by Lilly Cain
Sarina initiated the cleanse cycle. The hum of ultrasonic waves vibrated from the top of her scalp down through to the bones in her heels and then worked its way back up again. The sound of John’s quick intake of breath caught her attention.
“Is this your first time in a sonic unit?” She sent the thought to him.
“Yes. I’ve only been on board an Inarrii ship once, and not for a long stay.” John relaxed under the pulse, rolled his shoulders and stretched. His muscular frame looked exotic and sexy; his smooth skin was so different from hers, and the tiny hairs on his arms and chest and legs moved slightly with the ultrasonic waves as the gel was removed from his skin. He raised his arms and rested his palms against the sides of the unit, taking up far too much space. She had no choice but to lean into him. Immediately their link strengthened. She nearly moaned as she received his impression of the warm rhythm of the cleanser, especially as it passed over his balls and cock.
She did gasp as an image from his mind slipped through the link—her on her knees in the cleanser sucking his cock as she would an Inarrii saiin, the sonic waves set to a rhythm that matched the pace of her mouth dragging along his skin. He would like to possess her in this way, holding her head and pumping into her mouth as she did her best to suck his seed into her throat until she swallowed. Her sinaa pulsed, immediately wet in reaction to a scene that nearly reflected the final part of an Inarrii mating ceremony.
* * *
John snapped alert as Sarina pushed past him and out of the cleanser. She broke their mental link as she shut the door between them, leaving him in the cleanser while she left the room entirely. He checked his wrist comp but the sensors on the hatch to the base remained on watchdog mode; no attempt had been made to breach the entrance.
“Sarina?” He called to her but she didn’t answer. He shut the cleanser down and pushed open the door. Worry nibbled at him, and a quick rush of adrenaline slammed through his veins. He checked the other bug, but the communications panel remained silent. There was no way of knowing if this was because nothing was being picked up, or if the microbug simply couldn’t access this level of Inarrii technology.
Whatever was wrong, she’d taken her clothes and her weapons, and even her boots. Years of training had him yanking his microknives from the hidden pocket in his bag before hauling his shipsuit on up to his waist. The knives weren’t as good as a hand laser, but there was no way to get one through the various levels of security on the Osprey. The only one he had access to while undercover was still strapped to the outside of the Osprey’s hull.
He strained his ears but couldn’t hear any sign of alarm. He sat on the edge of a low couch and pulled on his boots. Whatever had pushed Sarina into action, it didn’t seem to be an immediate attack. John took a moment to slide a microknife into the top of each boot and the cuffs of his shipsuit as he pulled it the rest of the way on. The thin blades were nearly unbreakable, and were sharp enough to slice perma plas. They made hand-to-hand combat a deadly affair.
John took a closer look at the bedroom. The dominating colors, red and black, probably represented the Inarrii home world. He considered just how little he knew of the Inarrii and of Sarina in particular. He had the information from the intel reports, and she’d mentioned a few details about clan structure, but other than the fact that she’d been injured, he knew very little about her personally. He wanted to know more. She believed she was broken in some way he couldn’t understand. It seemed more complicated than the fact that her L’inar had been severed. He wanted to understand her. More than how she responded during sex, although he was far from finished exploring that topic.
He’d just been thinking of round three in the cleanser when she broke everything off and nearly ran from the room. He shut his eyes and shook his head at his own stupidity. He’d been thinking of taking her mouth while she was on her knees in front of him. He knew damn well she could feel what he did. Did she sense what he wanted from her? Did she find his fantasy degrading? Starforce had very strict rules on relations between ranks, and any hint of sexual dominance was strictly forbidden.
Then it struck him and he groaned aloud. Intel had reported on the marriage ceremonies of the Starforce Marine Susan Branscombe to the now Inarrii/human Ambassador, Asler Kiis. Most of it had been blocked due to the personal nature of the ceremony, but enough was stated that he should know oral sex had some serious implications. He’d either scared her off or offended her.
A quick vibration against his wrist from his comp brought John back from his thoughts. He tapped the small unit and was rewarded with a connection to the Inarrii communications system. His little bug had come through. He ran a hand over his jaw. Between flight time and the time spent on the base, he’d been out of contact with Davis for nearly four hours. Time enough for his absence to be reported. They wouldn’t be able to send a search party immediately, not without blowing his cover, but they would have scanned his reported flight path by now and alerted the Inarrii to the wreckage of the sho’tet blade ships that had been sent with them as escort. Rescue would soon be on the way.
The risk of sending a message should be minimal. He needed more information before he made his next move. And finding out just how badly he might have pissed off his Inarrii bodyguard might also be a good idea. He initiated the secure channel.
“Davis, this is Bennings. Can you read?” John sent the security code along with his query. If Davis could hear him, they were good to go.
“John! I was beginning to think you were dead. Where the hell are you?”
“On the abandoned Inarrii surveillance base on the moon. We were attacked by more of the Terran Purity group. They took out our two escorts. And I can confirm they have more fire power than they ought to.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re still up and running. There haven’t been any other reported attacks, only you. They have you pinned somehow.”
John shook his head. Davis loved to state the obvious. “No shit. We were forced into hiding here.”
“We? I take it that curvy bodyguard’s still with you.”
John stood. “Yeah, she’s here. But I need more intel. How the hell has Terran Purity managed to pin us? What have they got for scanning tech? You’d better get a message to the CIC to get us out of here soon.” He hesitated and rubbed a hand against his tense shoulder. “And I need access to the Starforce database on Inarrii personal conduct.”
“You’ve got whatever we have on the terrorist capabilities as we know them. No info on the scanning ability. And what the hell do you need alien etiquette lessons for? Just screw her like you usually do and get the hell out of there.”
“Fuck off, Davis. Just send me the data.” He stared at this wrist comp and was relieved to see the data stream flowing through the connection.
“Wow, you did it already, didn’t you? You had the alien bitch on her knees. Are they really ridged inside and out?” Davis laughed, the unpleasant sound coming in all too clearly through the wrist unit. “Screw her all you like. Just don’t let her think at you.”
“We’re done here. Get the message to the CIC.” John clicked off the channel. His temples pounded. They were done, for good. He’d worked for years with Davis and had always considered him an okay guy, even a little funny. But the asshole had a real problem with the Inarrii, one that had now gone way over the line. There was something wrong with him. If he’d been standing in the room right at this moment, John would have put his fist through the mission tech’s face.
And deep in his gut, John knew that could only mean one thing…
* * *
Sarina slapped the final seal shut on the last of her exterior weapons harness. “Ken stasht,” she swore aloud. Things were getting too complicated. She knew damn well John hadn’t been proposing a mating—the human probably had no idea what kind of image his fantasy presented to her. He just wanted to continue their sexual play. So did she, for that
matter.
What had her worried was that she would be considering more sex when they were still in danger. They were concealed from the enemy on a barely defendable abandoned base. Even if it was accepted practice to get close to the person you were supposed to protect, there was a time and place for everything. She’d ignore the fact that she couldn’t find it in herself to say no the first time. She’d needed the stress relief too badly. This time she would stay in control and do her duty to protect him.
Perhaps she had gone too long without release. Maybe her mind was already damaged if all she could think about was the fact that not only did the sex sound nearly irresistible, but the idea of mating was starting to sound damn good too. Not that John had meant to offer anything more.
She shook her head at her own folly. She was a warrior. Even if he had offered…what could she have in common outside of the bedroom with a man who worked with facts and figures all day? A small voice spoke within her mind, reminding her of his claim to study a human fighting art, and the way he considered strategy when he revealed his knowledge of the Inarrii surveillance base. Perhaps they weren’t that different.
Alarms chimed from the control panel to her right. “Ken stasht,” she whispered. Somehow she’d ignored the first signal indicating the terrorists were back and were scanning the area—either she’d not heard it or the alarm simply hadn’t triggered. Now they were coming in fast. She checked the visual. A shuttle had already wedged itself against the medtech ship, blocking their only escape. In minutes they would be at the entrance.
She slapped her hands against the controls and pulled up the security codes. It took a long minute, too long, to try and pull up a secondary shield over the main hatch. When the effort proved useless, she cursed. The base was never meant to defend against attacks; it was only a short-term surveillance position. It didn’t have the defense protocol that might have at least given them more time.
Sarina unholstered her hand laser. The entrance was between her and John, and the terrorists would be through it in a matter of moments. She’d headed for the control room after leaving John. A little space between them seemed like a good thing at the time, but now she was here and he was probably back in the bedroom, alone and unarmed. Her L’inar rippled as she realized she didn’t even know for sure where he was, and she had no way to contact him.
She could hear them now, cutting through the hatch that she’d sealed to her DNA code. In less than a minute she would see the laser beam cutting through the final layer of the hatch. No time to plan anything. Sarina dove from the control room and past the entrance, rolling as she hit the floor, and twisted to face the approaching attack.
Two hands grabbed her shoulders and she grunted in surprise. John’s m’ittar touched hers and she allowed him to pull her through the door into the main corridor. She kept her laser focused on the hatch, ready for the first shot when the terrorists cut through. A line of black formed on the metal as the first laser punched through. Licks of flame darted up from the line as lasers burned hot enough to melt the metal.
“Shit.” John swore as the automated fire suppression system kicked in, coating the hatchway in a layer of directed foam. Smoke poured into the air. Visibility dropped and he tugged on Sarina’s arm. “We need to get out of here.” His mental voice was insistent, but calm.
“Back to the hydroponics lab.” She sent him the direction and was relieved when he let her go and headed deeper into the base.
She followed, retreating backward while she covered their movement. They had made it nearly halfway through the corridor when she heard the hard clang of cut metal hitting the floor. They weren’t coming in silent—they either didn’t expect any resistance or just didn’t care if they took some losses and were counting on the superiority of numbers. Either way, she was going to make sure they regretted it.
Chapter Eight
“Duck under the oxygen pump. They won’t fire in here—it could blow the entire base if they hit the generator with laser fire.” Sarina pointed out an empty spot, just big enough for John to fit under.
He shot her a look that matched the feeling of incredulity in his m’ittar. “I’m not getting under there.”
Sarina holstered her hand laser. She couldn’t risk a shot any more than the terrorists would inside the hydroponics lab. There were too many volatile elements. “We don’t have time to argue about this. They are here for you, and I intend to see they don’t manage to kill you.”
John pressed his lips into a look of grim determination. Somehow he’d armed himself. She grimaced. The man was definitely not a lawyer. He must have brought the set of small blades with him—they were nothing like her dash’tet. A flare of anger arced through her at his continued deception, but she tamped it down. Knives in each of his hands glinted in the warm green light of the lab. She shook her head at him, but it was his choice. She’d simply make sure they didn’t reach him. No matter what he really was, it was still her job to protect him.
Sounds of running feet reached her seconds before the first attacker barreled through the doorway and into the lab. She dropped low and snapped out one leg, bringing him down for a moment while the second attacker charged into the room as well. Sarina thrust upward, extending her body and her arms as she drew her first dash’tet. The large knife snagged on the rough material of her opponent’s shipsuit, but not before it did its damage—a large slice up the man’s mismatched chest armor.
Both attackers appeared human, and they wore ragged uniforms that had seen better days. Sarina’s mind automatically categorized them as members of the terrorist group Terran Purity. She pulled back a step, giving herself room to maneuver, but kept her body between them and John’s location.
The man on the floor sprang back to his feet. His eyes rolled in their sockets and he panted hard. Anger and hunger were fueled by insanity, his emotions roaring out at her m’ittar as he lunged for her. Sarina twisted to one side, evading his strike. He held a laser rifle in both hands and was using the long barrel as a thrusting weapon. Sarina moved faster. He could forget, given his state of mind, that they were beside the main oxygen tank and fire at her, blowing the entire base. She had to take him down first. Her second opponent was still in shock and gripping the edges of his plated chest armor, probably unsure if her strike had been deep enough to be fatal.
The crazy man began to shriek at her, words she couldn’t understand and wouldn’t matter in a few moments. Sarina released the strap on her second dash’tet. With a long bade in both hands, she slashed at him. He blocked the first blow with the laser rifle but she’d expected that. Instead of pulling back for a second strike she moved in closer, until she was only inches away from his face, and ran the edge of her blade along the barrel of his weapon. The dash’tet found its mark and the man lost his grip on the laser as she sheared his fingers from his hand. Her second blade found its way into his gut and lodged deep under his rib bones.
He crumpled in front of her.
A noise from the side caught her attention. She turned and extended her dash’tet in a single, smooth motion, leaving behind her other knife, which was wedged in the first opponent. The sharp edge sliced a second gouge over the terrorist’s armor, this time a fatal cut. He fell back and down against the edge of the doorway without a single word. Blood sprayed over her, tinted black in the green light of the hydro tanks.
Two humans down, definitely dead or dying, but she had no time to do more than grasp the victory. A blow, shudderingly hard, hit her from the back, the strength of it nearly bringing her to her knees. She tried to twist away but her attacker was too fast. She reeled from a second strike, this time to the side of her head, and lost her grip on her second long knife. She couldn’t get a good visual—he moved too fast for a human and hit too hard. She caught a burst of movement out of the corner of her eye. She cried out in frustration as she realized John had entered the fight. He slashed at
the terrorist and missed. The man twisted like an earth snake and hit John hard from the side. The bastard had a knife of his own; John’s shout of pain told Sarina he’d been cut.
Sarina hit the ground and rolled, catching the attacker’s legs and entangling him. John reacted as smoothly as if they had trained together for years, dodging the struggling attacker to slide in and stab him in the side. The man snarled, swearing in a language Sarina recognized.
“Gathan shit!” She kicked at him from the ground, using the strength of her legs to keep the alien from recovering his balance. Again John went in for a strike and connected, his microknives flashing as he drew the creature’s thick blue blood, but he was thrown back after a single hit.
Sarina twisted to the side and gained her feet. She pulled both dash’tet from her leg holsters. John charged at the same time that she leaped. They hit the Gathan from the back and side, and he went down with a sickening crunch. Sarina listened but couldn’t hear anything but her pounding heart and John’s panting breaths. Finally she caught a wheezing sound from the alien. He lived, barely. She stood and staggered to the doorway, sliding her long knife home and drawing her laser. She checked the corridor. Empty. She turned back to the hydroponics lab. John clutched at his shoulder, applying pressure to the slash he’d received that the hands of the Gathan. Red blood and blue spattered the floor in slick patterns, but the three attackers lay motionless.
John nudged the Gathan with his foot then bent to pull a band of glowing metal from its neck. Immediately the wounded man’s form wavered and changed, revealing his true elongated shape and blue skin. “Not human.”
“No, it’s a Gathan. We rejected them from Confederation membership. They joined the Raveners after that, but some think that was their plan all along. That they only applied for membership to take a good look at our defenses. They are the ones providing the human terrorists with the weapons and technology.”