“Jensen! Jensen!” I yell, scrambling to my feet and going over. “Jensen, talk to me!”
“Fucking thing's heavy!” Jensen groans, pushing. “Help?”
I grab the beast by the now closed jaws, tugging as hard as I can while Jensen pushes. He's right, even with his help we can barely move it off of him, and as he slides free I hear a crunching sound underneath me. “What was that?”
“Probably part of the boat frame going,” Jensen says, crawling to the controls and using the console to get to his feet. “I put Gauss rounds through the crawc. Where to do you think they ended up?”
I nod in understanding as Jensen tries to get the engines started. Only one does, and it doesn't sound good, but it's running, and Jensen points the nose of the boat towards shore. “What can I do?”
“Nothing,” Jensen says. “Prepare to swim if I can't get this to shore. Crawc attack, heaven and stars!”
“What's a crawc?” I ask, curiously staring at the animal. Even now, with four meters of it laying on the deck and weighing the back of the boat down, there's more hanging off, and I can feel water starting to fill the lower portion of the boat. “I'm sorry if I wasn't helpful.”
“You saved my life, yet again,” Jensen says simply. “As for what's a crawc, it's a name applied to an animal that was on Tamaria when the first ship arrived. The settlers thought it looked like an Earth crocodile, so they called it a crawc. It's not a reptile, it's a cold blooded mammal actually. They're attracted to heat.”
“So it was coming after the overheated engines.”
“And when you shot it with a plasma charge, it sensed where the energy came from,” Jensen says. “I've seen them before, but this... this is a big one.”
We do reach the shore before we sink, the hull scraping onto the shore even as the engine sputters and dies. “Guess the boat shop owner's going to get to keep that Neyla crystal in full,” Jensen says with a mirthless chuckle as we jump overboard. “Are you injured at all?”
“Other than being upset for screaming like a child? No, only my pride and feelings are hurt,” I reply, backing up. “So what now?”
“Now? Radio for help, hope Mogar can get something here in time, and make camp,” Jensen says, reaching for his communicator. “Glad these things are waterproof. And don't feel bad about screaming. I'll tell you another secret.”
“What?”
“I'm scared to death of bats. Let's make camp.”
Chapter 8
Jensen
Kelbara goes off into the nearby woods to gather wood for a fire while I call in our predicament to the palace. “Tauren, this is Jensen.”
“It's Audra, Jensen. What's your status?”
I sigh, looking at the wrecked boat with a giant crawc carcass on it. “Currently wrecked, on the side of the river, and soaked to the bone. We were attacked by a crawc, it destroyed our engines and the boat was severely damaged as well. We're going to need a new boat.”
“Are you okay? Is anyone injured?” Audra asks, and I'm touched at the concern in her voice. She's never going to be an ice Queen, that's for sure, at least not where I'm concerned.
“I'm fine, sister. Kelbara got shaken up, but other than some bumps and bruises, and a lost powerlance, we're fine. Kelbara's gathering wood, I'm going to start a fire and try to stay warm.”
“Understood. We'll get you taken care of as quickly as we can. Do you have your beacon?”
“Unfortunately, when we looked it was destroyed as well. We're about three hundred kilometers south along the main river heading towards the equatorial regions. When you send your pickup, have them signal us, I'll activate my comm beacon.”
“Turn it on now, I don't know if we'll want to send a hot signal with your relief. Let me talk with Tauren and Mogar. Hang in there, big brother. Audra out.”
I close my communicator and turn on the beacon inside. It's not as good as a regular location beacon that can go for days without needing recharging, it drains the batteries slowly over twenty-four hours. But if Audra can't get us something in the next twenty-four hours, it probably won't matter, Tauria and Ambaris will have gotten away, and we'll need to make new plans. The idea burns me inside, and when Kelbara comes back, I can feel myself trembling in anger. Kelbara doesn't really notice, probably thinking I'm shivering from the cold water. “What did the King say?”
“I talked with Audra actually. She said they'll send something. In the meantime, we make camp and rest.”
Kelbara gives me a wary look, she must have heard my frustration in my voice, but says nothing as she clears space on a sandy area near the shore line and arranges the wood. Using our single powerlance, she lights the wood, building a small fire. “I know it's a risk, but you need to stay warm. It's getting cool at night, and you're soaked.”
“No, you're right, thank you,” I reply, unclipping my armor and pulling it off. “Kelbara, don't hold yourself at fault for the crawc attack. You reacted well enough for the first time seeing one of those monsters, and you kept your head about you. If you hadn't, I'd have probably have gotten a Gauss round in the stomach.”
“It scared the shit out of me,” Kelbara admits, unclipping her own armor and setting it on the shore side of the fire to start to dry. “I... I'm not used to that.”
“Well, let me show you one of the benefits of the crawc,” I say with a chuckle. “Mind if I borrow your mono wire lash?”
“It'd probably be better if I used it, no offense. These things can be tricky as the stars if you aren't experienced in them and.... and you know how to use one, don't you?”
I grin, nodding, but stand up and hold out my hand. When she offers the lash I instead take her by the hand and pull Kelbara to her feet, enjoying the closeness of her for a moment before letting go. “I need to let this tunic dry, so how about we work together? Crawc meat is actually very tasty, although I've never eaten one quite this big. Northern crawcs are a lot smaller.”
I undo my tunic and pull it off, Kelbara's skin going a beautiful shade of pink in the firelight as I pull my top off and lay it on the sand near the fire. It's not perfect, but it will do for now. “Maybe we can get our boots dried here after we cut some pieces off this crawc. The limbs are good, although if we had the tools I'd say the tail meat it nicer.”
I jump up into the boat again, offering my hand to Kelbara this time to help pull her up. She feels like she weighs barely a feather, even though I know how strong she is, and that despite her small size she's very compact with muscle, she's heavier than women Audra's size just from her extra lean body mass. Maybe it's just that when Kelbara touches my hand, I feel stronger, not as tired as I should be after the past day's events. And it's nice to steady her when she gets in the boat, her big green eyes looking into mine. She bites her lip, and it's with real reluctance that we step back, looking at the giant crawc.
“Fuck, this thing's huge,” Kelbara says. “How are we supposed to eat any of this?”
“Can you use your mono wire as a blade, or is it always a lash form? If you can turn it into a blade, then I'd say cut off the front limbs at the shoulders. If not, chunk the tail off, we'll just have to be careful picking the meat off the tail bones.”
Kelbara adjusts her lash, and the wire comes out, glowing an even dim violet in the near darkness. “I'll need to recharge this if I keep this going, but I can trim the limbs off. Can you pull the claw, stretch the limb out for me?”
I do as she asks, and I watch as she carefully slices the front limbs off before we repeat with the back legs. Kelbara washes the blood out in the river while I prepare spits, wishing that I was carrying a knife. “Remind me, I'm making a knife part of my daily wear. I could really use one right now.”
“You're telling me. Do we have to skin these things?”
I shake my head, spitting the rear legs and angling them on rocks over the fire. “No, the skin of a crawc is just this side of leather tough. In fact, if you ever do want to wear light armor again, get crawc skin, it's the best or
ganic light armor there is. But, we need the direct heat of the fire on the skin to break it down enough to even make it edible without a knife. Unless you plan on carving chunks of meat with your mono wire.”
“I might,” Kelbara says. She watches the fire for a bit, and pretty soon the smells of the roasting meat start to fill the air. “Smells like chicken.”
“Tastes like fatty chicken too. Wish we had some salt, but it'll do,” I reply, both of us watching the flames. Finally, I speak up again. “Kelbara, I wasn't lying when I said you reacted well. And you helped. You got that damn thing off of me before it crushed me against the side wall.”
Kelbara smiles slightly, glancing over. “You're just being nice, Jensen.”
“Actually, I'm not,” I tell her, studying her. She starts to shiver, the night's getting very cold, and I lift my right arm. “Come here. You're still wearing a tunic that's wet.”
“I can't exactly take it off,” Kelbara says, blushing. “I... I don't normally wear undergarments.”
I chuckle, gesturing her over. “I noticed, back in the cave. Uhm....”
“I don't need to,” Kelbara says simply, chuckling. “I'm kinda small up top, if you haven't noticed, and I can get by with just an undershirt for cleanliness reasons.”
The meat roasts, and I turn the leg after a few minutes, making sure that it cooks all the way through. “Actually, cooking over a fire isn't something Mogar taught me,” I muse after I'm done. I lean back, and my arm just naturally goes around Kelbara's shoulder. It helps, both for the warmth of her body against mine and for the tension of the wait. “My father taught me.”
“You remember him?” Kelbara says, snuggling tighter against me. I nod, watching the flames, quiet. “Tell me about him?”
“He was a woodworker, or at least his job involved working with wood, I remember that much,” I answer quietly, thinking. “He was a big man, bigger than me I think, but that could just be my memory. He loved taking Audra and me out into the nearby woods, teaching us things. He taught me how to fish, how to make a fire without an energy source, how to make a lean-to. He said that there might come a time we'd need to know it, but he always made it fun, a game. Audra doesn't remember him, I don't blame her, she was so tiny when we were captured.”
Kelbara squirms, and her arms go around my waist. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course,” I answer, holding her more tightly. “What is it?”
“I feel like... like it's my fault. You see, after you were brought to Ambaris' house, he noticed the mark inside your armpit. Your slave tattoo.”
I shift, nodding slowly. “I remember when it was put on me, too. Was it...?”
“It's the mark of the House of Ambaris,” Kelbara says quietly. “It must have been one of his first slave raids, back when he was telling my mother that he was still doing merc work for the government and not just slaving. I've felt so guilty about it since then.”
I hug her tighter, and kiss her on the top of her head. “In case you didn't do the math, Kelbara, your father captured me before you were born. I'm thirty, I was captured twenty-three years ago. You had to wait another five years to bless this planet with your presence.”
“I'm no blessing,” Kelbara says. “I'm a tough badass.”
“Yes, you're tough.... and I like you that way,” I reply. I turn my head to look at her. She's looking up at me with those beautiful features, her lips parted just a little bit. I can't help it, I reach up and caress one flawless cheek, smiling. “Tough and beautiful.”
“Say it again,” Kelbara whispers, her eyes beseeching. “Please, sir. Nobody's ever called me beautiful before. Not the way you do.”
“You're beautiful,” I say softly. “I've thought you were beautiful for a while now.”
I lean in, kissing her again, and she melts at my touch, the hunger for reassurance mixing with the desire for relief from the stress of the chase and.... well, maybe there is something more in her touch, in the way she kisses me.
I feel Kelbara put her hand on my chest and I enjoy it. I pull her down, pinning her to the sand while we kiss harder, her legs parting and allowing me in between. There's no need to hold back, there's nobody around and the mission is on pause, I can't do anything except feel the heat of her body underneath me, the way her hips squirm as she looks at me with those innocent green eyes. “Sir....”
“I told you what that does to me, Kelbara,” I growl, licking her ear. “Do you really want to keep calling me that?”
“Yes... sir,” she moans. “Sir.... sir....”
Each time she whispers the word, it drives me wilder and wilder, my kisses going down her neck as I cup her breast, kneading the small handful until she's gasping and trembling underneath me. My cock rages in my pants and I reach for the waistband of her pants, sliding a hand inside and kneading her amazing ass. Oh heaven and stars, she might be just eighteen but I want her so badly....
A whooshing sound roars overhead, startling both of us as I roll off of Kelbara, whose tunic is rumpled, her eyes going wide with shock. “What was that?”
“I don't know,” I reply, looking up into the night sky. There's nothing but an increasing roaring whoosh, I can't see anything... wait, coming down.... like a ripple in the night sky, is something, but I don't know what it is.
There's a thump on the beach a few meters up the river bank from us, and suddenly a white rectangle appears in the darkness, casting light out of nowhere onto the sand. I pull my powerlance, confused. “Who's there?”
“Come now my old student, don't tell me you forgot about my experiments in stealth technology,” a familiar voice calls from the rectangle, and Mogar steps out of the rectangle and into the light that's on the beach. He turns, looking. “What do you think?”
“I think you should have given me a call,” I reply, reaching for my now slightly dry but at least somewhat warm tunic top. “What is that thing, really?”
“Your rescue,” Mogar says. “This was the testbed for my stealth technology. I also used it as a testbed for ducted air reverse engineering. With all the halnocite in the area, conventional hovertech doesn't work, as you know. But, in the historical records, I learned about aircraft that were used on Earth long before we even came to Tamaria. It used large, powerful fans to blow in the direction the craft wanted to go. I thought it would be a fun little experiment, and I'm glad it's useful for today.”
“What do you have?” Kelbara asks, adjusting her tunic and getting off the sand. “Thank you, by the way, Lord Mogar.”
Mogar gives us each a knowing look, then smiles his secret smile. “Thank you, Lady Kelbara. As for what I brought, help me take it from the shuttle and we can get you set up and heading through the night quickly.”
We go into the shuttle, which Mogar shuts down the stealth mode for, revealing a medium sized shuttle that is rather cramped inside. “Why the small space?”
“Ducted fans to support such a large craft take up a lot of room. It's why I don't think the technology will make a comeback. That and the noise,” Mogar says. “Here, each of you grab a handle on that crate there.”
It's heavy, and I'm glad Kelbara is helping me as we drag it onto the sand, depositing it nearby. Mogar comes out with another box, setting it down as well. “In the big box is a collapsible boat, small and stealthy, and fast. It's very lightweight though, don't let any giant crawcs near this one. By the way, your meat's starting to burn.”
I rush over to the fire, pulling the now charred limbs out of the fire, checking on them. “A bit more done than the last time, but still edible. And I'm hungry.”
Mogar laughs and points to his shuttle. “Jensen, I've known your appetite since you were a little boy, remember? I wasn't going to leave you hungry. The box I carried has four new powerlances for you, as well as other electronics. And in the shuttle I have ration kits and fresh clothes. You're looking.... wet.”
“Duh,” Kelbara replies, showing her arm. “And cold.”
“Then I suggest you
get changed after the boat is set up. I'll help you get it put together,” Mogar says, chuckling. “I'll head back after that, I'm no fighter.”
He's right, Mogar's of more use to Tauren and Audra as a scholar than a fighter, but he is helpful in getting the boat together, mostly by helping me hook the electronic controls to the proper outlets as the boat actually inflates. I thump the sidewall, curious as it doesn't make a hollow sound. “Air?”
“Air based foam. More stable, and if you sustain a puncture, you won't sink,” Mogar says. We turn to see Kelbara lift one of the three engines into place, setting it onto the rear platform before locking it in. “She's strong.”
“You have no idea,” I reply, watching in admiration as she goes over and lifts another engine out of the box and carries it over. Each one has to weigh more than three quarters of her body weight, but she's not complaining at all. Instead she clamps the second engine on, then studies her handiwork. “How's it looking?”
“Looking good from my perspective,” Mogar says in a low voice, cutting his eyes over to me. “I'd say even better from yours.”
“Mogar!” I grumble, hopping out of the boat. “Can you connect the rest of the controls while Kelbara and I get changed and maybe get something to eat?”
“Of course, Jensen. Enjoy your new clothes. After that, I'll give you an update on the situation at the palace,” Mogar says, kneeling down to go back to connecting his controls. I jump out of the boat, and go over to Kelbara, who's washing her hands in the river.
“Let's get changed, then Mogar can brief us while we eat,” I offer, extending my hand. “I'm sure you want better than crawc meat.”
“I could settle for that,” Kelbara says, taking my hand and letting me help her up. Our hands stay clasped a little longer than really necessary, and she's looking at me with her eyes, the iridescence that's typical of Tamarians just starting to show in the moonlight. It makes her even more beautiful, and I smile.
Red Planet: The Revolt (Tamarians Book 2) Page 7