I wonder if he’s dead. That would be counterproductive. I’d just be alone on another ship.
Sighing, she took a sip of coffee, decided it was too bitter, and added some chocolate to it with a thought.
I could help him, but should I? If I don’t it’ll take most of the day for him to recuperate, and he’ll probably just start drinking again. That doesn’t sound like much fun.
It might, however, be morally wrong not to let him suffer the consequences of his actions.
She doubted she’d have the patience to wait until he recovered on his own, and she held her hand out over his forehead only to withdraw it again, feeling uncharacteristically uncertain.
I want to touch him, just to find out what it would feel like. That can’t be a good thing.
She shook her head and took another sip of coffee. First she cuddled up to him in her sleep, and now she wanted to touch him. A drunk human…
Too much time alone in space. Maybe I should go visit my family for a while.
There were many humans, billions of them, and she should go find herself another one for company. One who wasn’t so attractive. She didn’t want to turn out like her father. He had affairs with other species all the time, and it brought him nothing but trouble and hundreds of children.
Stop dilly-dallying and do it already.
Stephan’s skin was clammy under her hand, and she suddenly felt sorry for him. Yes, he brought this on himself, but anyway…
Healing was easy. It was one of the first powers she mastered as a child, and it only took a few seconds.
“There, you should be fine. Have some breakfast. And take it easy on the booze in the future.”
*****
Stephan hoped lying down with his eyes closed would ease the hangover, but it didn’t.
The girl must be a figment of his imagination. She was a fantasy resulting from too much time alone in space combined with three large bottles of scotch.
I would remember bringing a girl aboard. I would certainly remember a girl looking like her. No way she’s real.
Then, her hand was there, so wonderfully cool. For a few moments it filled his entire world; it became the only thing that existed. Her touch filled his mind and blocked every pain and sadness he ever experienced. When she pulled back after much too short a time he wanted to grab her arm and put the hand back.
Opening his eyes, the room no longer swayed around him. She said he was fine, and he had to agree. He never felt better.
“Hey, how’d you do that?”
It took a conscious effort to avert his eyes from her perfect lips. His gaze wanted to stray down to her breasts instead, but that seemed even more impolite, and he forced himself to look at the tray on her lap.
How can she have strawberries? I haven’t seen one for a decade.
Wherever the food came from, it looked scrumptious. A minute earlier he wouldn’t have been able to eat if his life depended on it, and now he was starving. Fruits weren’t his normal choice for food; he doubted it even was food and not just something food was supposed to eat, but this morning he found himself gobbling it down, every flavour clearer than ever before.
Say something.
His mind was completely blank, and he suspected only gibberish would come out if he tried to speak. Luckily, an alarm blared, and even if it meant danger, he was grateful for the distraction. Jumping out of bed, he found he wasn’t wearing any shoes, and sat down again to pull them on.
“I’ll check it out. Stay here.”
He entered the bridge moments later and stopped dead in his tracks. The woman stood there, watching his monitors with a slight frown.
“How… How did you get here?”
Looking behind him, there was still only one door.
She ignored the question.
“That’s your proximity alert. Let me guess, space is infinite, and you travel around and somehow keep finding people to bump into?”
Somehow, his feet moved him forward so he could turn the alarm off.
“Not on purpose. It just kinda… happens. You’re not real, are you?”
If I keep talking to an imaginary woman and eating imaginary food, I’m probably ready for the loony bin. Maybe I’m dead.
“Rubbish. Don’t worry about me, worry about that.”
He followed her gaze to the large monitors and whistled through his teeth. The thing outside was huge.
Mysterious ships appearing along with a mysterious girl, there has to be a connection.
He snapped himself out of the line of thought and opened a hailing frequency. No answer came, but he was rewarded with a thump against the hull. The woman by his side mumbled, “I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
She doesn’t sound worried, more excited. Maybe there’s something wrong with her?
The computer interrupted his thoughts.
“Unauthorized access of Airlock One.”
That was quick. He cursed quietly as he grabbed his gun. The newcomers were cutting through his encryptions like a hot knife through ice cream. They had to be professionals.
He hesitated for a second and bent down to retrieve another weapon from beneath the consoles. It was smaller than his, but still efficient.
“Take this. You just point and shoot, okay? Stay here. I’ll check what they want.”
I wish I could have gotten to know you better.
It surprised him he didn’t just mean in a physical sense. The newcomers might be peaceful and just have a problem with their communications, but it wasn’t likely. There could be hundreds of people on a ship that size, maybe even thousands. He wouldn’t be able to fend them off by himself and normally he wouldn’t care. If he lived, he lived. Now, he felt responsible for the girl.
Her name is Maria Callaway, and I rammed her ship.
The memory made him feel slightly more confident. It didn’t explain how she could move faster than him in his own ship, but it made her seem more real.
He wanted to tell her everything would be all right, that she needn’t worry, but as proficient as he was in lying, he couldn’t force the words over his lips. Their only chance against something this size was to run and hope the pursuers didn’t find them, but that wouldn’t be possible with the ships docked.
I have to get us free from the other ship so we can jump into hyperspace. Great danger, no plan, this sounds like a fun day.
Only when the computer chirped, “Unauthorized docking complete,” did he realize he’d been standing there, just staring at her, for far too long. The real danger might already be on the ship. It was much too easy to get lost in her huge, green eyes.
There was a tangible problem to deal with in the cargo bay, and he could daydream all he wanted if he survived. Right now, he didn’t have time to lose track of reality. He winked at her and acted on an impulse, bending forward to place a kiss on her cheek.
~ 3 ~
The door closed behind Stephan and Maria stared at it, holding the gun he gave her. She didn’t need it, but it was solid in her hands and presented a welcome connection to the real world where ships didn’t collide, where Gods built universes and created life, and humans built houses and machines.
The heart in her human shell pounded and she lifted her fingers to touch her cheek where his kiss still burned. He was good looking even when dead drunk, and now when he was sober he turned out to be nice and protective too. Interesting.
She liked to be protected. Everyone who knew her also knew she was more than able to take care of herself, and no one even tried protecting her since she was a child.
She allowed herself to relish the thoughts for a moment, but reality beckoned. She had an interesting day. How dared these people, whoever they might be, interrupt when she was enjoying herself?
Lifting an eyebrow, she looked at the energy pistol.
“So, you’re a gun, huh?”
In her imagination, it answered, “Yes, and I want to go shoot bad people.”
Who could argue with that?
Telling herself she was only interested in the will of the weapon, she teleported down a couple of decks and materialized behind Stephan.
Whoa, who loaded this ship? Crazy elves?
Such a haphazard clutter of boxes and tools could hardly be created on purpose. He must have been pretty drunk.
She shrugged and took a step forward, peeking over some wooden crates and holding the gun in front of her. She could at least pretend to aim at the slowly opening airlock door.
Trying to sound angry was more difficult than she expected, and she had problems hiding the amusement in her voice.
“Don’t ever do that again, unless you really mean it.”
He couldn’t have heard her arrive, but the sound of her voice still didn’t make him jump. Good self control.
“You never do what people tell you to, do you? And don’t ever do what?”
“Kiss me, of course. Don’t do that if you don’t mean it, or I’ll kick your ass.”
“Oh, if we make it out of this, I’ll try to kiss you again, and don’t worry, I’ll mean it.”
His eyes locked on her face for a moment, and the gaze made her want to blush.
The airlock door finally swung open, and she could just make out five husky shapes, one of them giving orders to the others.
“Spread out and find the cargo. Don’t bother with prisoners.”
“I know him.”
Maria rolled her eyes.
“You sure have a way of picking your friends.”
Stephan made a dismissive gesture.
“I wouldn’t call him a friend, we’ve played cards and shared a couple bottles of tequila. He must have followed me since yesterday.”
“And you made it easy for him, drifting in the same spot.”
“Maybe. They might have a tracking device on us. Keep your head down.”
He squeezed a shot off, and one of the men yelped.
“Captain Melota, this is an unexpected pleasure, but you’ve caught me at a bad time. I’m in the middle of something here. Maybe you can come back later?”
The other man laughed heartily.
“Stephan, we just want your cargo. Stop shooting my men, give it to me, and I’ll leave.”
“I’ll stop shooting when you get off my ship.”
He winked and whispered, “Stay here and keep your head down, I’ll go around and take them from the other side.”
She waved him off, trying to look as if things like this happened to her all the time. The muzzle of a gun stuck out from the airlock. Her aim had always been terrible, and without using her powers, she could just as well try to throw the gun at them. She squeezed away a random shot and made it hit the other weapon through sheer willpower. Someone cursed and she beamed, pleased with herself.
Glancing around the room, she couldn’t see Stephan anywhere. Hopefully, she bought him some time. It might help if they thought he still hid behind the crates.
Then, someone pressed the muzzle of a gun against her neck, and a coarse voice hissed, “Put that down, missy.”
*****
Stephan made his way around the vast room, heading for a position that would allow him to fire straight into the airlock. The intruders were in a confined space, and he should be able to take at least some of them out.
If it wasn’t for Maria, they would have killed me in my sleep. Guess I owe her one.
Just as the thought flew through his mind, his eyes registered a movement almost outside his field of vision. He spun around just in time to see one of Melota’s thugs sneak up on his girl.
Well, she’s not technically my girl, but she’s a passenger in my care, and definitely a girl. That’ll have to do.
Turning back the way he came, he made his way back between the crates as quietly as he could. How could anyone get this far into the ship without him noticing?
He saw Maria drop the little gun, and his anger flared hot when the man touched her, running a hand over her body, pretending to search for hidden weapons.
Seriously? I haven’t even gotten to touch her like that myself.
Seeing her strike an elbow back hard enough to send the thug staggering made him want to cheer, and he didn’t hesitate to take advantage of the new situation. The butt of his gun came down hard on the other man’s temple, and the pirate fell to the floor.
Whirling around, Maria seemed ready to fend off any new attackers, and for a second Stephan thought he should have stayed out of it. She seemed able to care for herself. Then, she met his eyes and he reacted without thinking, caressing her cheek.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded and smiled.
“Yes. Thank you.”
I’m so screwed; I want to kiss her so bad. I wonder what she tastes like.
Now wasn’t the time. Melota’s gang was spreading out in the cargo bay, and he needed a new plan. Leaving her again was out of the question. His mind created images of her being dragged to the other ship, alone and abused, and the very thought made his blood boil.
Why am I taking this new responsibility so seriously, and why doesn’t the weight of it seem too heavy to carry?
No time to be introspective.
“Let’s go get these goons off the ship. Stay right behind me.”
He didn’t expect her to obey, but she followed without any objections, staying admirably quiet as she watched him take care of the intruders one after the other.
It didn’t take long until Stephan dragged bodies of dead and unconscious men into a rickety tunnel connecting the two ships. He didn’t particularly like handling corpses, but there was no getting away from it, and when they disconnected, the bodies would float peacefully out into space. It seemed to be an easy way to dispose of them.
Maria waved the gun in the air pretending to cover him, and from the way she held it, he wouldn’t hold it beyond her to accidentally shoot him. Or herself. She’s too cute.
“Let me see that for a second.”
“No. Mine.”
She clutched the gun harder and he couldn’t help but laugh. “You’ll get it back, silly.”
Her eyes stated I’m not silly, but she handed the weapon over, and he set it to stun.
“There, now you can shoot me and I’ll live through it.”
Looking offended made her even cuter.
I wonder if she’d shoot me if I kissed her.
A part of his mind still reasoned unaffected by the woman, and it picked this moment to point out the flaw in his plan. “Dammit.”
“What?
I need a drink and a good whop over the head, that’s what.
“The security overrides.”
The blank look on her face told him the explanation didn’t explain anything, and he sighed as he pointed towards the other ship.
“Okay. Our ship, their ship, this tunnel. We won’t be able to disconnect unless both airlocks are sealed, and we can’t get out of here as long as we’re connected to their ship. I have to go over there.”
There might be less appealing things than walking over to an enemy ship filled with a thousand or so armed pirates, I just can’t think of any.
He needed to hurry too; a whole army could arrive at any moment.
Looking at the woman in front of him, those eyes were worth dying for, at least as much as other things he’d fought for. He spun around and hurried off before allowing himself too much time to think about it.
On the other side of the bridge connecting one craft to the other, Stephan knew something was wrong. He expected to be met by a wall of weapons’ fire, but the doorway was unguarded. It wasn’t normal, and he couldn’t see any explanation for it. There should be at least ten men guarding the ship, and he should reasonably be dead by now.
He peeked into the airlock and even went through the door, taking a few steps aboard the pirate vessel.
This is too weird.
Now wasn’t the time to brood over it, and when a radio on the wall crackled, he decided to figure it out later, furthe
r from harm’s way. He slammed his hand against the button to close the airlock, waited just long enough to see the door move, and rushed back to his own ship, frowning at the heap of bodies in the middle of the tunnel. His conscience was spacious, but killing this many people in one day made him uncomfortable.
Maria was nowhere to be seen.
“Babe? Let’s get to the bridge, okay?”
He looked around and took a couple of steps forward, almost tripping over her. His passenger sat on the floor with her back against a crate, an oddly empty expression on her face. Her posture reminded him of a broken doll.
Hunching down in front of her, he reached out to shake her gently, and a cold hand of fear clutched his heart.
“Babe, you okay? Are you hurt?”
If there had been one unexpected intruder on the ship, there might have been more, and perhaps someone snuck up on her. He couldn’t stand the line of thought, and cut it off short.
He didn’t have time to stay and care for her. She was alive, and it would have to be good enough for now. As much as he wanted to find out what happened, Melota’s crew could come over at any moment. They might already be on their way, and all the work would be for nothing.
Leaving her on the floor wasn’t an option, so he swept her up in his arms, as if she weighed nothing, and carried her with him to the bridge.
Oversized monitors showed a multitude of human bodies hovering between the ships, and he looked down at the woman in his arms.
“No way.”
Her big eyes stared into nothingness. “Did you do that?”
She saved my life when I tried to save hers. I’ll be damned…
He put her down in a chair and did his best to sound confident.
“You did good, babe. You saved my ass, now hang on.”
~ 4 ~
Maria heard Stephan just fine, but ignored him.
If she gave him a hard time, well, he’d just have to deal with it. Melota might have been crazy, but he wasn’t a total idiot, and the other ship was guarded. If she hadn’t acted her new friend would have died.
Goddess's Saga 1: Touch of the Goddess Page 2