His mental programming session for going planetside on Earth had been necessarily brief. It had given him access to several languages and basic cultural functions. He must be misunderstanding the term shower. It was impossible that she saw cleansing her body as more important than her safety.
She turned around and walked into a room covered in small square tiles. He followed her. At least here there were fewer ambush points. She walked up to a wall with several protruding knobs, hoses, and small hooks. She hung the bag she had taken from her locker near two of the knobs, then turned them.
Water poured out from the hose above her. Her breath hitched, and she made some adjustments, then let out a sigh.
The extravagance of it… Potable water used to cleanse their bodies? He hadn’t actually believed the programming until he saw this. So many planets struggled to generate enough water to sustain life. Earthlings bathed in it.
As a soldier for the Coalition of planets, Khel had access to technology that made things like showers unnecessary. Between the cleansing properties of his uniform and the regen bed where he slept, his body was maintained for him. He only needed to remove his uniform for eliminations. The genetic engineers who created Sadirians hadn’t been able to craft a more civilized way to deal with those bodily functions. Yet.
Paige turned to face him, a grimace pulling the edges of her lips. Leaning back, she let the water pour over her head. The bright copper of her hair changed color, darkening to a burgundy-laced brown.
She pulled a tube from her bag hanging on the wall and squeezed out a semi-liquid substance. Lifting her hands to her head, she worked the gel into her hair, creating a thick lather. She leaned her head back again, letting the water pour over her, rinsing her clean.
Her eyes were almost Sadirian in their size and shape. The similiarities ended there. Her nose was short and pert, her lips full, and her cheekbones muted. The bright color to her hair was nearly identical to a shade that was popular in quadrant seven, but that style was completed with gold eyes and bronzed skin. Paige’s skin was even paler than his and her eyes were a slightly darker blue.
Sadirians were strong, but their muscles tended to not show through their skin. His people appeared smooth. Their arms and legs barely had variance in shape, straight lines preferred aesthetically. The same held true for their torsos. He had difficulty at times telling apart males and females of his own species.
Khel was easily identified—glitch.
Tall didn’t begin to describe him. He was monstrously huge, his body reacting with the regen bed that stimulated his muscles during sleep cycles to turn him into a gargantuan specimen. The genetic engineers who created him had studied his body for years after he reached maturity before letting him begin his life as a soldier, trying to figure out where they had gone wrong.
Even without the muscles, his bone structure made him useless. Space stations and ships were often small and used every inch effectively. The Arbiter was one of the few ships in the fleet that had mechanical tunnels large enough for him to squeeze through.
Paige was small and compact. She could easily fit through those tight places. She was as short as a standard Sadirian, but her body seemed composed entirely of curves. Her waist was narrow and her hips broad. Her legs were heavily muscled, as was the rest of her. And her breasts were larger than any he had ever seen. He had a bizarre urge to heft them and feel their weight in his hands. They appeared soft.
She pulled another tube from her bag and squeezed out more gelatinous matter. She put her hands to her breasts, massaging them as she created more lather. Trails of suds ran down her stomach, catching in the fine curls between her legs.
Something shifted in him. Heat was gathering low in his abdomen. Blood was pooling in his penis.
“For someone in such a hurry a minute ago, you sure are getting off on watching me shower.” She ran her hands along her arms.
“Getting off of what?”
Turning, she massaged the lather into the supple skin of her buttocks. He wanted to touch her hips, to hold them firmly, pull her up against him—
Cygnus X, why would that even occur to him? The thought made the tightening in his penis worse, his jeans chafing. He took several deep breaths, trying to will his body to calm. It had worked the few times his body had reacted to other Sadirians.
It wasn’t working with this Earthling.
She turned back to face him, letting the water pour over her shoulders. Her grimace had turned to a grin. Her hands traced the water’s path down her stomach toward…
“Look out!” she yelled.
His gaze snapped back to her face. Her eyes were wide as she stared at something above him. He leapt out of the way just before a Tau Ceti dropped to the floor with a loud clang.
Cybernetic enhancements. Of course.
It looked like an average human male—light brown hair falling over its face and dressed in Earth clothing. The Tau Ceti truly were doing their best to fit in as they invaded the planet.
Khel didn’t waste a moment. He lashed out with a kick that should have caught the Tau Ceti in the ribs. The strike didn’t connect. The cyborg was too quick. Khel swung his fist, feinting to one side to draw it closer. He managed to land a blow to the side of its head. Better.
Before he could follow up, Paige leapt onto the cyborg’s back. She wrapped her legs around its ribs and one arm around its neck. It reached toward her to pull her off, giving Khel the opening he needed.
He punched the Tau Ceti with all his strength, catching it in its side just below its armpit. The cyborg screeched as the nerve cluster undoubtedly sent waves of pain through its body. A follow-up strike should take it down.
Paige wasn’t done with it, though. She had one of those tubes in her hand and squeezed its contents into the Tau Ceti’s eyes before Khel could attack again.
The noise it made was horrifying. It clawed at its face, jerking from side to side trying to shake Paige loose. Moons, what kind of chemicals did humans use to clean themselves that were so easily weaponized?
Khel maneuvered behind the Tau Ceti, then grabbed Paige and pulled her off. The cyborg turned toward them briefly and hissed, revealing the set of long, sharp canines that grew from the roof of its mouth, normally hidden behind its regular teeth. It leapt over their heads, landing—and sticking—on the wall before scurrying around a corner. Khel doubted it would attack again immediately.
“What the fuck was that?” Paige yelled.
“An enemy. We must leave.”
“No shit.”
He followed as she ran to her locker.
“I want answers, Khel.”
“I can explain once we’ve reached safety.”
“Not going to work for me. Talk as I dress.” She began quickly drying her body.
Her brother had been clear in his instructions. Don’t tell Paige about aliens until they reached Khel’s ship. Without proof, Brendan was convinced his sister would ignore their warning and refuse to leave. Khel hoped the Tau Ceti’s attack was proof enough.
“Our attacker is from Tau Ceti,” Khel said.
Paige shimmied into a pair of jeans, then pulled a dark green T-shirt over her head. “Tau Ceti, as in the star? You’re saying that guy was an alien.”
“Yes. And it has undoubtedly reported our location to others of its kind.”
“It?”
“A cyborg.”
“Great. A saber-toothed cyborg gecko.” Her hair dripped on the floor as she pulled on her socks and slipped her feet into a pair of shoes.
“Frog.” When she glanced up at him, Khel said, “Your brother has been referring to them as vampire space frogs.”
She snorted and shook her head. “Sounds like Brendan.”
She stood and pulled her hair back from her face, securing it with an elastic band. She stuffed everything into her backpack and closed the locker door. “And what are you?”
“I am Sadirian.”
“This is so messed up.” She swung her backp
ack over her shoulder and headed for the exit.
She didn’t say anything until they were outside of the gym, the sun shining down on them and the air thick with moisture. The bright light would hinder the Tau Ceti’s ability to see. Their eyes were too delicate for ocular implants and their homeworld existed in perpetual twilight.
“My apartment isn’t far,” she said.
She started past him, but he moved to block her way.
“That’s the first place they’ll look. We need to get to my ship. We’ll be safe there.”
“As in spaceship?” She rolled her eyes again. “Brendan must be beside himself with joy. Is that where he is now?”
“He’s on the Arbiter. It’s in orbit currently. My vessel is a smaller scouting ship. It can take us there.”
“I’m not leaving the planet with you,” she said. “This is insane! I can’t believe I even just said that.”
He grabbed her elbow, but stopped himself from urging her to walk. The look in her eyes promised violence. He couldn’t refrain from admiring her confidence.
“Listen closely, Paige. The Tau Ceti want you. Not dead, but alive. Otherwise, we would both be vapor by now. And you do not want them to capture you. Trust me on that point, if nothing else.”
She fidgeted, pressing her lips together. When she stilled, she was closer to him. He wasn’t sure she was even aware of it, but he was. And of the softness of her skin beneath his hand.
“Why me?” Her voice was small. For the first time, she looked afraid.
He stepped closer, gripping her other elbow. If the Tau Ceti came back, he would be able to shield her better. And the proximity…was pleasant.
“Brendan believes your work is somehow threatening their plan for Earth. We’ve already lost a listening station over this, and they were willing to shoot down one of your planes.”
“Wait… What?” Her eyes filled with tears. “What plane?”
He didn’t want her to break down. They were conspicuous enough, standing still on the sidewalk as others passed them by. But he had already seen how intractable she could be.
“Senator Conroy’s plane. That’s how we knew that you were a target—and probably why they want you alive. As the only remaining human who worked with him in this area, they’ll want to determine what you know and who you’ve spoken to about it.”
Paige blew out her breath forcefully, and the tears he’d been preparing himself for vanished along with any sign of her fear. A muscle along her cheek twitched. The look he had taken as threatening before was nothing compared to this.
Murderous rage. If he gave her a disintegrator, he had no doubt she would use it. And the way she had attacked the cyborg, completely naked and armed with nothing more than soap…
She smacked his hands away, then grabbed his elbow, pulling him in step beside her.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“We’re going to my office to find out what these bastards are really after. They can’t want me specifically. I don’t have the clearance to be a threat to anyone. Jim—the senator—was the one with power. Like you said, what I have is knowledge. And copies of that knowledge are where I work.”
“My orders are to protect you and bring you safely to the Arbiter.”
“From what you’ve told me, my entire planet is in danger. How am I supposed to ignore that?”
She was putting the safety of her planet before herself. Admirable, especially considering Brendan had informed Khel that she had never received formal training or indoctrination related to protecting herself or others. She would make a fine soldier for the Coalition, if she could learn to follow orders.
It was all the more impressive that her personal choice was to risk herself to help others. And fearlessly—without the aid of chemicals to control her emotions.
What must it be like to take action based on one’s own choices rather than orders or conditioning?
Khel followed his training, but didn’t rely on the Coalition drugs Balance or Coupling to maintain emotional and mental equilibrium. His work aboard the Arbiter kept him satisfied. Work that was about to change radically.
The plan General Serath—Adam—had laid out before Khel left on his mission plagued him. Convincing the Coalition to stop using Balance to keep the population peaceful—giving citizens more autonomy—would cause widespread chaos throughout the galaxy.
Khel had no illusions about the violence and suffering that would result as septillions of sentients learned how to interact on their own. He understood there was corruption within the Coalition, but wasn’t sure he was ready to assist with such upheaval. Surely there was another way.
His thoughts were interrupted as a large transport approached them. Paige waved at it, walking toward the street. The vehicle stopped next to them and a set of doors opened with a pneumatic whoosh. She stepped aboard and turned back to him.
“I’m going,” she said. “You can come along or not. The choice is yours.”
He hesitated briefly before following.
Chapter Three
Paige led Khel to the back of the bus and sat near the window. He filled the space at her side, his sheer size a comforting presence. It would be hard for any “Tau Ceti” to see her past Khel, let alone attack her.
Space frogs. Cyborg space frogs.
She had to be dreaming. That would explain Khel too, with his delicious physique and intriguing mix of hot-and-cold reactions to her. Stripping hadn’t seemed to register with him at all. But showering in front of him…
He had watched her like he wanted to devour her. Before the stupid space frog attacked, she was getting ready to invite him to dinner.
Space frogs. Killer space frogs.
She shook her head, as if that would help her process things. No matter how much she wanted to not-believe, she couldn’t discount the evidence of her own senses. She had seen that man cling to the tile of the locker room walls with nothing but his hands and feet. She had felt the mix of steel and flesh when she attacked him. She had seen his menacing fangs.
These aliens had crashed Jim’s plane on purpose. If she hadn’t volunteered to help out with a colleague’s cleanup site—which turned out to be much more involved than she was led to believe—she would have been on that plane with him. And now the Tau Ceti wanted her—alive.
She shivered at what Khel had implied earlier. Brendan wasn’t the only scifi fan in the family. She had seen plenty of movies that gave her horrifying possibilities of what capture might entail. She had also seen tons of movies that showed what might happen to the planet after aliens invaded.
Not on her watch.
“I’m the project lead.” She wiped at her eyes and sniffed. “And I’m between interns at the moment. Jim and I—the senator—we were talking about bringing in more full-time staff. I’ve been buried in paperwork for the past few weeks, trying to figure out how to bring my new team up to speed as quickly as possible with the resources I was supposed to get.”
She snorted and shook her head. No team. No champion. It was just her and Khel. She reached over and put her hand on the fist he was resting on his thigh.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Trying to hold your hand.”
He stared down at her with those cold blue eyes. She had seen the fire in them, white-hot. He would probably be amazing in bed—if he could let go of some of his repression. She pried open his fist, then interlaced their fingers and set their hands back on his leg.
“What is the significance of this?” he asked.
“Reassurance, closeness… Don’t you Sadirians seek physical comfort from each other?”
“Our culture is different. We have moved beyond the need to obey our base instincts.”
“Base instincts?” She snorted again. “That’s just sad. No hugging? Kissing?”
His lips pulled into a thin line as he looked over the people on the bus again.
“No sex?”
He glanced over to her, then turned a
way. “Some Sadirians still seek physical pairing. Most are content to use Coupling.”
“What’s that?”
“A drug that takes the body through the stages of arousal to culmination. It’s generally used alone, but some Sadirians prefer to use it with a partner.”
“You only have sex while you’re on drugs?”
He glared at her. “I don’t use Coupling.”
“Okay. You just made it sound like people only have sex if they’re on it.”
“That’s correct.”
“So wait… You’ve never… I mean…”
She couldn’t even say it. It was so outlandish. This amazingly hot guy—with a body she’d love to turn into a carnal carnival—had never had sex. Even with himself.
She shook her head. “Seems like a waste of natural resources to me.”
His scowl deepened.
He lifted their entwined hands and said, “Is this meeting your need?”
“What need?”
“For physical comfort.”
He turned back toward the other passengers. She followed his gaze to a young couple snuggling a few seats ahead.
She was tempted to ask for more, but that would be taking advantage. Instead she said, “I’m fine.”
He extricated his hand and put his arm over her shoulders. He pulled her tight against his side, surprising her with the gentleness of the gesture. For someone who wasn’t used to touch, he was a pretty good side-hugger.
“Is this better?” he asked.
“Yeah. Much.”
He was sitting perfectly straight. His muscles were rigid against her. Did he even know how to relax?
That was a question for another time.
“Now I understand why you were so comfortable with me getting naked,” she said.
“On stations and ships, citizens and soldiers alike live in close proximity. Viewing each other’s bodies is a common occurrence.”
“On my planet, nudity often precedes sex. We take it a bit more seriously.”
“Noted. I’ll be sure to update our base-line cultural overview to that effect.”
Business or Pleasure (The Department of Homeworld Security Book 3) Page 2