“Alright,” I said as I let go of her shoulder.
“No. No. No. I didn’t mean it like that,” Z said as she looked back up to me. “Okay, you jump into the wall of bullets to save me, or Eve, or someone else that needs it. You’re… You’re… Just great. You are kind, strong, uhh big and handsome.” Her face turned red. “The cat thing is… really hot.” Z seemed to have realized what she just said and she gasped with embarrassment. “Wait! I’m not weird. I just like cats, okay? Fuck. I need to go!” Her face had turned redder, and she spun away from me to run toward the bridge elevator.
I thought about chasing after her, but I didn’t know what to say when I did catch her. Our conversations were going around in circles now that the proverbial cat was out of the bag. My feelings for the snarky hacker were growing stronger, but my love for Eve hadn’t faded. How could I have feelings for two women who were so different? What the hell was I going to do? What would I tell Eve?
I wouldn’t even need to tell her. She would know the second she was out of Juliette’s prison. I dreaded hurting the beautiful vampire woman, but Z had been right earlier when she said she couldn’t stop her feelings.
Eyeeee yah?
I spun around the bridge as the whispered words fluttered across my ear. The voice had been distinctly feminine, but I didn’t see anyone standing behind me.
“Hello?” My large revolver was in my hand, and I turned around the bridge again. The fur on the back of my neck was standing up, but I didn’t see anyone.
I didn’t smell anyone either.
“Eye yah. Eye yah. Yah?”
“Show yourself!” I growled as I spun again. I didn’t feel the air part with the whisper, so I had no idea how someone could be speaking in my ear.
The voice did sound familiar though. Where had I heard it before?
The holographic map projection was spinning around our docking position on Queen’s Hat, but the image flickered and then slowly zoomed out. I stepped closer to the raised map platform and watched it twist to show a cluster of solar systems.
A green icon appeared on the map, and I read the display text.
System 879 “Mercnsa”
That was where we were currently located.
The map shifted to the right some, and another yellow-green icon appeared.
Gliese 876
This was the system we were just in where we helped Jatal.
The map moved again, and another point was highlighted.
Y-114 a
The map began to zoom in on the system. It was a single main sequence type of star, but the hologram gave it a pink color. Ten planets were circling the system, and the map zoomed in on the sixth one. It looked to be a water world, but three large land masses that I guessed were only ten percent of the surface area.
There was a city on the coast of one of the shores, and the map finished its zoom.
The icon glowed green, but then the color shifted to red and began to pulse like a heartbeat.
“Eye yahhhhhh,” she said again in my ear, but I didn’t turn to look at her.
“I’ll go,” I heard myself say, but I didn’t feel as if the voice was my own.
“Eye yah?” I felt her hand on my shoulder. Her fingers came up to stroke the side of my neck.
I wasn’t in my tiger form anymore. I was human again, but I hadn’t remembered changing.
“Eye yah?” she asked again. Her breath was hot in my ear, and a shiver of pleasure descended my spine.
Then the transponder buzzed in my chest pocket.
“You coming?” I heard Z say. She sounded a bit annoyed.
“Yeah,” I gasped as I looked around the bridge. There was no one standing next to me, or whispering in my ear. The map projection was still on Queen’s Hat and I felt the breath leave my lungs.
“Are you in the armory?” Z asked.
“Uhh. No. Still on the bridge.”
“What? It’s been an hour. I thought you were putting your guns away.”
“Sorry. I got distracted,” I said as I reached down to the map controls. I’d memorized the coordinates of the third location that had appeared, and I keyed in the numbers.
“By what?”
“I’ll be down in a second. I’ll just leave my guns here.”
“Okay,” she answered, and I heard the transponder beep.
I finished typing in the coordinates, and the map zoomed in to show the system I had seen earlier. I found the planet and then dialed the map so that I was staring down at the city. It wasn’t a live feed, of course, and I guessed Persephone’s map database was accumulated from hundreds of thousands of Elaka Nota probes.
I took off my gun belts and laid them on top of the empty spot by the map, then I used the elevator to get down to the hold level. I found Z waiting impatiently by the hatch door.
“Sorry,” I apologized again.
“It’s okay. You feeling alright?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“You seem…” her voice trailed off as her blue eyes looked at my face. “Not tired.”
“I don’t feel like I normally do after I change, but I am hungry.”
“Let’s get back to the hotel, order lunch, and then I’ll go get a dress while you sleep,” the blonde hacker said as she opened the hatch door.
Fifteen minutes later we’d returned to our hotel room. The exhaustion had begun to set in, but I didn’t want to sleep without taking a shower.
“I’ll order the food,” Z said with a smile. “I’ll get a lot.”
“Great,” I replied as I walked into the bathroom. Moments later I was standing under a magnificent torrent of hot water and thinking about the plans for tonight. The job would have been easy with Eve, but Z’s and my situation wasn’t impossible. If anything, Jared Wes and Tyrell Durel might report back to Huyan Kar that there had been an attack at their drop off. It could mean that Kar would raise security, and then he might need me even more.
I wondered about Byron’s relationship with Huyan Kar. It was obvious the men were business partners, but I also got the impression that Byron’s twin girlfriends might have actually been pulling their strings. I supposed women could be slavers just as much as men could, but I found the idea a bit hard to digest. Maybe I had a soft spot for the fairer sex.
“Adam?” I heard Z call through the bathroom.
“Yeah?” I asked. I realized I’d forgotten to lock the door, and I almost expected her to jump in the shower with me. It would have been a bold move, but I didn’t know if I would tell her to leave.
“Food’s here.”
“Ahh, Okay,” I said as the tension in my shoulders relaxed. “I’ll be there in a second.”
“Okay,” she replied, and I saw the door close through the steam of the bathroom.
I finished washing, dried off, and then brushed my teeth. I’d forgotten to bring in spare clothes, and I realized I didn’t even have any clean clothes. Closest was the Victorian suit, which was probably okay for tonight, but I’d need clean underwear.
Here I was, a genetically modified weretiger, with an experimental spaceship, a friend who was a witch-vampire, and another friend who was an exceptional hacker. Yet I still had to worry about laundry. I found a robe in the bathroom. It was sized for a man, but I was broad of shoulders and chest, so it didn’t fit me correctly.
“What did you order?” I asked as I walked over to the table.
“Uhh, a bunch of stuff,” Z said as she looked at me. Her face was red, but she didn’t turn away.
“I’m out of clean clothes. I have the suit, but need underwear or something else to wear.”
“I can grab some when I’m out,” she said. Her eyes were staring at my chest. There were four trays of food on our table, and I opened up one to find a stack of sandwiches.
“You know, I’m just gonna run out now and do that,” Z said as she snatched one of the smaller sandwiches from my plate.
“You sure?” I asked as she stood up.
“Uhhh.” She
turned to face me. “Yeah. I should go. Like right now. I’ll get you some more clothes and pick up the dress. You eat and get some rest.”
“Okay.” I shrugged.
“Yeah. I have to go.” She let out a long breath. “See you soon.”
“Be safe,” I said.
“I will. Thanks.” Z opened the door to our room and then pulled it closed after she walked out.
I went to work on the plates of food and managed to eat everything. The full belly hammered home my exhaustion, and I flopped down on the bed with the robe on. I didn’t know how long it would be until Z returned, but I figured some sleep was better than nothing.
“Adam?” I heard Z say, and I lifted my head up from the pillow.
“Yeah?”
“It’s seven fifteen,” she called out from the bathroom. I could see the bottom half of a gold colored dress, and part of her face as she looked at me from around the corner.
“Damn. I was out. Felt like I just laid down.” I had one of those sleep deprivation headaches, and my muscles were sore. It wasn’t nearly enough rest to recover from my shift, but I was going to have to deal with it.
“I put your stuff on the couch if you want to get changed,” she called out, and then the door to the bathroom closed so that just a crack of light came through.
I moved to the couch and found the package of new underwear. She’d guessed my size correctly, and I soon had my suit on. I was putting on my shoes when the door to the bathroom opened. Z stepped out into the room, and I felt my breath catch in my chest.
The willowy woman's’ dress was a light gold color. It looked to be made out of shiny satin, but there was white lace paisley pattern embroidered across the fabric in a style that matched my suit. The dress hugged her upper body like a second skin and pushed her small breasts together to form surprisingly ample cleavage. The bottom half of the dress ended high on her long legs, but there was a panel at the back of the skirt which extended out behind her like a lace tail. She wore high heel shoes that matched the color of the dress. They looked to be exactly the same style as the black ones she complained about earlier, and I had to admit they made her lean legs look fantastic.
“I’m guessing you like it,” she said as her face turned red.
“Yeah,” I said as I cleared my throat.
“This cape thing is kind of fun,” she said as she turned a bit. The fabric I thought was a tail was really styled to look like wings falling from her shoulders. “The girl said it was a new trend. Uhhh. I’m not really used to wearing stuff like this. Seems more Eve’s style.” She looked at me, and I saw the question in her blue eyes.
“You look great. It suits you. I really like it,” I said, and I instantly saw relief flood over her pretty face.
“I’ll put my shoes on, and we’ll go,” I said as I continued to work on them.
“Okay,” she said, and I looked up at her. Our eyes met, and we stared at each other for what felt like five minutes. I finally tore myself away from her blue eyes and finished putting on my shoes.
I cleared my throat again and stood from the couch. Then we moved to the door of the room and left without saying another word to each other.
We stood on opposite sides of the elevator, and I kept my attention focused on the door. When it dinged, her arm wrapped through mine, and I turned to give her a smile.
“We should get another night. We might not be able to get this figured out,” I said absently as we walked by the front desk.
“Yeah. Another night would be nice,” she said, and I understood the tone of her voice.
It only took me a few minutes to pay, and then we left the hotel and walked toward Benjo. The walk was five minutes, and we arrived a good fifteen minutes before eight. There was a crowd outside of the place already, and there were plenty of nicely dressed men and women waiting in a long line.
“I’m here with Byron Jacobs. The name is Adam,” I said after I walked up to the two doormen.
“We got you. They are in the VIP lounge at the back of the mezzanine,” the one on the left said as he pulled open the velvet rope barrier. The other man opened the door to the place, and I led Z inside.
The interior of the club was similar to the cafe where Byron and I had met this morning. The walls were a worn brick of various reds, browns, and white. Copper pipes descended from the roof, twisted with a series of intricate 90-degree angles that entwined them like a complicated knot, and then ended into the brick walls. I would have guessed the pipes were only there for aesthetic purposes, but some had pressure gauges on them, and I saw the needles shift and move in unison. It was possible they were connected to something in the station that passed air or another liquid through them.
The front part of the club seemed to be more of a restaurant-bar, and I saw thirty well-dressed patrons sitting in the various booths eating or drinking. We walked past them, and I observed all of the men, and most of the women, gawk at Z.
The space behind the bar was an open dance floor. There was music blaring through the speakers, but no live band was playing, and there were no dancers on the floor. I looked up above the stage and saw the mezzanine. Byron was leaning against the rails there, and he waved down at us. I returned his gesture, and he pointed to a stairwell on my left side.
Z and I walked up the stairs and came to another pair of suited guards. They each gave us a nod and then moved aside so we could walk into the main part of the upper floor. The air up here was thick with bitter tobacco smoke, and the lights were dimmed almost to near darkness. The area was sectioned off into clusters of leather couches squatting around low tables. Some of the tables had poles that mostly naked women entwined themselves around. Other tables had small games of cards or dice being played. There were about the same number of people up here as there were around the bar downstairs, but these men and women seemed to be dressed nicer, and none of them looked at Z and me when we walked past them.
There was a walled off area, and another set of guards where I saw Byron. The large men parted to let Z and I enter the archway, and Byron greeted us there.
“Ahhh. Adam!” He reached his hand out to shake mine and then he looked over at Z. His eyes were wide and hungry as he looked her up and down, and my exhaustion was suddenly pushed aside as the beast inside of me fought to free itself and take over my body. “Your woman is looking tasty tonight. Hmmmm. Have you thought about what I said?”
“What you said?” I hissed as I closed my eyes. I felt Z squeeze my arm and the blood rushing through my skull was louder than the dance music playing on the speakers.
“Yeah, Mate. That trade. My girls like you, I like your girl. Let’s do a little switch-a-roo for the night. Eh?” He gestured over his shoulder to the group of couches. I saw the twin blonde women sitting there. The one on the left waved to me, and the other one blew me a kiss. Both women were wearing suits instead of their usual dresses or lingerie, but the front of their blouses were cut low to show their cleavage. I could actually tell them apart now because one wore a red blouse, and the other wore a darker red blouse.
“I’m more interested in work,” I said to the bald gangster as I forced myself to smile.
“Ahhh. I like your style. I need more men interested in working instead of fucking, but there is always going to be time for fucking.” He leered at Z again, and the blonde hacker smirked. I imagined she was doing her best not to roll her eyes or shoot him some smartass remark.
“Work first,” I said to him, and I felt the beast in my stomach start to calm to a dull roar.
“We’ll talk about the swap later then,” Byron winked at Z and then beckoned for us to come join him. We followed him and sat on the leather love seat across from Byron and his twins. The woman with the lighter red blouse poured me and Z drinks from an open wine bottle, and then the one with the darker blouse passed us the glasses.
“Thank you,” Z said as she took the glass. The liquid was pink in color and had an abundance of bubbles.
“You are mos
t certainly welcome,” the woman said. Then she kissed the air and leaned back next to the bald man. The other twin rubbed the tip of her pointer finger across the rim of her glass as she stared at me.
“Kar isn’t here yet,” the gangster said after he took a sip of his own drink. “As soon as he gets here, we’ll order food and talk business.”
“I picked up some of the conversation about tomorrow. You run muscle for him?” I asked.
“Yeah, Mate. I started in District B running some gambling fixes with better odds. Then I graduated to setting drone races. Did real good, and then started moving Pow-Pow. That was really hot, so I needed bruisers to keep the dogs at bay.
“Pow-Pow?” I asked.
“Yeah, Mate. You’ve never had Pow-Pow? Ahh man!” He moved his hands over his coat and then pulled a small plastic bag out of his pocket. It was filled with a magenta colored powder. “This is the stuff. Just a few snorts and you’ll be feeling beyond wonderful.”
“Hmmm,” I said as I looked at the bag.
“Yeah, Mate. You know the point right before you blow your load? When the pleasure is at its maximum? It’s like that for hours. The come down is nice and gentle as well. It’s only mildly addicting. You wanna try a sniff?” He wiggled the bag.
“I’m good for now,” I said.
“You should try some later,” the twin with the lighter shirt said. “We’ll do it with you.”
“It’s super fun. Feels like the best sex you’ve ever had,” the other blonde twin said as she winked at me. The twins were gorgeous, and I imagined that their sales pitch would have worked on ninety-nine percent of the men they spoke with.
“We’ll see where the night takes us,” I said with a half smile. I guessed that outright refusal would have made them suspicious, but I wasn’t really interested in trying any drugs out. I’d had too many pumped inside of me when I was a prisoner. I was even afraid of getting drunk, since I might lose control of the monster inside of me and end up killing a bunch of people.
“Gooooood,” the twin with the darker blouse moaned.
“Which one is which?” I asked as I pointed at the two women.
Zeta Hack: A Paranormal Space Opera Adventure (Star Justice Book 3) Page 17