by Eve Langlais
“Nice try. We both know the ship will claim she can’t find them and—”
“Playing video.” The lights dimmed, and the wall across from them lit as the computer streamed their request.
No mistaking the little hands tapping away at the console.
Her eyes widened. “Karo.”
“She probably did it by accident,” he said.
“Maybe.” Or maybe… “Computer, rewind and play the audio as well.”
The scene restarted with Karo and Dara on the bridge, hanging out. Karo never once looked away from her holopad when Dara left to use the ablutions chamber. Yet no sooner was the bridge clear than Karo scrambled to her feet. “This one?” She pointed, talking to no one visible. She put her fingers to the buttons. “Three, three, nine, zero…” She sang off numbers and letters, tapped all that gibberish into the console, all the while maintaining a conversation.
“I did it, Raffie.” She clapped her hands. “I’m coming to find you!”
The clip ended when Dara returned to the bridge, Karo lying on the floor playing with her holopad.
The lights resumed their former brilliance and did nothing to remove the stunned expression from Dara’s face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know she’d done that.”
“I’m impressed she managed to actually program the ship and then lock it in.”
“What are we going to do about it? Where are we headed?”
“Nowhere, which is why I’m not digging around pulling computer chips. We should be reaching the end of whatever course she programmed in the next hour.”
“You sure there’s nothing there?” she asked. It wouldn’t be the first time she experienced a change in navigation on a ship she rode. Had Karo been responsible for previous ones? It seemed unlikely given in the past there was a destination of some sort with the change in coordinates.
“Nothing, not even a dying star.”
“Well, at least we’re not flying into a sun.”
“I’ll have to input some kind of control so she can’t do that again.”
“Child-proofing the ship.” Her lips curved into a smile.
“Never thought I’d have to do that.” He grinned right back.
“Smart like her daddy.”
For once, that didn’t make him glower at Dara. Rather he shook his head, still smiling. “She is damned smart. And beautiful. And perfect.” His gaze met hers. “I might be starting to understand why you did what you did.”
Which meant what? She took a step closer to him. “I hated hurting you. But I couldn’t ignore their demands. I couldn’t let them hurt her.”
“The faction you helped, they were holding my daughter hostage?”
She nodded. “They said if I didn’t do as they asked they’d sell our baby to the flesh market.”
His jaw clenched. “You should have told me. We could have handled it together.”
She shrugged. “I panicked. Was afraid you wouldn’t think she was important enough.”
“She’s my daughter.” Stated emphatically.
“I didn’t know if you’d feel that way given she was stolen before she was even born.”
“Wouldn’t have changed the fact she was family. My family. I’m your husband. Why didn’t you trust me?”
I’m your husband? Her breath caught as she wondered if he’d caught the glitch.
Their gazes snared.
“Dara…” He breathed her name, and then she was in his arms.
A heartbeat later, their lips met. Instant awareness flashed through her.
His hands palmed her waist and lifted her off her tiptoes, bringing her in better reach of his mouth. He slanted it over hers, claiming it in a way that made her breath catch. Taking advantage of her lips parting, his tongue slipped in and took control, sliding over hers, tracing the flat edge of her teeth, teasing her with his taste.
She couldn’t help but curl herself around him, her arms draped over his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his shanks. His hands moved from her waist to stroke her back, tracing her shape before sliding to her buttocks, drawing her nearer. Her breathing hitched as he ground against her. Do it again.
She didn’t even realize she said it aloud, or did he just know? It wouldn’t surprise her. He’d always known what made her feel pleasure.
He knew so much about her. Too much. This would complicate things.
What was one more complication in her life, though?
Her lips traveled from his down the column of his neck, feeling the rapid beat of his pulse. His turn to gasp when Dara gave it a soft nibble.
But if she thought she controlled the situation, how wrong she was. Being latched around him meant he commanded things. He had the strength to move them, and thus she found herself pushed against the padded wall of the room.
His hands skimmed her shirt upward, peeling it from her skin, until he exposed her chest. Her nipples puckered at the cooler air.
With one hand, he cupped a globe, and his thumb brushed over a peak. She shivered in response, desire pooling between her legs.
The hard nub ached for his touch. She grabbed his hair and tugged.
“Impatient?” he growled against her skin.
“Yes.” That was the truth.
“Is this what you want?” He dipped in for a suck.
“Yes. Oh, yes.” She sighed as he took her whole nipple and part of her breast into his mouth, tugging at it, teasing while soft cries panted past her lips.
Meanwhile, even without his touch, her cunt got slick and shuddered as she ground herself against him.
A nip at the tip of her nipple sent a shiver through her. Another gentle bite and she clasped his head, moaning.
His hands roamed her body as his mouth returned to capture her lips. She clutched at the fabric covering his shoulders as they kissed. She couldn’t get enough of him.
He rasped his digits along her skin, over her rib cage, across her breasts, pausing to circle her taut nipples. She inhaled a sharp breath when he pinched.
She protested only when he set her down. “You can’t stop now.” Not with her so hot and wet.
“I’m not done.” Said with a husky promise.
He dropped to his haunches, and she bit her lip, knowing what came next. Down over her flat belly he stroked, his fingers hooking into the waistband of her loose-fitting shorts. He yanked them down but left them tangled around her knees. His fingers tickled over her shaven pubes. She kept them trim.
He pressed a kiss against her mound.
She gasped. Anticipation and arousal made her sex quiver.
He blew. She almost hit the floor as her legs trembled.
“Touch me.” She couldn’t help but beg.
And he just had to tease. He rubbed the bristled edge of his jaw along the silky skin of her inner thigh, and she shivered.
He did it again to the other side, and her fingers clawed at the wall.
He positioned himself at the mouth of her sex, his warm breath puffing against it. Her hips jerked in reply.
His lips latched onto her with a suddenness that made her whole body arch. But she didn’t go far. His arm pressed against her lower belly and hips, pinning her to the wall, keeping her from thrashing as he lapped at her, spreading her nether lips to stab at her with his tongue.
She couldn’t help but moan and quiver as he pleasured her. When his lips moved to her clit, her entire channel clenched. She was so close. So close to coming.
The tip of his tongue flicked her clit, driving her pleasure higher, but it was the finger he slid into her that had her panting. One finger turned into two. Then a third for a tight, tight fit.
He finger-pumped her as she gasped. In and out he thrust, and her entire body tightened. Tensed…
She climaxed with a shout, her body turning into a rigid statue as the ecstasy rolled through her. But still he kept licking and thrusting, rolling her immediately into a second orgasm, even more intense, that had her mewling loudly.
But not as loud as t
he sudden alarm.
For a moment, they both froze. And then they were scrambling, her to right her clothes, him to reach the bridge to see what had the computer freaking out.
She arrived seconds after him to see him staring with a grim expression at the news on the screen.
The blank screen showed nothing outside. Nothing at all.
“What is it? A black hole?” Which seemed odd since they had huge gravitational pulls and all kinds of warning signs.
“It’s not a black hole.” Turned out it was worse than that. They’d found oblivion.
Chapter 9
The oblivion patch—comprised of floating dark matter—was unmarked on the charts. It didn’t help that it was virtually undetectable by an instrument, and deadly to the ships that encountered it.
You fucking idiot. He’d let himself get distracted rather than minding his damned ship. And now…
Now they were plunging into a morass of nothingness.
No one knew how they formed and where they disappeared to after they’d done their damage. Just like no one truly knew what happened to ships that passed through them. Some ships reported no issues at all. Some were found in random places—galaxies far, far away, empty of all life and no sign of what happened to them.
Then there were those that returned changed…
All this to say an oblivion patch was bad shit.
“Computer, engage thrusters. Reverse. Full speed.”
“Thrusters engaging.” The vessel lurched as it went from barreling into the dark matter to trying to scramble backwards.
However, the edge of it held them, a sticky substance that stretched with them as they attempted to pull away.
“Can we pulse to break its hold?” Dara asked.
“No point, as it does nothing but waste power. It’s not a solid substance we can just blast.”
“Don’t worry, Daddy.” Karo entered the bridge, rubbing her eyes, one hand clasping the stuffed doll Dara had made her. He’d already decided to buy her the nicest one he could find at a port rather than the sewn sock with a drawn-on face she currently carted around.
But they’d have to survive for that.
“You should be in bed, Sprout,” he said as his fingers flew, looking for places to divert power to the engines.
“I came to see the rainbow.”
“No rainbows here, Sprout.”
“Not here. In there.” She pointed to the lurking patch of nothingness. “We have to go inside it, Daddy.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Actually, I think you should listen to her,” Dara said.
He cast a disparaging glance at her. “You want me to enter a dark matter cloud on the basis of a child saying we should go see rainbows. Are you deluded?”
“We’re here for a reason,” Dara insisted.
“Yeah, because someone played with things she shouldn’t have.” He couldn’t help a growl in his words, and Karo, despite him not directing it at her, bit her lip.
But like her mother, she didn’t apologize. “I had to, Daddy. You were going the wrong way.”
“Where do we need to go, Karo?” Dara asked.
“In there.” She pointed. “Raffie said so.”
Before he could tell his daughter where Raffie and his ideas could go, the alarm on his ship hit the next note of warning.
“Engines overheating. Shutting down to preserve integrity.”
What? No. He slammed at the buttons, looking to override that safety feature, only he was locked out. The navigational course still set to take him through that empty morass to a spot on the other side.
“Guess we’re going in.” Shit. “Come here, Sprout.” He reached out and hooked her, depositing her on his lap, and bracketed her with his arms. “Buckle in, Dara.” Because they might be in for a bumpy ride.
In the lull that followed, as the engines wound down and cooled, he couldn’t help but stare as the ship lost all the ground it gained. The taffy-like black matter snapped the Widowmaker, dragging them into the heart of the mass.
“Hold on, Sprout.” He tucked her face against him as they entered the cloud.
Everything grew dark even with the lights overhead. He couldn’t see directly in front of him, only feel the reassuring weight of his daughter. The gloom deepened, and a chill settled inside, a chill with a whisper, the words indistinct yet menacing. Ominous.
Small hands pressed against his cheeks. “Don’t look at the shadows, Daddy. Watch the pretty rainbows.”
As if her statement drew them, he noticed the lights. Bright and colorful, an arcing display that zigged and zagged in front of him. He stared, rapt, eventually remembering to breathe and blink.
A long blink that emerged from darkness to light again, and shocking silence.
The ship’s alarm had stopped screaming. As a matter of fact, many things had stopped working. Including the ship. A glance at the nearest console showed their power levels dangerously low.
And hours had passed, not minutes like it felt.
He struggled to his feet, momentarily confused. It feels like something is missing. He glanced over to see Dara slumped in her seat. On wobbly legs, he made his way over to her. “Dara. Wake up. We have a situation.”
A dire one. With no engines and their energy so low, it wouldn’t take long for the ship to lose all life-sustaining systems. He could reroute the most important—heat and air—to give them a little more time. But time to do what? He couldn’t create a replenished energy core.
“Dara! Wake up dammit.”
“Wha-a-a-at?” She blinked and lolled in her seat. “What the heck did we drink?”
“You’re not hung over. It’s the dark matter cloud making you feel like that.”
That got her attention. “You mean we survived?”
“That’s still up for debate. The ship lost power, and we’ve got no control right now.” The ship hurtled through space, having been heaved free of the dark matter. And judging by the coordinates on the screen, they were in an unknown galaxy.
She glanced at the screen and quickly discerned the dilemma. “We need a plan.”
“I’m open to ideas.”
“Where’s Karo?”
“I don’t know.” Last he recalled she sat on his lap. His blood ran cold at the thought of something happening to her.
“I’ve got to find her.” She pushed herself out of the seat, only to freeze. “Karo?”
He turned and visibly started as he noticed his daughter standing by the large viewscreen. “Where did she come from?” Because he could have sworn she wasn’t there before.
His daughter lifted a finger and pointed. “There.”
“What’s there?” Dara zoomed in on the tiny speck. A speck that turned into a planet.
“We need to go there.” Karo jabbed insistently at the growing dot.
“You want to visit, we’ll visit, but you need to unlock the ship,” he demanded.
Karo stubbornly shook her head. “Can’t.”
“Why not?” he said through stiff lips.
“’Cause I don’t know how, silly.” Karo giggled.
“What are the chances that planet can sustain life?” he mused aloud. The problem with landing in an unknown star system was not having information.
“Better hope it can because we’re headed right for it.”
Sure enough, they were on a crash course with the planet.
“Get some bags packed,” he ordered. “Food, medical supplies, bedding. Anything you can get into bags. Pile them in the pressure chamber.”
Her gaze met his. He didn’t need to say it. She understood.
Dara nodded before saying to Karolyne, “Want to give Mommy a hand? Gotta make sure we bring Moppet.” The dolly.
While Dara took care of supplies, he made a few last-ditch efforts to slow them down. If he could put the brakes on and get them into an orbit, then they could plan a controlled descent to the surface.
A nice fantasy. Nothin
g on board the ship cooperated. He was still locked out. The engines were almost entirely dead, and a chill was beginning to seep inside the bridge as their heating system began to fail. The oxygen would soon follow.
The planet got bigger on screen, the display the only thing that mockingly worked.
He could do nothing more here. He exited the bridge to see Dara trying to drag a mattress through the bedroom door into the hall.
“What are you doing? Suit up and strap in.”
“Nope.” She kept heaving.
He frowned. “What do you mean no?”
“Do you have a suit small enough for Karo?” She stared at him and he could have cursed. No he didn’t have a smaller suit, and this vessel also didn’t have any harnessed seats that would hold a small child.
Motioning her aside, he grabbed it from her and carried it to the pressurized chamber used for space docking, the toughest room on the ship. Dara had already brought another mattress there along with several lumpy sacks of stuff. Karo sat on the bed on the floor hugging her doll.
“It will be okay.” Her steady gaze met his. The irony of the child reassuring didn’t escape him.
He just hoped Sprout was right.
He cranked the door shut and pressurized the room. Since this chamber wasn’t meant for landings, it didn’t have any harnesses or seats. He positioned himself in the middle of the mattress and gestured for Dara and Karo to sit beside him. His broad shoulders provided a brace for the second mattress so they could sit under it, tent style.
He knew when they hit the atmosphere by the shuddering of the ship. Knew they were coming in too hot as the air grew uncomfortably warm and the shivering was accompanied by the scream of twisting metal.
Karo clung tight to him on one side, Dara pressed on the other. He had his arms around both, and he prayed.
To gods he didn’t believe in.
Don’t let my family die.
The heat became almost unbearable, scorching the lungs. The roughness of their planetary entry saw them lifted from the floor, floating between the mattresses, somewhat protected from the buffeting. There was almost a sense of relief when the metal screaming stopped, and the shuddering eased.