by CJ CADE
Mia turned another step, and stopped as she saw the Aurelian. He was seated several rows up, back against a wall. Clustered about him were three females—a Serpentian with flaming hair, and two human women, one blonde, one brunette. All three were smiling and batting their lashes at him as if he were some kind of hero or media star.
Mia's nostrils flared in distaste. They would soon discover his vile manners did not match his stunning looks.
He looked up at that instant, and caught her watching him. Very slowly, one corner of his mouth quirked up, as if her interest amused him.
Probably expected her to rush up there and join him and his fawning females. She curled her lip and turned away with a toss of her hair, strolling over to find her own seat near a pair of young, human males, one fair-skinned, the other dark as coffee.
"Hello," she said, smiling at them.
The fair one flushed and swallowed visibly. The dark-skinned one nodded. "Hello," he replied in a pleasant drawl. "You are of Earth?"
She sat gracefully on the bench before them and shook her head. "No, I'm Tygean. And you?"
"We are from Earth II. I am Mak and this is Petr."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Mia."
The fair-skinned Petr blushed even more, but managed to open his mouth to speak.
However, a loud fanfare of dramatic music drowned his words. Mia's heart leapt with excitement as the lights dimmed, except for those focused on the main floor.
A wide aperture opened in the base of the far wall. In time with the music, several beings—Mia counted at least twenty—filed in. Bartoo was among them. Mia realized that she'd been so fascinated seeing the other contestants, she'd forgotten the little Skorl. The others in the procession were garbed similarly to Bartoo. They must be all the handlers.
The music swelled, and a smiling, silver-haired man strode in, followed by a pair of attractive blonde women. They were at least a decade younger than he and much taller. These three wore snug, fitted suits with blue tops, the Race emblem large on their shoulders.
As the trio reached a certain spot, they stopped, and the floor began to rise, lifting them all up with it. As the man continued to beam his practiced smile about at the contestants, his section of floor rose even more, so that he was now the taller of the three. A slender podium rose in front of him, and he placed his hands on the edges with practiced grace.
"Welcome," he cried in the plummy tones of a holovid salesman. "Welcome, one and all, to the pre-ceremonies for Octiron's Great Space Race, Number Two! As I look around, I see a splendid array of beings here today. Thank you for visiting our humble little contest."
Here he paused, and feminine voices rose in laughter, led by the two blondes. Mia laughed too, but more because she was so excited that things were beginning than because his faux humility was amusing.
"Now, for those of you visiting from other galaxies," he went on. Then he gave a roguish look and wink. "Wait, that's nearly all of you!" Another pause for laughter. "My name is Suede Harrington."
The blondes led feminine bouncing and shrieks of excitement. Mia wasn't about to go that far. He preened at the podium, giving them a faux-bashful grin until they quieted.
"Yes, yes," he said finally, holding up his hands. "Thank you. Now, we here at Octiron are very excited about this year's contest. We know you will find surprising and exciting changes—in fact, dare I say we have some rather special challenges for this second race.
Another pause for applause, which this time most of the contestants joined in.
For some reason, Mia looked up over her shoulder, to find the Aurelian sitting like a chilly, foreboding island, elbows on his upraised knees, hands steepled loosely against his lips. Over this barrier, he gazed down at Suede Harrington as if the man was a foe he was deciding how to annihilate. He ignored the three females clapping and giggling around him.
"So, without further delay, let's get our contestants paired!" As Suede Harrington spoke, the Aurelian suddenly cut his gaze to Mia, his eyes hooded. For a breathless instant their gazes locked. Ice and flames shimmered between them in invisible, potent waves.
Then one of the blondes on the podium clapped her hands and called for everyone's attention. Mia tore her gaze from the tractor beam of the Aurelian's gaze, and watched as Bartoo and the other contest employees scurried about.
It seemed some contestants had not been assigned partners. They were herded to one side of the room, while half the group moved to the far side. Many of them were animated, hopping up and down with excitement. Mia's stomach flipped and then flopped.
"Come," beckoned Bartoo to her, her voice loud in Mia's ear.
Mia ran lightly down the steps to meet the little Skorl, who handed her a large, faux coin. It was blue, with a star shimmering on one side.
"What am I to do with this?" Mia asked.
"You will see," Bartoo said in hushed tones, turning to watch the crowd. "Not that you need worry, since you are already—"
"Does everyone have their coins?" Harrington asked."All right then. Contestants, find your matches!"
All around her, beings were matching up into pairs. Mia's heart thumped. This was her chance to find a new partner, one who was civilized, one with whom it would be fun to go on an adventure.
She hunched her shoulders against the strange feeling that a certain chill gaze was boring into her back. Not him—anyone but him.
As a tall, stern-faced woman with short, light brown hair turned to face her, looking about at the noisy contestants as if searching for her own partner, Mia had a sudden inspiration. She moved closer to the woman, and when a slim, handsome man with twinkling eyes looked from Mia to the woman and held up a coin in query, Mia beamed at him.
"Let's be partners," she said.
His eyes widened, and his smile grew. "I'd be delighted—"
"Wait," said the tall woman in a voice that matched the frown she bent on Mia. "I have the coin that matches his. See? The Aquarius constellation."
"I'll trade you," Mia offered. "You'll appreciate my partner much more than I. He's very... serious, like you. And... and large. Most foreboding. Why, I'm certain he'll frighten away any who try to get in the way of your victory."
But neither of them were watching her anymore. They were gazing over her shoulder, and they bore nearly identical looks of awe, tinged with fear.
"I... see what you mean," the woman breathed.
"There is only one problem with your scheme, feline," said a deep voice over Mia's head.
She spun to face him, her hair flying out to settle over her shoulder. "What?" she demanded. "There is no problem. You don't like me, and I really don't like you."
His eyes gleaming like silvery-green ice, the Aurelian bent his head so they were nearly nose to nose. Mia stopped breathing.
"I don't want to trade partners," he told her. "I'm keeping you."
And with this, he held up a red coin that matched hers. Mia could only watch as her own coin slipped right out of her hand, snapped into the small space between them to meet his, and melded in a swirl of light and color.
Then a tiny beam of light shot out from this central point, one to the comlink on his ear, and one toward hers. As she watched in utter dismay, his comlink shimmered and then changed, the tiny gems on the rim now forming a glimmering star. From the smug way he regarded her, she assumed the same was happening to her new comlink. Quark it!
Bartoo popped up beside them, beaming as he hovered at their sides. "Excellent! Team Starry Night has been formed."
"Oh, that's just starry, all right." Mia wanted to kick the smirking Aurelian in his long, hard shins, and then pitch a hissing fit. She settled for glaring at him. "I don't even know your name."
He bowed. "Commander D'arek A'Renoq, of the Aurelian Federation Forces. And you are?"
"Mia Jag, of the Lyonsgate Jag clan, planet Bryght." With a father and brother and other relatives and acquaintances who are every bit as fearsome as you, she added silently.
"Jag, hm
m? As in jaguar?" His pale jade gaze dropped over her, his eyes hooded. He bent his head, as if to impart a compliment. "I would have taken you for more of a... mawwr."
She snarled at him, baring her teeth. "And I took you to be exactly what you are—a marauding barbarian, intent on getting your way with force and violence."
Flame ignited behind his eyes, and he loomed closer. "Then you won't be surprised when I—"
"Now, now," chirped Bartoo, thrusting himself between them so suddenly Mia fell back against the contestant standing behind her. "Remember, you are a team now."
Mia righted herself with a mumbled apology over her shoulder, her entire body shaking with anger. Not at Bartoo, but Commander D'Arek A'Renoq—who had been about to do something unforgivable, she was certain. Like kiss her, or something.
Ugh.
Just the thought of those wide, chiseled lips against her was...too horrid to contemplate. Made her feel all strange inside, as if heat was curling low in her female parts, while a swarm of kit-bugs flew around in her middle. She'd never felt this sensation before with a male, and she hated it.
She and the Aurelian glared at each other past Bartoo, who was chittering with what sounded like nervous laughter. "We must maintain civility, yes? For the next few weeks... or months. Team Starry Night's stars must twinkle together, not in opposition to each other."
"Our stars must twinkle together?" Mia repeated, her lip curling at the obnoxious cuteness of the phrase. Then the Skorl's other words registered.
"Months?" Mia turned her glare on the Skorl. "No, I can't be gone that long!"
The Aurelian looked ready to grab the Skorl by the neck again. "I was told the Race can be finished in twenty of this galaxy's days. That's approximately three of our common galactic weeks, not months."
Bartoo made a sound like steam escaping from a liquid cooker. "Er... yes, it is possible, if all goes perfectly."
"What's the longest time anyone's taken?" Mia asked, with macabre fascination.
Bartoo made the noise again. "Well... erm, I believe... yes, er—five lunar months."
"What? No!" She couldn't stay in this galaxy that long, and certainly not in a small ship with the Aurelian. She'd murder him.
"Don't worry," Arek told her. "We'll finish, and win, in far less time than that. I'll make sure of it."
She glared at him again. "As will I—less time in your company."
"Now, let us all go and have libations or inhalants to calm ourselves. Yes?" Bartoo urged. "Legals, of course."
"Fine," Mia snapped. She could do with a glass of wine, or more.
"Right," D'Arek agreed, his voice equally clipped. "Lead the way." He stepped back, bowing again with exaggerated courtesy.
"Well, perhaps not quite yet," Bartoo said. "First, we must go and array ourselves. In festive wear, for a most special occasion such as this."
The Commander cast the little Skorl a sidelong glower filled with such loathing that a gurgle of laughter escaped from Mia's throat. She tipped her head and smiled sweetly at Bartoo. "Thank you, Bartoo. I do so love to dress up. Lead the way."
She gave the Aurelian a little finger wave as she passed him. "See you later, Commander. I hope you can find a suit that will fit over that giant chip on your shoulder."
"And I hope you can find a gown that will make you look like an adult female instead of a silly little mawwr kit."
Mia's back stiffened as this shaft hit home, but she tossed her head and hurried after Bartoo toward the lifts.
Okay, that was it.
She was going to find a gown that would knock that male's icy-hot green eyes right out of his head. And then she was going to find that other, cute male she'd met, with the twinkle in his eyes and take him somewhere private and have hot, Tyger sex.
Even if she didn't generally behave that way. If ever there was a time to start, this was it.
CHAPTER FOUR
Race Contestant Interview #1, D'Arek A'Renoq
Arek sat in the chair offered him, and watched a phalanx of holo-cams zip into position around the small stage. Across from him sat the Egglantian reporter who'd introduced herself as Su-Su. He'd seen her kind reporting on various galactic events, usually zipping around in news-hovies, black hair gelled into ridiculous shapes on their pale-purplish ovoid heads, black eyes avid as they gushed.
Eggs loved to sensationalize any event, from a disaster to a peace treaty. Thus, D'Arek's father and indeed most Aurelians avoided the networks on which they reported, preferring factual accounts of galactic news.
But now, he must deal with this Egglantian. He eyed her fatalistically, waiting.
The short, round being settled herself in her own chair, elevated more than Arek's to give the illusion of height. She wore a bright orange suit and her small lips were painted with bright, shiny pink.
Arek's race partner, annoying as she was, could probably wear those colors, but they made this female look grotesque.
"So, Commander D'Arek A'Renoq," the reporter began, fluttering her strangely long, thick lashes at him like mini fans. "Or should I say... Prince A'Renoq?"
Arek's jaw tightened. "No, you should not. The title is ceremonial, and not for common usage. You may address me as Commander A'Renoq."
"Oh, may we?" She tittered, a sound that grated on his ears like the screech of a bent tatt tread. "Tell us more about yourself."
He nodded. "I am Aurelian, from Planet Aurellon, in the Milky Way System. As a platoon commander in the frontier guard forces, I live on Hamor Base on our western frontier."
"Tell us what it means to be an Aurelian warrior, commander. For example, your armed forces are feared and distrusted by many other races of beings, are you not?"
Arek eyed her impassively, letting none of his disgust and irritation show.
"We are a strong race, who protect our territory from those who would enslave us, or destroy us outright. We do not seek conflict, but nor do we flee when it is forced upon us. Thus, we are feared by our enemies and respected by our allies. As for those who distrust us, perhaps it is because they have shown themselves to be unworthy of trust."
"Really, a most impassioned speech," the reporter smirked. "So, tell us, are the Tygean race worthy of this trust of yours—such as your partner?"
Arek raised a brow. "Tygeans? As a race, they are vain, sly, and quick to anger. With one of them as my partner, I will be the voice of logic and reason... if I'm not forced to immobilize her to keep her out of trouble."
And that was the truth... but hells, he probably shouldn't have stated it quite so baldly.
Or at all.
He'd blurted out his unvarnished opinion like a raw recruit, when he'd been sent here to set the foundations of a new era in Aurelian relations with their neighbors.
His father had asked him to attempt diplomacy and restraint... and he'd already failed, on intergalactic holovid. He stared stoically into the cameras, wishing he could have the last few moments to do over again.
Did they show these interviews to the other teammates? Because if the Tygress was hostile now, wait till she saw this.
He'd have a hissing virago on his hands.
* * *
Race Contestant Interview #1, Mia Jag
"So, Mi Jag, tell us about yourself."
"Surely. I am Tygean, from Planet Bryght in the Milky Way System."
"Excellent. Tell us about being Tygean. For example, you have the ability to shift into a felinoid, correct?" The reporter gave her a knowing look.
"Yes, of course." Did the Egglantian really expect Mia be embarrassed by any facet of her heritage? "Once or twice a year, when our particular mating moons are in ascendance, we Tygeans undergo a partial shift."
"And you then cloister yourselves with a partner, do you not?" The reporter tittered, a sugary sound that made Mia's sensitive ears shudder with discomfort.
She fought the urge to glare at the Egg. "Yes. When we're wed, this is a time when we can choose to procreate."
The reporter smir
ked, and unease built in Mia's middle. The Egg wanted to make an embarrassing thing out of Tyger shifts. Too bad, for Mia had said all she was going to say about it, at least on inter-galactic holovid. Let the audience figure out for themselves what unwed Tygers used their shift for.
"Tygeans are also exceptional navigators, both on planet and space," Mia said quickly. "We are known for it throughout our galaxy. I hope to use this ability to win the Great Space Race."
There, let the Egg try to use that to embarrass Mia.
Unfortunately, Mia had underestimated her opponent. The Egglantian reporter batted her ridiculous lashes. "Oooh, I see. So, are you as skilled a navigator as your older brother, Commander Tryon Jag? He has won so many commendations."
Mia gritted her teeth. "Tryon has years of experience as navigator for some of the largest cruise ships. We are all very proud of him. But as a Tygress, I have the same innate ability, and I am academy trained."
She'd done her academy training after working a full day at her family's import company, and paid for the classes herself too. She'd finished in the top half of her class... not that Tryon had cared when he refused to hire her at JagNav.
So, she'd use her skills now, and show him how wrong he'd been to refuse her.
The Egg gave a moue of amusement toward the nearest camera, as if to say of course she didn't believe Mia, but she would be merciful and dig no further. Mia stared at her, imagining how the Egg would look bowling end-over-end across the stage, shrieking with pain. As her fingers tingled with the urge to unsheathe her claws, she folded her hands in her lap, fighting for serenity.
Then a larger-than-life hologram of D'Arek A'Renoq sprang to life where Mia could not avoid looking at him. At his ass, more like, as the hologram had his back turned to her, and his broad shoulders, tapering back, tight ass and long, thick legs were outlined by his snug suit.
"And what is your first impression of your partner?" the reporter cooed.
Mia tore her gaze away from the hologram and crossed her legs, tapping her nails on the arm of her chair. "Oh, he's all right," she said, hoping she sounded as blasé as a sophisticated Tygress surrounded by splendid male specimens every day. "If you like them long."