those.”

  Xandrina wasn’t in the single room, but Tassia heard her coughing in the bathroom. The coughing went on and on until finally she knocked gently and went inside to check. Xandrina was on her knees, clinging to the sink to keep from falling further. She was deadly pale and coughing up blood.

  “Goddess have mercy.” Tassia rushed to get a cloth to wipe the blood from her elderly companion’s face then helped her to the bed. Getting a glass of water, she managed to persuade Xandrina to sip a bit and soothe the cough. “We have to get you to a clinic, get some meds.” She rose but the other woman grabbed her wrist and held on tight.

  “No, Tassia. I’m done. There’s nothing anyone can do for me now.” Xandrina held her fist to her chest as the coughing overtook her again. “We both know this has been getting worse for months. Did you dance well today? What did you learn?”

  “I shouldn’t be wasting our credits on dance classes any longer,” Tassia said. ”You won’t let me perform for anyone but you, so what’s the point?”

  “The point is you love to dance and a person of your station must be able to dance to fulfill her duties, to claim your rightful place.” The old woman’s eyes burned with intensity.

  “The old world is gone—when will you accept the reality?” Massaging her temples as she and her companion revisited this familiar argument, Tassia couldn’t whip up much energy for the conversation. “There will never be a chance for me to become a high priestess of Normeia, much less to sit on the Fire Throne and show how I can make the magic flames dance at my command. We need to deal with what is, not what you wish would happen. The Ruatsar system doesn’t even belong to our family any more.”

  “As long as you live, the bloodline lives.” Xandrina was stubborn.

  Tassia bit her lip and went to get the stew before it grew stone cold. “Here, Madame, you must have something to eat.”

  Xandrina waved away the bowl impatiently with one claw-like hand. “Show me what you learned today.”

  Biting back a protest because there really wasn’t room in the tiny rented space, plus the tenants below complained if she made too much noise, Tassia moved to the area beside the grimy window and went on tiptoe, assuming the correct first position for the folk dance she’d been learning at the small local dance studio. Humming the tune for herself, she moved through the steps. As she performed the final spin and curtsied to her audience of one, she relished the feeling of being in the flow of the dance.

  “You failed to finish the last two moves properly,” Xandrina said, clapping feebly despite her criticism. “But a good dance overall.”

  “Always so observant.” Tassia laughed and went to retrieve her smaller portion of the food. “Eat some of the stew before I decide to come over there and spoon feed you myself.”

  Xandrina shook her head and her cheeks were glistening.

  Tassia did a double take. “Are you crying? Ma
dame, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

  “Our roads part now,” the elderly woman said, sniffing. “I read the cards three times while you were at class. Death approaches, for myself certainly, for us both if you don’t leave now, tonight.”

  Hand shaking, Tassia set her half eaten food aside. “The Ruatsar New Regime agents found us again?”

  “So the cards say. You must go without me—I can’t travel further.” Eyes dull, shoulders slumped, Xandrina patted the bed. “This is my final stop, but you must run, so that all I’ve done wasn’t done in vain. You have to get off this planet and continue the trip; get yourself to those who can protect you.”

  “I won’t leave you.” Crossing her arms and tapping one toe, Tassia narrowed her eyes to take a hard look at the elderly woman. Her heart thumped painfully as she allowed herself to see Xandrina was diminished, shrunken to mere skin and bones, kept alive by sheer force of personality. They’d had this argument so many times before, but it felt different tonight somehow.

  Jaw set, her guardian jabbed a finger at Tassia. “You must survive. I’m of no consequence.”

  “You are to me.” Tassia hugged the woman’s bony shoulders, still shocked by the realization of how thin she’d gotten. As Xandrina reclined against the pillows like a doll who’d lost her stuffing, Tassia moved to sit at the foot of the bed. “We don’t have enough credits for a ticket off world, remember? Lack of funds is why we’re here, in this rundown hotel.”

  “Find a way.” Eyes closed, her companion put emphasis into the command, even as her voice became a hoarse whisper.

  “I will, I promise.” Running one hand through her long black hair, she strove to project a certainty she was far from feeling. “Tomorrow maybe I can go sell our last few trinkets and get us both tickets.”

  Xandrina shook her head. “You must go tonight. I’ll be dead by morning. The cards have shown me this truth.”

  Tassia sat back and sighed. The elderly woman was a skilled reader of the prophecy cards—that ability was one reason why Tassia herself remained alive all these years after her entire family perished at the hands of the new regime. But how could she walk away from her companion like this? “Eat a few bites of dinner, rest, and then I’ll go to the dealer at the bazaar who helped us last week. Once I’m sure you’re settled in for the night.” She was lying about going out but hoped if Xandrina dozed off she’d waken in a more cheerful mood in the morning.

  “A bite or two of stew, to please you.” The old woman smiled, having won her point.

  A pounding on the door startled them both.

  Heart beating fast, Tassia went to check the grainy vidcam. Four men stood in the trash strewn hallway.

  She shrank away from the door. “I think they’ve found us, Madame.”

  Moving with a speed Tassia wouldn’t have expected, Xandrina left the bed, snatching Tassia’s backpack. She ran to the bureau and swept the few knickknacks sitting there into the pack and set it on the floor as the vigorous pounding sounded again. The door vibrated under the assault. Using both hands, the old woman carefully lifted a gaily painted wooden box from the bedside table, wrapped it in a faded shawl and set it in the pack.

  “What are you doing?” Tassia whispered.

  “You will run and I will stay.” Xandrina handed her the rucksack. “Go quickly and don’t look back.” She hugged Tassia fiercely then stepped away. “It was my honor to protect you, Your Highness.”

  “May the blessings of the goddess be with you.” Eyes filling with tears, Tassia kissed the woman’s wrinkled cheek then ran into the bathroom. Closing the door, she climbed onto the sink and lifted a section of the stained ceiling. She climbed into the space above the faux tiles, replaced the one she’d dislodged and crawled carefully along one of the struts running the length of the building.

  When they’d moved into this room as their funds diminished, Xandrina insisted on Tassia exploring all possibilities for exiting besides using the door. Moving now with her dancer’s grace and balance, Tassia reached the far end of the floor, having passed above many other apartments. She descended the vertical shaft, using the metal protrusions as handholds and toeholds, exiting onto the tenth floor after first ensuring the corridor was deserted.

  Memories of past terror-filled events threatened to overwhelm her if she hesitated long enough to let herself think, rather than continuing to react instinctively to the need for escape.

  Not pausing, keeping her focus firmly on the next task and then the one after that, Tassia ran to the emergency door and was outside a moment later, standing on a roof overlooking the street, a slight drizzle misting her vision. Sprinting to the far end, she leaped onto the roof of an adjoining building, her dancer’s muscles making the feat simple, and paused, searching for the window of the room she’d shared with Xandrina, even though she knew she should keep running.

  Hand to her mouth, she gasped at the flames enveloping the curtains. “No, no, she was an old lady, you didn’t have to kill her.” But merciless killing was how the new regime operated, cold and cruel.

  Sirens blaring in the street below brought a spike in her adrenaline and reminded her of the need to keep moving. Her escape was far from a sure thing even now. Lingering in the vicinity wouldn’t help Xandrina.

  Shivering, Tassia snuck into the new building through a roof access, descended the stairs with no problem and was soon lost in the crowds thronging the street, moving steadily away from the hotel, walking as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  What am I going to do? How am I going to get off this damn planet?

  She had Sectors citizenship papers, as phony as could be, but perfect forgeries right down to the holo seal. Xandrina had spent the bulk of their funds on obtaining the precious documents for both of them. But their carefully hoarded credits had run out after the flight to this world cost more than expected due to enemy disruption of shipping lanes. Tassia’s ultimate destination lay many lightyears away in the next Sector, out of reach.

  When she thought she was far enough from the hotel, she hailed a robo cab and headed for the spaceport. Sitting in the back of the tiny vehicle, she opened the pack a fraction, slid her hand inside and rubbed the top of the shiny, lacquered box, opening the lid a fraction. I need a way to get offworld for free.

  For a moment nothing happened as she touched the box, and Tassia’s heart sank. Then she flinched against the padded seat as a vision thudded into her head. She saw the announcement board at the neighborhood dance studio, and as she held her breath, the vision focused in on one message in particular. She’d paid it no attention at all earlier in the evening.

  Nebula Zephyr Comettes seeking fill in dancers for cruise to Dyenbachar Five. All expenses paid, union salary, must have experience.

  The open auditions were tomorrow morning, in a hotel complex adjacent to the spaceport.

  Could escape be that easy? But what did she know about dancing for a popular revue? Her training was classical, with odd bits of folk dance acquired over the years.

  As the robo cab deposited her outside the bustling spaceport, Tassia clutched her backpack with trembling hands, determination putting steel into her frame. If the audition announcement was what the vision had shown her, this was her only chance, success not guaranteed. Squaring her shoulders, she moved into the central terminal to find a safe, secluded corner to wait out the intervening hours by drowsing in a chair. She didn’t have enough credits to book a room at any of the hotels in the vicinity.

  As far as she could tell, she hadn’t been followed. Perhaps the assassins were waiting for her in the vicinity of the cheaper by-the-week residence in the slum where she and Xandrina had stayed.

  Thinking of her elderly teacher and informal guardian gave her a sharp pain in the chest, as if her heart was breaking but she couldn’t afford the luxury of grief right now.

  * * *

  Next morning, she breakfasted on fast food from the auto vendors at the spaceport then forced herself to walk to the h
otel where the auditions were to occur. Tassia had done as much research as she could on the Nebula Zephyr during the wee hours of the night, using her old but serviceable handheld, and learned it was a top of the line interstellar luxury cruise ship. The Comettes were a renowned troupe of dancers who’d been featured in trideos and performed with Sectors celebrities like the rock star Karissa. Tassia didn’t care about any of the glitter and glamour since all she wanted was a way off the planet, but the group’s fame might make it harder to pass an audition.

  After changing into her one and only dance leotard in a deserted bathroom at the hotel, she put her clothes on over the threadbare green garment and headed for the conference and special events wing. When she arrived at the appointed spot, her worst fears were realized as there were probably a hundred women already lined up. Adding herself to the tail end of the line, she avidly eavesdropped on conversations around her and learned some candidates had flown in from other Sectors for this opportunity, which had been posted in various guild halls. Many of the women had impressive professional resumes. Her unease grew as the time to check in approached.

  Yes, the vision had shown her this was her only chance to get off the planet alive, but there were no guarantees. She had to make the situation work.

  The registration process was smooth and fast, and Tassia soon reached the desk set up in front of the dance space.

  “Name?” The staffer at the desk barely even glanced at her. Poised to enter data, she wasted no time asking the few questions.

  “Tassia Megg.”

  Fingers flying as she entered the information, the clerk said, “Real name?”

  Tassia panicked, wondering how the woman knew she was lying and was tempted to flee, but then the clerk glanced at her with a bit of exasperation. “Is Tassia your real name or your stage name, honey?”