by Reiter
“Wrong!” she moaned.
“Oh really?”
“This is the prize,” she stated, gazing into his purple eyes. “Last night was the campaign. We’ve both had our tries at the journey.”
“But it’s nice to reach the end of the rainbow?” Tynaum suggested. Jocasta moved to kiss him in response. A heavy thud at the door made them both jump. They looked at the door of the room; Jocasta’s cane had been propped up under the doorknob and against the floor. The door was cracked open, but the cane had prevented it from opening all the way.
“Knew I felt a twitch downstairs,” she thought as they both heard a man moaning in pain. He had probably set himself to kick the door open, but the door-brace she had rigged made the door a more formidable obstacle.
“Shit!” a man in the hallway barked in a disgusted voice. “So much for surprise. All teams go!”
“They’re after me!” Jocasta and Tynaum declared simultaneously before looking at each other and smiling. They kissed quickly and crossed each other’s paths as they sprang from the bed. Tynaum smiled at the way his clothes and weapons had been stacked near a chair in the corner.
“Toss me my shirt,” he said.
“What shirt?” Jocasta said as she removed the shirt and put on her brace-com. She hit a button and stepped into her pile of clothes, stepping out dressed in her armoured body suit. She put her feet in her pants and pulled them up quickly, all the while holding onto his shirt. “Are you just going to watch?!”
“Can’t complain about the view,” Tynaum said before his eyes flared with black light. He spun toward the chair and spun away fully dressed, sans his shirt.
“I… so… hate… you!” Jocasta said as she grabbed her shoulder holster, sliding her feet into her boots. They both looked to the balcony to see several ropes drop past it.
“Might want to avert your eyes,” Tynaum said as he turned away from the balcony doors. Jocasta had just put on her goggles when a bright light flashed from the balcony floor, bringing with it a massive energy charge. Save for the red color, it looked like electricity the way it arched over to the ropes and shot up out of sight. There were more screams and several bodies falling, one of which collided with the balcony railing before rolling off down the side of the building.
“When did you rig that?!” Jocasta asked as she pulled his shirt over her head. Her shoulder holster was on in the very next action.
“In between numbers two and three last night,” Tynaum replied as he opened the doors to the balcony. He put his head out and hopped back into the room. Several shots ate into the balcony, the doorframe, the floor just inside the doorway, and the ceiling of the room. “We both attract armies, don’t we?”
Jocasta giggled as she slapped her weapons belt to her waist. It fastened on its own and Tynaum looked very impressed as she put on her long coat. The room shook as light flashed through the crack under the door. A soft blue light shimmered from the cane as the door remained in place. The walls around the door cracked and bits of them fell to the floor. Tynaum’s lifted brow crinkled as he looked at the cane and then at Jocasta who smiled and shrugged as she put on her gloves.
“Good news: the rooftop of the adjacent building seems to be clear,” Tynaum advised.
“And the bad news?”
“We’re on the fifteenth floor and it’s only a four-story building. I’ve got a means out of here–”
“But it’s a party of one method, right?”
“Don’t make me fall in love with you,” Tynaum warned.
“It wouldn’t be a long drop, sweetheart,” Jocasta retuned, surprising herself with the words that had just come out of her mouth. What was even more surprising was the lack of shock in Tynaum’s eyes. But the sound of more men coming down the hallway took them out of the moment and Jocasta steadied herself. “You trust me?”
“Silly question,” Tynaum quickly replied.
“Then let’s take a stroll, lover,” she said, holding out her right hand toward him. Tynaum crossed the room to take hold of it. “Cane,” she called, extending her left hand. It flew from the door to her hand and she pulled Tynaum into a run toward the door of the balcony. They were three strides into their run when the double doors, and most of the front wall, disintegrated.
“Flash bang,” she stated, taking a finger-thumb grip of her cane.
“Go for it!” Tynaum replied and Jocasta tossed a flash grenade out on the balcony. Heavy footfalls stomped into the room behind them and energy weapons charged for firing as the two of them ran out on the balcony. They were consumed by the bright white light as they jumped over the railing.
Jocasta eyed their landing. Tynaum was right, the roof was clear, but Satithe had marked five different sniper positions; bipod-mounted energy rifles, and spotters to boot. “I’ve got our landing, but we’re in the middle of it right after that.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Still a silly question,” Jocasta replied, throwing her cane to the rooftop.
“Then follow my lead!”
“Gravity pulse,” Jocasta commanded as the end of the cane struck the rooftop. A soft blue light shimmered over the ball of the cane and the descending couple felt a soft catch of their forms before they both landed and rolled. Tynaum lunged to run in front of Jocasta who took hold of her cane just before she went into her forward roll. Reaching to his back, Tynaum drew his short swords and clanged the steel together.
“Look at that man!” she thought as he deflected three incoming energy bursts. The others missed close around them, shredding the rooftop as the couple continued their run. Tynaum yelled before he jumped up, spun, and backhanded one burst, sending it to a sniper perch. The explosion told them both that he had at least scored the energy weapon there.
“Jump!” he commanded as he deflected another burst into a skylight. The glass shattered and Jocasta did not hesitate to stutter jump before dropping down the hole. She landed on a work table that was not designed to withstand the force of her drop. It shattered, but Jocasta landed solidly on her feet and spun, kicking the debris wide of Tynaum’s landing area. He landed and rolled. “Thanks,” he said as he continued moving forward.
“No problem,” Jocasta replied as she ran to follow the man. “Nice blade work back there.”
“Now you’re just being cruel!” he said, genuinely believing she was ribbing his less than par performance.
“Neither one of our bodies is quite in top form at the moment, baby,” she stated.
“Damn, didn’t think of that,” Tynaum admitted. “Looks like you’re the face and the brains of this tandem.”
“Now who’s being cruel?!” she fired back as Tynaum threw one of his swords through a window, sheathing the other. The hurled blade struck the wall of the adjacent building and lodged in the preform mortar. Tynaum jumped out of the window, grabbed the pommel of his lodged blade, placed his feet against the same wall and then reached back for Jocasta. A soft gasp left her mouth and she jumped, looking only at his hand. As they clenched, Tynaum allowed her weight to swing around. He ran along the wall, circling around the anchored blade, and yelled before hurling Jocasta up and slightly toward the alley wall. She could tell by her speed and angle that she would land easily on the roof.
“Three, five, nine o’clock!” he yelled. “All same level!”
Jocasta came up out of the alley and threw her body into a spin, moving her cane to her left hand. She drew her blaster, firing at three, five and nine o’clock, scoring scored a face, a neck, and an energy rifle respectively. She landed as the weapon exploded, taking out the gunner and the spotter. Dropping to her knee, Jocasta sheathed her cane, moved her blaster to her left hand, and resumed running, tapping the side of choker to activate her goggles.
“Can’t help but notice that all of these guys are wearing white,” she thought.
“Photonic and zero the five o’clock shot,” she said softly as she drew from her shoulder holster. The gun beeped as she watched both of the remaining spo
tters rushing to become gunners. She fired both weapons. Her blaster scored the shoulder of one spotter as he ran toward the anchored weapon. She could hear the explosion of the second energy weapon from the five o’clock position. She holstered both weapons, taking out her cane again Tynaum landed on the roof.
“Did you actually have the nerve to keep a lady waiting?!” she ribbed.
“What can I say? I’m trash!”
“Well I guess that makes me a custodial engineer.”
“We’re not done running yet,” Tynaum said as he reached for her hand. Jocasta took his hand and they ran, rooftop-to-rooftop, together.
Jumping from the top of the tram brought the couple to the entrance of the spacedock. They panted for a moment and sighed after they had caught their breaths, but while Tynaum’s was one of relief, Jocasta’s was far less pleasant. The dark-haired man could tell the difference between their sounds and looked at his companion.
“Did I make a wrong turn in your estimation?” he asked.
“You got us out of the firefight,” Jocasta admitted as she looked around. When her face came around to look at Tynaum, she had already lost her smile. They stepped back from each other and an arrow passed between them. “… and into another kind of fight!” Four swordsman and two archers, all wearing white, were very strategically placed near the dock entrance. They were definitely there for Tynaum, as her lander had been assigned a docking slip on a different level.
“Give me your back,” Tynaum directed and they turned away from one another. Jocasta pressed her back against his and despite the numbers, and the look of expertise in each man, she did not feel as pressed as when Kryltane had been shot. “Well, that feels better than I expected.” Tynaum continued. “Only problem is, neither of us can duck.”
“Sure we can,” Jocasta argued. “You pull away from my back and I’ll know.” Tynaum snorted a laugh as one of the archers released. He leaned to his left and Jocasta leaned to her left as the arrow passed between them. “I’ve got the archers!” Jocasta said as she lunged forward, drawing the sword from the cane, surprising the swordsman with her speed and the sudden appearance of an edged weapon. She slashed through his armour, raking the tip of her blade across his stomach. He grunted as he fell back and Jocasta continued her forward movement. Her uppercut swing of her scabbard knocked aside a thrust, and she lunged to her left to stand just outside the swordsman’s right arm. He leaned toward her, lifting his elbow for her jaw. Her head spun out of the way at the last moment and she dropped to her knee as she came all the way around, slashing the leg of the swordsman. She jumped up, landing an uppercut swing of the scabbard against his face, and she landed, deflecting an arrow.
The archer in front of her hurried to pull another shaft from his quiver while the one on the opposite side of the trap area took his shot at her back. Jocasta bent into a forward roll, dropping both her sword and scabbard. The arrow passed harmlessly over her and she came up hurling two throwing knives. Both lodged into the archer’s chest as Jocasta got up to her feet and turned. Her brace-com deflected another arrow, and her next throwing knife slashed the hamstring of one of the swordsmen as he advanced on a whirling Tynaum. With the man’s body locked in pain, Tynaum ran him through as he lunged by the man, spun around him, drew his gun and fired, scoring the center of the forehead of the remaining archer. A throwing knife from Jocasta sank into the neck of the swordsman she had wounded before. Tynaum removed the man’s head the very next moment.
The two of them turned about looking for another opponent, but the only one still alive was the swordsman with a bleeding leg wound and broken nose. With his gun still drawn, Tynaum shot him and then looked quickly at Jocasta, relieved at the sight of her unharmed.
“Awww, you were worried about me?”
“It seems I don’t very much like the idea of you being hurt,” Tynaum answered, and Jocasta’s eyes squinted.
“That sounds like my cue to do this.” Jocasta walked over to the man, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately on the mouth. She almost gasped with the way he wrapped one arm around her waist and lifted her to her toes. She touched her hand to his face as the passion subsided, and their eyes opened at the same time when their lips parted. “Was that a decent goodbye kiss?”
“There’s nothing decent about you, Jocasta,” Tynaum said without a smile, and she could see the muscles of his jaws flexing. She pressed her lips together and fought against the urge to cry. “Nothing at all.
“But we both know what we know,” he continued. “I have things to tend to… and so does the Captain of the Xara-Mansura. Mine pull me away from Black Gate.”
“And mine send me into The Territories,” she stated before sighing. “So this is the sour to go with the sweet, right? Balance in all things?”
“Commander!” a voice called out and Tynaum turned to see several people, all dressed in black, running toward the two of them with their weapons drawn.
“Commander?” she asked with a sly grin.
“Commander Tynaum Wilason Krensteele of the Black Assassins… at your service. And I am kissing Jocasta Endigun, alias JoJo Starblazer, alias Dien, alias Kendra Talos, alias etc., Captain of the Xara-Mansura, and a pirate currently wanted by the Sylgarr Family for crimes against their standard.”
“Crimes against their standard?!” Jocasta repeated as she stepped away from Tynaum. “Oh how freakin’ puffy can you get?”
“They can get awfully puffy in the Inner Rim,” Tynaum advised as he smiled. He holstered his gun and sheathed his blade. “But you are no friend of theirs, and that makes me a fan of yours.” One of his men moved quickly to the dead swordsman and recovered Tynaum’s second blade for him.
“Sir, the White Shroud’s got a cruiser positioned just outside the zone,” the man reported as he handed Tynaum his sword after he cleaned it. “Long range scans show another three headed this way. They’ll be here just inside three hours.”
“And Novassa?”
“She recalled all shore-leave an hour ago,” the man replied. “Everyone’s aboard and we’re ready to depart.”
“This Novassa sounds like she’s sharp,” Jocasta noted.
“She’s the best First Mate I know,” Tynaum testified.
“You should get out more,” Jocasta smiled. “Or don’t, and save yourself the heartbreak.”
“Too late for that,” Tynaum said as he approached the woman, taking hold of her hand and pressing something into her palm. He put his forehead to hers and they both closed their eyes. “You know what your problem is?”
“I can think of several right now,” Jocasta whispered as her body trembled. “Wrong ship being at the top of the list.”
“No,” Tynaum argued, striking the side of her face. “Right ship, right time, right place. Your only problem is that you’re too good to be wrong.” With a last touch of her cheek Tynaum backed away and started toward the spaceport.
“I don’t follow,” she said aloud.
“I know you don’t,” Tynaum said, turning to walk backwards. “A woman like you can only lead.”
“I could follow you,” she thought.
“But what I meant was, you’re not wrong. I didn’t have to fall far at all.” Tynaum quickly turned and started to jog away. It was a kindness in Jocasta’s mind, as she did not want him to see her cry.
“And of course he didn’t kiss me,” she thought as a single tear fell from her eye. “… because somebody had to go and call the goodbye kiss! Dammit! Looks like I’m the owner of the dumbest thing said this time around.” Looking into her hand, Jocasta sighed at the sight of the butterfly knife lighter. Her hand clasped around the device very tightly as she closed her eyes and allowed herself a wistful smile.
“You should know, Ty,” she spoke aloud, knowing he could not hear her. “I’ve never known what we shared. I’ve never allowed it, never wanted it; came with way too much baggage and strings for my liking.
“But maybe, just maybe, you sweet son-of-a-b
itch, for one night – and one helluva after-sex workout – maybe I can be talked into baggage. And what a cool fucking run he has too! Thanks, Ty. Thank you for being… my first love!
“Satithe,” she said in a shaky voice. “… would you… send a text to his brace-com… please. Take one of my personal channels and lock it out from use…”
“Unless he is using it?” Satithe asked. Jocasta could only manage a nod as she watched him run. Just before he was out of sight, Tynaum stopped and looked back. He touched his fingertips to his lips, blew a kiss, and resumed his run. Another tear rolled down Jocasta’s cheek as he moved out of sight.
“Captain!” his voice reached her ears as his hand found her shoulder, and her body just gave. The tears flowed freely, and she turned to bury her face in his chest. A large, muscular arm wrapped around her and it was her blanket. She could curl up inside of her blanket and nothing could reach her; no one could touch her… except Tynaum.
Dungias said nothing as he bent slightly at the knees and picked her up. She curled up in his arms and cried. Dungias walked, touching Alpha to the forehead of one of the dying swordsmen. He was beyond technological medical attention, but his mind was still functional. By the time Dungias had Jocasta aboard the shuttle, he had seen the staging of the attack, the viewing of the first attack at the hotel, and the last stage at the spaceport. This would require review from the Traveler.
Curled up in Dungias’ arms, fumbling about with her cane, Jocasta looked up into the face of her most loyal companion. She sniffed once and wiped her eyes with the handkerchief he had given her.
“Gods,” she thought, “leave it to Z to have a sweet smelling hanky!” She looked back down at the cane and started to speak, but did not know the words to say.
“I must have been something to see back there,” Jocasta remarked, failing in her attempt to laugh it off. “Some bad ass pirate captain I make, right?”
“Her name was Saru,” Dungias started as he continued to hold Jocasta close… just as he had the day he found her with the plant. “She was my nyaka, my most beloved.” Dungias spoke of his late wife in specific and soft terms. While Saru was nothing like Tynaum, Dungias made it clear that he was nothing like Jocasta. That which had been shared between pirate and Black Assassin, however, was very close to how things had begun when Dungias finally admitted to himself how he felt about the Vinthur woman. Jocasta’s eyes welled up when she saw the tear run down his face… how still his body was, even as he wept. Jocasta tried to put her hand to his mouth, but his hand caught her wrist and he continued talking about what his mate had been and still was to him.