Hero

by Cheryl Brooks

  Rodan swiveled his seat around and spread his legs apart as though welcoming the attention. "I'd like to see her try."

  "Keep it up and I might," Micayla warned.

  While the rest of the crew roared with laughter, Rodan growled something that Lerotan didn't catch, though it was apparent that Micayla had. Only a flick of an eyebrow indicated that she'd heard him at all, but Lerotan could see the tension building.

  His gaze shifted to Trag, who was already coming out of his seat with fire in his eyes. Deciding he'd seen enough, Lerotan said, "Simmer down, kids. There will be none of that on the bridge. Oh, and Micayla, you might want to send out another hail to tell Jack about Grekkor. Not sure which bit of info will make her day more--finding you, or finding him."

  Lerotan leaned back in his captain's chair with a smirk. Under different circumstances, having two women on board could have spelled trouble, but though Micayla was quite beautiful--and the little Vessonian was cute too--these ladies were obviously more than a match for his crew. What was even more revealing was Trag's reaction. So, he was willing to go up against Rodan in Micayla's defense, was he? Even though she'd hissed at him? Interesting...

  ***

  At the end of what was perhaps the second most eventful day in her life, Micayla's brain was still humming, making sleep highly unlikely. Hidar had moved out of his quarters as ordered but had done nothing to hide his displeasure--nor had he backed off in his attempts to persuade the women to accept him as a roommate. Windura thought it was funny, but Micayla was not amused.

  "So, what do you think of him?" Windura prompted.

  Micayla paused as she peered at the sheets provided for them with frank distaste. "Which one?"

  "Any of them," Windura replied. "They're an interesting bunch, don't you think?"

  "Maybe," Micayla said cautiously. "If you enjoy living among the riffraff of the galaxy."

  "Aw, come on, Micayla!" Windura argued, punching her pillow. Unfortunately, this action did more to raise a cloud of dust than it did to soften the pillow, nor did it smooth out any of the lumps. "They're a nice bunch of guys."

  "If you think they're nice," Micayla said dryly, "you've obviously been on Orleon for too long."

  "Well, maybe I have," Windura admitted, "but it could have been a lot worse."

  "How?"

  Glancing about the tiny cabin, she said, "We could be sharing this room with Hidar."

  The Scorillian must not have had much in the way of personal possessions, because the steel plating showed no marks where any photographs had been hung, nor were there any odds and ends left in the drawers of the battered dresser in the corner. The overhead light was dimmed with a coating of grime, and an odd-looking strip of what Micayla suspected was some of Hidar's dead "skin" dangled from the edge of the metal bed frame. Yes, it could have been much worse.

  "Better than sharing one with Rodan, though," Micayla said. "What a jerk!"

  Windura shrugged as she flipped the sheet over the bed and began tucking it in. "You just need to loosen up a little. They don't mean any harm."

  "Maybe, but what if Lerotan wasn't in charge?"

  "We probably would have been fucked by at least one of them by now," Windura admitted. "I wouldn't mind if it was Trag," she added wistfully.

  Micayla didn't reply. She didn't want to admit that she was thinking the same thing, despite her visceral reaction.

  "He seemed like the nicest one," Windura went on. "Handsome devil, too. Don't know why you'd want to hiss at him. Don't you like him?"

  "I don't want to talk about it," Micayla said flatly.

  "Lerotan's okay too," Windura said. "I mean, a guy with two dicks? Sounds fabulous."

  "To you, maybe. Sounds like torture to me."

  "You just need to get out more," Windura suggested. "Or talk to some hookers. They'll tell you what's good and what's not."

  "I really don't want to know," Micayla said evasively as the sudden image of an aroused, nude Trag flitted through her mind. That, combined with Windura's earlier rundown of Zetithian sexual attributes, nearly overwhelmed her. Pressing her fingertips to her temples, she added, "Can we talk about something else, like what the hell we're going to do when the bad guys catch up with us?"

  "You think they will?"

  "You think they won't?"

  "Leroy did say this was a fast ship."

  "Oh, come on, Windy!" Micayla chided her. "Someone with the money to finance the destruction of an entire planet would have the wherewithal to buy the fastest ship in existence. Maybe even one of the big Arconian ships."

  Windura shook her head. "No, he doesn't, at least not that I've ever heard. He's just got a little Rutaran Runabout. They aren't that fast."

  "But I'll bet he's got access to others you don't know about."

  Windura finished making the bed and flopped down on it, stretching out with a sigh. "Maybe so, but right now I'm too tired to give a damn. Sure you don't want the bed?"

  "I'm sure," Micayla said with a shudder. "No way am I sleeping on anything that bug's been in."

  "Better than the floor the bug's been walking on," Windura pointed out. "But you do whatever makes you happy."

  Micayla stared down at her companion, who appeared to be quite comfortable in Hidar's bed and not at all concerned with their situation. "So, you're just going to go to sleep and trust these guys to keep us alive?"

  "Well, yeah. You heard Leroy. That Jack will make him miserable if they don't."

  "Maybe so," Micayla said. "But we don't know anything about Jack. How can we be sure?"

  "I guess we can't," Windura replied. "But I'm perfectly willing to let these guys protect us for a while. I mean, they're arms dealers, Micayla! If they can't fight off the bad guys, who can?"

  Micayla couldn't find fault with her friend's reasoning, and since she had no other choice, she reluctantly nodded her acceptance. "I just don't like relying on them for anything," she said. "It's not what I'm used to."

  "Well, they probably aren't used to it either. Did you notice we're the only women on board? I get the impression that rescuing damsels in distress isn't exactly in their line."

  "And we didn't plan to be here ourselves," Micayla said with a wry smile. "It's not like we booked passage with them. I wish you could've asked Layha more about the others. I'm sure she could have told you all kinds of things."

  "Too late now," Windura said with a shrug. Glancing up at Micayla who was now pacing the floor like a caged animal, she added, "You might as well learn to go with the flow, girlfriend."

  Micayla paused, letting out a long sigh. "I know I should. But it bugs the hell out of me to have to depend on someone I'm not sure I can trust."

  Windura looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think you could trust Trag," she said at length. "If anyone would see to your welfare, it would be him."

  "I wouldn't count on it," Micayla said ruefully. "I didn't exactly make a good first impression with him."

  Windura grinned. "You might be surprised."

  Chapter 7

  "Holy cow!" Jack exclaimed as she read the deep space missive her son, Larry, had just handed her. "Will you listen to this? Leroy has found a female Zetithian! Says he picked her up on Orleon Station, and get this: she's from Earth!"

  "How is that possible?" Cat asked his wife.

  "I have absolutely no idea," Jack replied. "But I intend to find out." Consulting her star charts, she quickly located Orleon. "Hmm, yeah, that's right... near the border," she muttered, "and a long damn way from here. Wonder which way he's heading?"

  "Knowing Leroy, it's probably the wrong direction," Tisana quipped.

  Grinning at her shipmate, Jack agreed. "He never could stay out of the Andromeda quadrant for long. Too many places this side of the border he can't go."

  "And there are too many places on the other side that we shouldn't visit," Cat reminded her. "We should not try to find them."

  "My God, Cat! Don't you want to meet her?"

  "Yes," Cat repli
ed. "But not to risk our children. We should be more cautious."

  "Like trying to stay out of trouble would help," Jack scoffed. "Trouble follows us wherever we go. The damn Nedwuts would probably find us on Earth too, and it chills my bones to think that they almost got to Tychar. Wish we could just get some of the hairy bastards to talk. I'd give a bundle to know who Mr. Big is."

  "Uh, Mom, there's another message here," Larry reported from his station.

  "From Leroy?"

  "Yeah," the boy replied. "It says that someone named Rutger Grekkor blew up Zetith."

  "What?" Jack exclaimed. "Let me see that."

  Shaking his head, Larry handed her the pad. "I always thought the Nedwuts did it."

  "Great balls of fire!" Jack whispered when she read it. Spearing her fingers through her short, dark hair, she spun on her heel toward her husband. "We've got to get there, and fast."

  "Why?" asked Cat.

  "Because this Grekkor fellow knows they're on to him--and he knows whose ship they're on too." Turning to her son, Moe, she said, "Fire up the power boosters, kiddo. We're gonna need 'em." The Jolly Roger was Jack's ship and though it wasn't her usual style to bark orders, everyone knew it was pointless to argue when her dander was up. Turning to the tall, golden-haired Zetithian at the weapons console, she went on, "Leo, we're going to need weapons too. Run checks on the system. Tisana, if you haven't already figured out how to shoot fireballs in space, now would be a good time to do it."

  "Jack," Tisana said patiently, "you know very well I'd have to stick my head out the hatch to do it. I don't think that's a good idea."

  "Very true," agreed Jack. "We just need some kind of torpedo tube that you can fire them into, and then we could use them to blast another ship."

  Tisana couldn't help but laugh. "Really, Jack. Don't you think Lerotan's weapons are enough?"

  "Can't be too careful," Jack said earnestly. "When it comes to protecting our Zetithians, we must exercise constant vigilance, Tisana. Constant!"

  "Bet Trag's exercising some constant vigilance too," Tisana said thoughtfully. Her jewel-green eyes were focused on Jack, but fortunately without the intensity required to set her on fire. Brushing aside a stray lock of her dusky hair, she added, "Did they say how old she was?"

  "Nope," Jack replied. "See? We need more information. All the more reason to try to rendezvous with them."

  "Terra Minor is not far from here," Cat said slowly. "If we will be going into battle, perhaps--"

  "You are not leaving us behind on Terra Minor!" Larry and his brother, Moe, chorused.

  Cat looked at his sons with a mixture of pride and concern. With their black hair and equally black eyes, they favored him far more than they did their mother, but they had all inherited Jack's indomitable spirit. Keeping them out of harm's way might prove difficult. "This battle could be deadly," he said grimly. "You will be safe there."

  "Fine," said Larry. "We can drop off the little ones, but Moe and I are going with you--and so is Curly."

  "I'm going where?" asked Curly as he walked onto the bridge.

  "With us," Larry said eagerly.

  "Into battle!" added Moe.

  Jack chewed on her lip. "If we left the other kids with Bonnie and Lynx, they would be safe, but if this turns out to be a battle in space, we might need these guys to man the stations."

  "You are pilot and navigator, I am tech and communications, Leo is weapons, and Tisana is medic," Cat said. "We would not need them."

  "But what if we need replacements?" Jack argued. "Curly is getting to be a whiz at piloting, Larry could get a message through to the devil himself, and Moe can navigate his way through a nebula blindfolded. Aside from that, Althea is one talented little witch, and all the kids are good shots with a pulse pistol."

  "You would have our children fight?" Cat began, but he obviously changed his mind as soon as the words were out of his mouth. "No, you are right. They must be allowed to fight for their freedom from this cursed bounty, just as we have done."

  "But the babies--" Tisana interjected.

  "Should stay with Bonnie and Lynx," Jack agreed.

  "What about Lynx? Would he want to come?" Tisana asked.

  "Probably," said Cat, "but he and Bonnie have just had their first litter, and if we're going to leave our children with them, they will need him."

  "True," Tisana said. "What about Manx?"

  "Too far away," Jack said. "We can't sit on this forever. If only we had more time..." Tapping her chin, she continued on, thinking aloud. "Wonder if anyone we know is already on Orleon. It would help to have someone there--even as a spy. Veluka said he was headed that way a while back. I wonder..."

  "Not him again!" Tisana exclaimed.

  "Maybe," Jack replied. "He's got one helluva fast ship, too--even has a cloaking device. He'd be very useful."

  Making a quick decision, Jack turned to Larry. "Send out hails to Veluka, Leroy, and Lynx. We need to get organized."

  "Too bad most of our 'friends' are people you can't trust," Tisana said, shaking her head sadly. "Veluka will cause trouble, you wait and see."

  "Aw, I can handle Veluka," Jack said with an impatient gesture. "He's always come through for me."

  "Like those tracking nanobots he sold you on Barada Seven," Leo snickered. "They didn't function for more than a week."

  "Got us through a tight spot, though, didn't they?" Jack countered.

  "Yes, but we couldn't track the Nedwuts with them afterward," Leo pointed out.

  "Yeah, that would have been nice," Jack agreed. "I'd have stuck a whole lot closer to Klarkunk if I'd had a cloaking device myself. Maybe I should look into getting one."

  "If we ever catch Grekkor," Tisana said quietly, "you won't need it."

  "Good point," Jack conceded. "Well, if we need stealth, Veluka can handle that part. And if we need firepower, we've got Leroy--better tell him where we are, Larry, and find out where he's headed--and for sheer guts and determination, we've got Zetithians."

  She just hoped it would be enough.

  ***

  "Any sign of pursuit?" Lerotan asked Trag.

  "I've been running continuous sensor sweeps," Trag reported. "Nothing yet."

  "Well, maybe it's time we looped back around and headed the other direction."

  "Back to the station?"

  "Not exactly," Lerotan replied. "If Jack has received our hail, she'll be headed this way. I'd bet my life on it. We need to find out where she is and meet her somewhere."

  "Last I heard, Jack was in the alpha portion of sector six," Trag said, consulting his charts. "If we loop around we could meet her on Darconia, which is near the outer rim of sector nine. We're three sectors in the other direction, and it's not on a direct route, but at least we know Darconia is safe."

  "Sounds good," Lerotan said. "Make it so."

  Trag rolled his eyes. "You've been watching some of Jack's old movies, haven't you?"

  Lerotan shrugged. "Got nothing better to do." Standing up, he gave his leather tunic a tug at the hem. "Almost got that Picard maneuver down too."

  "Jack will be thrilled," Trag said dryly.

  "Ha, ha," said Lerotan. "Rodan, send out another hail to Jack telling her to meet us on Darconia. Trag, you plot the course and then get some sleep. We can set the sensors to sound the alarm if anything shows up."

  "I don't trust that system," Trag grumbled.

  "Yes, but I don't trust you when you haven't slept. Makes you cranky and your eyes get all fuzzy." Lerotan paused a moment before adding, "I'm going to bed too. Hidar, you have the con."

  "But I have not slept either," Hidar complained, clicking his mandibles in protest.

  "Yes, but since you're sharing quarters with Rodan, you two will need to sleep on opposite shifts--and besides, bugs like you don't need that much sleep."

  "I will die a painful death," Hidar mourned. "Lack of sleep, no proper food--"

  "Bitch, bitch, bitch..."

  "No females--"

  "My q
uarters are next to the women," Lerotan warned. "I'll hear them if they start yelling."

  "Never get to fuck or cook again. Why do I go on living?"

  "Because you've got a two hundred year life span?" Trag suggested.

  "That might be it," Hidar admitted. Spreading his wings over the back of the command station, he slumped down in Lerotan's chair, his feathery antennae drooping down over his eyes. "Only a hundred and twenty-five left to go."

  Trag went to bed as ordered but the image of Micayla hissing like a demon cat kept him awake--her high cheekbones; straight, aristocratic nose; sensuous lips that should have smiled at him but had snarled; and rich brown hair he could get lost in forever.

  "Why couldn't she at least have had blue eyes like the damned Davordians?" he grumbled, punching his pillow. "I could have stood it, then--no problem at all--but noooo! She had to have fabulous, dark, sexy eyes! I wouldn't give a shit if it weren't for--no, scratch that, I don't give a shit, anyway. Don't want her and don't want her to want me--not that she ever will. Go right ahead, sweetheart, hiss away." He told himself he didn't mind, but he also knew that Leroy would probably give him hell about it forever--and so would Jack. He finally fell asleep while trying to decide which was worse.

  ***

  He might have told himself he didn't care, but sitting across the breakfast table from Micayla the next morning was nearly Trag's undoing. He was trying to avoid looking at her, but he was picking up the scent of feminine desire from someone; he wasn't sure which of the women it was. Windura seemed quite friendly--not gorgeous or anything--just a regular girl who could probably get along with the devil himself, but Micayla was as cold as the far reaches of space. His only consolation was that she'd managed to say "Good morning" without hissing at him.

  Hidar had gone off to bed after working the night shift, leaving Trag to prepare the meal, and so far, no one was complaining. Not praising him to the skies, precisely, but at least they were eating it. Windura had even thanked him.