Wastes of Space

by Darcy Town

  Kennedy reared up and swiped at Katarina’s head. “Mine! Mine! Mine!”

  “Stop touching my hair!” Katarina threw his arm away from her.

  Kennedy hissed. “I want to!”

  “I don’t care!” Katarina walked towards the kitchen. “Play with Oro’s braid, you can be braid buddies.”

  Kennedy leapt at her back. Katarina whirled and decked him, sending him into the wall. This only made Kennedy antsier.

  Marx watched in interest from the next room. The Hunter leaned into Tasanee and put his arm around her, splaying out his healing fingers across her skin. “Your current mate, good upper body strength, this fight over you may be fun.”

  Tasanee set her jaw and shoved Marx’s arm off. “You hurt her, and I will hurt you.”

  Kennedy paced, waiting for Katarina to drop her guard. Tasanee repressed a smirk. She had no illusions as to what Katarina wanted from Rake and a part of her quite enjoyed the harassment she took from the Hunter. She saw Katarina watching her. Tasanee grabbed and broke one of Marx’s fingers. “How fast can you heal that one?”

  Marx smiled. “Another display of affection, you are warming up to me yet.” He looked at his finger. “A few of your minutes and I will be well again.” He showed off his finger stubs as they regenerated.

  Tasanee held up her bandaged wrist. “I have yet to receive an apology.”

  “For what, my little rat?”

  Tasanee stomped on Marx’s foot. “You broke my fucking wrist!”

  Marx took her hand and licked the bandage. “I apologize quite sincerely. May I lick the actual wound?”

  Tasanee pulled her hand back. “What do you think?”

  Danny, Lincoln, and Evgeniy eyed them. Danny rubbed his temples. “Look, Mr. Lincoln—”

  “Just Lincoln, we do not have gender specific titles.”

  “Lincoln, we don’t want to go with you and we don’t want to work with you. If what you say is true, everything you’re working towards in the end is going to lead to Ravil’s capture and more than likely, Rake’s death.”

  Lincoln purred. He appreciated Danny’s logical mind. He nodded. “This is true, but we have the same short-term goals. We cannot let Ravil die and she certainly will if he does.”

  Katarina leaned on the doorframe. She had not been privy to all of the conversations. “Does Rake die if she does?”

  Tasanee glared at her. “Why do you ask that?”

  Katarina flinched as Kennedy looped his arms around her waist. She pushed at him as he tried to chew on her hair. “Because it’s important to know if they are connected that way. Stop it, Kennedy!”

  “No.” Kennedy purred and hung from Katarina like a dead weight.

  Tasanee smiled.

  Marx sensed the tension between the pair and grinned. “The blood bond is only one-way. If Ravil were to die, Rake would remain intact. Interesting, yes?” Marx watched Tasanee, gauging her reaction.

  Katarina opened her mouth to speak, but Lincoln interrupted, “I would like him to remain alive for my other purposes.”

  Danny frowned. “I do not like the sound of your other purposes.”

  Lincoln pulled out his Codex. “I wish Rake nothing bad, Mr. Danny. But if he has shown the signs Marx suggests, this is very valuable information.”

  Evgeniy leaned over and looked at the Codex. He drummed his long fingers on the table. “It makes sense to go with them, Danny. We cannot do this on our own.”

  Katarina grimaced. “They’ll just backstab us as soon as they get what they want.”

  Kennedy rubbed his cheek on hers. “You could do the same to us, though we would kill and eat you easily.”

  Tasanee made a face. “That’s foul.” She turned to Marx. “Eating people is disgusting!”

  Marx shrugged. “I do not prefer Waster flesh. Does that make you happy, my little rat?”

  “You use the word prefer, meaning you’d still eat it. Have you?”

  “Some.”

  Tasanee made a face. “Gross.”

  Danny and Lincoln watched each other from across the table. Danny’s eyes narrowed. “Why don’t you just call in your Empire and be done with it?”

  Kennedy hissed and prepared to leap at Danny. Lincoln held his hand up. “Don’t.”

  Marx cleared his throat. “To require help is a great dishonor to our kind.”

  “But you help each other.” Tasanee looked between them.

  Marx nodded. “Yes little rat, but we are all Hunters. Pack hunting is common on our home, you will see.” He smiled at her, and then his smile faded. “To call in Ampyr is a disgrace to our skills that we would never be rid of.”

  Lincoln grimaced. “We would have to take on marks of dishonor, scars to show other Hunters of our failure. We would be cast-offs, better to fail than require the Ampyr.”

  Marx nodded. “And the Empire would send no others besides Ampyr to aid us, not when a Navigator of Ravilaea’s breeding is on the line.”

  Katarina scowled. “Her breeding?”

  Danny silenced Katarina with a glare and looked between Marx and Lincoln. “But you work for them, you call them master.”

  “Does that then imply that we desire them, that we respect them?” Lincoln touched his long braid. “We perform our duty as required, but we do not spare them any good feelings.”

  Kennedy snarled. “On our planet we still sing of the Ampyr we killed and ate during our battles against them in the histories! We slaughtered many and dined on their organs with pride!”

  Marx sighed. “I have not heard those songs in so long. Little rat, would you like me to sing one for you?”

  “No, I would not.” Tasanee stared at her broken wrist. “No more singing until I say so.” Marx shut his mouth in response.

  Lincoln smirked at Marx. “I wonder if her battle prowess matches her mouth. Perhaps a contest for dominance will not be needed.” Marx responded with a smile.

  Danny slammed his fist down on the table. “Focus damn it! Rake’s life is on the line!”

  Tasanee stood up. “So is Ravil’s!”

  Katarina pushed Kennedy off her. “Rake is the more important of the two. He is our family!”

  Tasanee’s body went rigid. She pointed her broken limb at Katarina. “I swear to God if I have to hear another fucking word about him being your fucking family, we are done!” So that the Hunters understood, she added, “Being mates.”

  Marx broke out in a loud purr.

  Tasanee smacked Marx in the head, but kept her eyes on Katarina. “Got it?”

  Katarina went white. “I only meant that if he dies so does she.”

  “Right, I’m sure that’s exactly what you meant.” Tasanee sat down in her chair and turned towards the windows to stare out at the approaching nightfall. Marx put his hand on her shoulder, she slapped it off. “Stop it.”

  Evgeniy coughed in the silence. “Where did they take him?”

  Danny rubbed his eyes. “My first guess would be back to the United States.”

  “No.” Oro walked in, he stared at the floor. He spoke in a numb monotone, “The announcement’s on the TV if you want to look. It’s happening in Bombay. The President is there for conferences remember?” He headed back to the TV.

  Kennedy left Katarina in the kitchen. He followed Oro, and sat by his side, he purred into his ear, attempting to make him feel better. Oro was too depressed to be annoyed with Kennedy. He didn’t care about anything. Kennedy unraveled Oro’s braid and groomed him; pleased that he could touch his hair.

  Danny sighed. “I’ll call Charlie.”

  Lincoln frowned. “Who is this?”

  “My equivalent, but in Bombay.”

  Lincoln nodded and took a note on his Codex. “He can lend us resources?”

  “He can provide us information on the presidential speech.” Danny watched Lincoln write. “But he protects a number of our children.”

  Marx leaned in. “A den of your cubs, is he your mate?”

  Danny looked confused a
nd ignored Marx. He spoke to Lincoln, “To draw him in puts them all at risk, and many are not even teenagers yet, uh they’re too young to be mated.”

  Marx and Lincoln nodded. Lincoln took Danny’s hand, making him flinch. “We will not draw in cubs.”

  Katarina scoffed. “Don’t you kill and eat anything? Why draw the line there? Why not eat babies?”

  Lincoln went rigid and glared at her. “From rival packs perhaps, but not from our own and for the time being we are one pack.” He looked at everyone in the room. “The young are protected from predators and these people in Bombay are your group. They fall into our pack. We will not draw scavengers and enemies back to the den.”

  Marx grinned at Tasanee. “We are a pack now.”

  Tasanee sulked. “Yay.”

  Lincoln inclined his head. “For the time being, yes.”

  Oro came back in, pushed by Kennedy. He looked at Danny. “Ravil mentioned that they are always true to their word, this pack shit, duels, and honor, it actually means something to them.” He put no emotion into his words and once relieved of his duty he went back to watch TV. Katarina and Evgeniy followed him, intent upon getting the exact location and time of the televised execution.

  Tasanee looked at Danny. “How are we going to get into the city? They’ll be on the lookout for us.”

  “They’ll be expecting Hunters as well.” Lincoln snarled, still angry over their attack on Marx. “We can arrange private transport for part of the way.”

  Danny leaned back in his chair. “Security will be tight. President Arvrington will be expecting an intervention. He’s probably hoping for it so that he can arrest the rest of us in public and make himself look good.”

  Marx leaned in. “Why would they want to arrest you?”

  Tasanee flicked her wrist and winced. Through a grimace she said, “We’re all involved in the space programs.”

  “Ah.” Lincoln nodded. “Yes, always the first to be destroyed when the Ampyr overrun a new colony. I am surprised then that any of you still live.”

  Tasanee nodded. “Chinese got everyone I knew. I only escaped notice due to some good luck.”

  Danny nodded. “And the Americans sort of lost interest after we moved away.”

  Lincoln shrugged and flipped his Codex shut. “We should move now.”

  Danny stood and cracked his neck. “Time to raid the armory. Czar, Kat!”

  They walked back into the kitchen.

  Danny threw Evgeniy a key. “Grab what you think we’ll need from downstairs.”

  Marx watched him go. “Is he a space soldier as well?”

  “Czar was trained to assault Space Stations, or any fixed positions, but he can fly a ship too if he has to.” Danny grabbed a bottle of painkiller and tossed it Tasanee. He looked to Lincoln. “How long does our truce last?”

  “Truce, you mean being in a pack?” Lincoln curled his braid around his wrist. “Once we have secured Rake and Ravilaea and brought them back here, then we may dissolve our pack. Does that suffice?”

  “Yes.”

  Marx eyed the bottle Tasanee held. “I still have to duel Rake. What are those?”

  Tasanee popped the top of the pill bottle off. “Pain killers.”

  “Are you in pain?”

  Tasanee slapped Marx across the face with her good hand. “You broke my fucking wrist you dimwit! I am hurt. I am in pain! I have been hurting since you broke my fucking wrist! How many times do I need to say that? Oh, I’m also hurt from you taking blood from my face! Okay? All you’ve done since we met is hurt me!”

  Marx lunged, lifting Tasanee from her chair. He pinned her to the table with his weight. He pulled back his lips, revealing his sharp fangs. Tasanee blinked, too stunned to move or cry out.

  Danny leapt for her, but Lincoln held him back. “Do not interfere.”

  “He is going to hurt her!”

  “Marx won’t.”

  Marx hooked a talon under Tasanee’s bandage and sliced it off. The Hunter examined the break and the bruised skin. He placed his teeth on her wrist. The razor edge pierced her skin with such delicacy that Tasanee did not feel it. He concentrated and the small barbs on his tongue retracted. He drew his tongue across the small bleeding wounds; it was soft and wet like damp velvet.

  Tasanee stared at her wrist as it went numb from his saliva. “Whoa.”

  Marx looked from her wrist to her face, worried. “It won’t heal from this so do not stress it, but that should help, not hurt.” He retied the sliced bandages gently. He let off her and helped her to her feet. “Is this better? I took away the hurt?”

  Tasanee eyed her pain-free wrist. She retook her seat and did not look at him, opting to ignore him. She did not think thanking him for aiding her on a wound he created to be something she needed to do.

  Marx gazed at her fondly and rubbed his cheek against her shoulder. “I made you feel better, I know I did.”

  Lincoln let Danny go. “Told you.”

  Danny frowned. “He does know that Rat only likes women, right?”

  Marx nodded from his spot. “We do not have well defined sexes, but I will try and amplify my female parts as much as I can to satisfy.” He eyed Katarina’s curvaceous body and generous breasts. “I will not be able to be as the blonde though, not unless I am with child.”

  Tasanee snorted. “You’ve given birth?”

  Lincoln nodded. “I had one sets of twins.” He shivered. “What of yours, Marx?”

  Danny and Tasanee eyed them, startled. Marx groomed his hair. “I have had many.”

  Danny took the pill bottle from Tasanee and grabbed two painkillers. “This is way too much information. Keep the rest of your strange biology to yourselves.”

  Evgeniy walked up from the basement with two crates. He set them down on a counter. “All we will need, I think.” Kennedy rammed into the back of his legs. Evgeniy barely moved. He looked down. “Yes?”

  Kennedy sank his teeth into Evgeniy’s arm. Evgeniy looked to Lincoln. “Why does it do this to me?”

  Lincoln snapped at Kennedy’s face. “He is quite young and is bored easily. He is like your restless adolescents. Let go, Kennedy, now.” Lincoln took Kennedy’s hand and forced him to sit on the floor. “This is his first major assignment and I am his first mate.”

  Kennedy licked Evgeniy’s blood off his lips. “I can find you now, anywhere!”

  Evgeniy eyed the wound and shrugged. “I hide from none.”

  “I hungry!” Kennedy frowned at his new pack. “Feed me!” A Twinkie hit him in the side of the head.

  ***

  Rake woke up with a terrible taste in his mouth, that didn’t surprise him. What did was the metal chair he was tied to, the bare cell he was in, and the presence of a particular man that he hated above all else. He leaned his head back, drowsy, and forced a smile. “Hello, Daddy.”

  President Arvrington wore an immaculate charcoal suit, his gray hair perfectly trimmed. He examined his son with the same sharp green eyes that Rake possessed, the same distinctive swarthy features. President Arvrington gazed at the ties that held his son in place. “Where is Sammy, Rake?”

  “Fuck you.” Rake spit at him, barely missing his suit. “Damn, I’m rusty. Hold on, I’ll have another in a minute.”

  “Where is she, Rake?” His father took out a handkerchief.

  “Hmm, uh, fuck you.” Rake grinned.

  “You are facing a death penalty, Rake. Where is your sister?”

  “Fu-uh-ck you-ooh.” Rake grimaced. “How about you tell me where Ravil is? Do you have her in a cell nearby? Did you hurt her?”

  President Arvrington’s mouth twitched. “We are not going to speak of her. I am only here to speak of Samantha. I will commute your death sentence to life imprisonment if you tell me, or show me, where she is. I have a document waiting for me to sign. You’ll be sent to a good prison, Drake.”

  “Don’t call me that, Dad.” Rake closed his mouth and opened his eyes super wide. He distorted his lips and cheeks, making
faces at his father.

  The President was grim. “Your antics won’t get you anything.”

  “They won’t get you anything either. Where’s Ravil?”

  “I am willing to trade, Rake. Your life for Samantha’s, it’s that simple.”

  “I don’t care.” Rake smiled. “You’re never going to talk to her again, that’s pretty much just how it’s going to go. I think you have acceptance issues, Daddy. Do you want to talk it over? Maybe we could get some cocoa and reminisce?” He snapped his fingers. “Oh wait, that’s right, we don’t have anything to reminisce over, you deadbeat fucking bastard.”

  The President leaned away from him. “I didn’t need two brats from the bayou in tow, you were better off with Danny.”

  “Yeah, we were, funny how you came back at just the right time to screw us over.”

  “Rake, watch what you say.”

  Rake ignored him. “And yet here we are together and you want the other twin, hmm.” He grinned. “What do you want her for this time, someone to soften your image? Or do you want to remind the world of the tragedy that befell your humble family. It’s close to voting time isn’t it? I haven’t been keeping track, but how are you doing in the polls? Are the idiots really going to elect you for a fourth term?”

  The President slapped Rake across the face. “Ungrateful brat!”

  Rake licked his lips. “Please, enlighten me as to what I should be grateful for exactly?”

  “I sent money to your mother to feed you for years. I paid your tuition at that idiotic Space Corps School, you and Samantha. Without my help you would have been dead years ago!”

  “Hate to break it to you, but mom threw your fucking checks in the swamp. I’m not surprised you didn’t notice, seeing as how you just ooze fucking money like you’re made of it. I heard your second wife is pretty loaded.”

  The President ground his teeth. “Regardless of our history, we have the here and now before us. I want Samantha.”

  “And I want to fly my spaceship, but you cut a deal with alien bastards you traitorous piece of shit.”

  The President’s mouth twitched as he hid his surprise. “What would you have done, Rake? Since you’re so smart, so brilliant, what would you have done?”

  “Kicked some alien ass.”