Pet Trade

by Carol Van Natta

  Enraged, Shiza twisted and bit down on Kanaway’s exposed wrist.

  Kanaway screamed and shook his arm, then rocked back a step back and kicked Shiza’s ribs. The foo dog didn’t let go. If Kanaway noticed a white weasel dart in and steal the phase knife, it didn’t register.

  Kanaway dropped to his knees, yelling, trying to roll Shiza onto his side. The foo dog planted his feet and used his strong neck and broad shoulder muscles to stay upright.

  Bethnee climbed unsteadily to her feet and moved to stand by Serena.

  “Get it off me!” He punched the dog’s head, which caused Shiza to clamp down again even harder.

  “Shiza,” said Bethnee. She used her talent to help the foo dog realize he’d won. Shiza gave the man’s crushed, bloody arm a tearing shake, then opened his wide, square jaws and scrabbled backward.

  Kanaway lifted his good hand toward his face, but froze when Shiza keened and bared his sharp, bloody teeth.

  Bethnee realized he’d been reaching for his earwire. She couldn’t let him call for help. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pivoted in and stripped it off his face, then pivoted back. Her torn fingernail left a welt along his jaw. Blood welled immediately.

  He swung a slow, sloppy punch at her. His venomous look would have once quelled her. He lifted his knee to put one foot on the ground. “You’re fucking dead.”

  “No, but you are.” She invited Shiza to come closer to her. The little dog limped a little as he moved to lean against her knee. “Foo dog poison is neuro-hemorrhagic, designed to kill quick, and you got two full injections. I told you not to pick him up.”

  “Bullshi’…” He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “They’re sold to children… Prob’ly fast dormo or somethin’.” His words slurred as he absently wiped red-stained drool off his chin with his good hand. The injured arm drooped listlessly at his side, gushing a pool of bright red blood onto the snow-whitened gravel. “You’re gonn’ be my ticket back…”

  He slumped forward over his knee, then toppled sideways. He shuddered, then lay still.

  Bethnee thought she should have felt something, watching the horror of her nightmares draw his last two wet, gurgling breaths, but nothing came. She had no more time to worry about it. Four greedy mercenaries with tranq guns were about to land on her doorstep.

  She sent her talent out to check on the animals, but she was on her last reserves. Coordinating dire wolves, ravens, weasels, and foo dogs to defeat Kanaway had been like running a marathon. She asked bruised Shiza to go inside to protect injured, still dazed Trouble.

  She wished she were a telepath like Domaki, so she could communicate with Axur, instead of just sensing his general location. She absently shoved the earwire she’d stripped from Kanaway into her chest pocket, only to find the one Axur had given her already there. Kicking herself for forgetting, she put it on and subvocalized a message. “Kanaway is dead in my front yard. I’m resetting the cabin’s security. Tell me what I can do.”

  He came online almost immediately. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? I’ve moved some of your traps to arrange welcome surprises for the mercs. They’re running late. With luck, the enforcers will catch them here.”

  She hadn’t realized how much she’d needed to hear the sound of his voice until that moment.

  “Tired. A bruise or two. Shiza and Trouble need treatment.”

  “I don’t suppose you’d go back inside the cave and stay there?”

  “Not a chance. It’s my farking homestead. Can Serena and I come down the path?”

  “Yes, I’ll meet you. It’s going to get crowded around here soon, and I want us all to be ready when it does.”

  14

  * GDAT 3241.265 *

  Axur hung up his poncho, then sat with Bethnee on the small couch in her chilly cabin and watched the two planetary enforcers standing near the front door. Their orders were to keep an eye him and Bethnee, but they were more interested in friendly Kivo.

  The other enforcers who’d landed took custody of the mercs. With Bethnee and the animals acting as lookout, Axur had lured the mercs into Bethnee’s traps, then shot them with one of their own tranq guns. Because one merc was dead, the enforcers insisted on waiting for their commander to arrive with Pranteaux, the Tanimai town administrator.

  Axur stole glances at Bethnee. She looked bruised, tired, and pale, but not flatlined. He admired the hell out of her.

  Shiza the foo dog now sat across her lap and partly into his, contentedly drooling a wet spot on both their pant legs. Bethnee finger-combed his curly mane. She surprised Axur by sliding her hand into his and mouthing the words “thank you.” He squeezed her hand gently in acknowledgment.

  A few minutes later, a tall, muscular woman in uniform and flexin armor, and a short, rotund man in a puffy-collared, plaid long coat entered the cabin.

  The short man blinked and squinted as he looked around with disdain. His eyes widened when he saw Kivo, then narrowed when his gaze landed on Bethnee and Axur. He drew breath to speak, but the woman beat him to it.

  “I’m Commander Cherkogin, and I’m sure you know Administrator Pranteaux.” She took in her surroundings with darting glances, then focused on Axur. “Tragon?”

  “Yes, sir.” He stifled the urge to salute.

  Cherkogin turned her gaze to Bethnee. “You must be Vetmed Bakonin.”

  Pranteaux cleared his throat loudly. “She’s the landed homesteader.” He made it sound like an infectious disease. “I’ll bet he’s the illegal settler who’s been trading in town.” He pointed a curling, accusing finger at Axur.

  Cherkogin frowned. “First things first, Administrator.” She tilted her head toward Bethnee’s front yard. “How did the merc die?”

  “Foo dog poison,” said Bethnee, patting Shiza’s shoulder. She explained the events in terse sentences. By the time she was done, Pranteaux was staring at the sleepy foo dog in horror.

  Cherkogin looked at Axur. “We intercepted the rest of the merc company where you said they’d be.” She hooked her thumbs in her utility belt. “The DPE takes a dim view of kidnapping Del’Arche settlers or stealing from homesteaders.” She turned to Pranteaux with a sly smile. “And an equally dim view of destroying valuable protection animals like foo dogs.”

  Pranteaux’s mouth gaped like a fish. “But it killed a man!” He looked back and forth between the foo dog and Cherkogin’s unyielding expression. He blew out a frustrated breath, then glared at Bethnee and pointed at Axur again. “He’s still illegal. He’s been skulking around for months. I’ve been trying to catch him.”

  A fleeting look of distaste crossed Cherkogin’s face as she turned away from Pranteaux to meet Axur’s gaze. “What’s your status?”

  Axur had known this moment was inevitable ever since he’d chosen to meet the enforcers, so he could be there to protect Bethnee when they questioned her. He let go of her hand so he could stand, but she held him fast.

  “He’s my plus one.”

  Axur hoped he kept his confusion off his face. Cherkogin raised an eyebrow.

  Pranteaux gawped, then recovered. “He can’t be. You’re not a paid settler. You can’t tell me he lives in this pile of logs with you.” His mouth twisted in disdain as he looked her up and down. “You hate men.”

  “I don’t hate men.” Bethnee let go of Axur’s hand, then gently urged Shiza to jump down and got to her feet. “I’m afraid of men who want to hurt me. There’s a difference.”

  Axur stood and stayed next to her. Whatever her play was, he was in.

  Bethnee pushed her hair behind her ear. “I looked it up. The settlement contract says homesteaders get one ‘plus one,’ as long as he agrees to reside on my homestead for a GDAT standard year.” Bethnee wove her fingers through his and held up their joined hands. “I’m declaring Axur as my plus one.”

  Cherkogin smiled. “I’ll be your official witness.” She raised her arm to tap her percomp gauntlet. Her smile turned sharper. “I’ll even register the declaration
for you, since the town’s satellite uplink building got destroyed by the greedy mercs that your ‘plus one’ helped stop.” She directed her next words to Pranteaux with a pointed look. “He single-handedly saved your town from an armed invasion and wholesale theft of its valuable animals.”

  Axur tilted his head toward Bethnee. “She delayed this team so you could catch them.”

  Pranteaux clamped his jaw and looked away with a frown. His eyes widened, and his expression morphed into sly challenge. “Clause 624.308.T.51.” He looked at Bethnee. “You’ll have to cohab or marry your ‘plus one.’” He gave Axur an insulting smile. “Can’t have Slick Slims taking advantage of the gullible and stealing their homesteads.” He looked around at the furniture and sneered. “Not that this dump is worth stealing.”

  Cherkogin shook her head. “The council rescinded that stupid clause two years ago. You can’t force people into domestic contracts.”

  Pranteaux jutted out his jaw, clearly intending to continue the fight.

  Cherkogin was having none of it. “Quarks and quasars, man, I brought you here to confirm Bakonin’s identity as the homesteader and remand the mercs if needed, not meddle in people’s private lives.” She shot quick glances to her patiently waiting enforcers. “The administrator’s work here is done. Escort him back to the flitter.”

  Pranteaux gave everyone in the room one last, sweeping glare and stomped through the door that commander had already opened. The enforcers left with him.

  “Bureaucrats,” muttered Cherkogin. She kept the door open and turned to Bethnee. “Would you mind stepping outside and, uh, getting your dire wolf guardian to stand down?”

  Bethnee snorted. “You could have just said you want to talk to Axur alone.” She sealed the coat she hadn’t yet taken off and limped to the door. She left without a backward glance. The door closed behind her.

  “Sorry,” said Cherkogin, with a shrug. “I tank at diplomacy.”

  “Apologize to her, not me.” He tilted his head, finally able to place her familiar-sounding voice. “You were the ex-Jumper dispatcher this morning.”

  She nodded. “Yep. We’re really short-handed. How’d you like a job with the Del’Arche Planetary Enforcers?”

  Bethnee’s head pounded and her joints ached from the fever she’d brought on herself by healing both Trouble and Shiza. Her talent felt thin and wispy as she extended a thread of invitation to Serena, who was sitting in the middle of her front yard, keeping herself between Bethnee and the waiting enforcers. Serena stood and trotted toward her.

  Snapping at the commander hadn’t been her finest moment. She heard Cherkogin’s job offer right as the door closed. It was ideal for Axur. He’d have purpose again and make new friends, because Axur was very likeable. He’d have a team of enforcers to protect him if the CPS ever came calling.

  Bethnee sat on a flat rock and buried her hands in Serena’s thick winter fur. Daylight was more than half gone.

  From the trees, Jynx chuffed twice, loudly. The enforcers looked around uneasily.

  Serena’s ears pricked forward. Bethnee chuckled. “Yes, she definitely taunted you. Go play.”

  The dignified dire wolf unexpectedly turned and licked Bethnee’s face, then bounded off into the woods after the snow leopard.

  She stuck her hands in her coat pockets and dropped her head to stretch her neck for a moment. She listened to breezy gusts stirring branches, and drifted for a bit, pretending the sun was warm. In her first few months on the planet, any weather at all had disconcerted her, after years living in controlled space environments. Now the wind through the trees sounded like freedom.

  The door to her cabin opened, and Cherkogin strode out. Axur and Kivo emerged a moment later, but angled toward Bethnee instead of following the commander. Cherkogin turned to look at Axur, then gave Bethnee a respectful nod. “We’re clearing out. Thank you for your help, homesteaders. And congratulations, by the way.” She turned and made an upward spiral motion to her enforcers, and walked down the path with them following.

  Axur stood, fists on his hips, watching them go. Kivo sidled up to her and put his head on her knees. When the last, low thrum of high-low flitters finally faded, Axur held out a hand to her. “Could we go inside now? My dangly bits are getting cold.”

  She smiled and took his hand, and let him help pull her up. “Can’t have that. You might need them.”

  The front cabin was finally warm again. She didn’t want to go back to the cave until Axur’s comms band monitoring confirmed that the enforcers had rounded up all the mercs and were on their way south.

  She poured boiling water into the teapot. Axur sat at the kitchen-area counter she’d built to be comfortable for her height. Even though his face still sported streaks of dirt, and mud caked his long hair and beard, he was still plasma hot. She probably looked and smelled like something her weasel had dragged in. Felt like it, too.

  Axur idly folded a thin towel into various shapes while they waited for the tea to steep. “I keep meaning to read the settlement contract, but legalese puts me to sleep. Tell me about this ‘plus one’ clause.”

  “It’s complicated. Paying settlers can sponsor as many people as they like, and it confers homesteader rights to those people after a year, as long as they live on the settler’s property. Those people can’t do the same unless they wait another a year and buy or build their own homestead. Nonpaying but landed homesteaders like me can sponsor one person at a time.”

  Axur smiled. “Thank you.” He gave her a speculative look. “What’s Pranteaux’s friction with you? Is it because you’re a minder? ‘Cause if that’s the case, it’s bullshit.”

  “No, he’s a minder, too, a general filer who remembers everything. Nuñez says he’s a control freak who overcompensates with his need for respect.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I just think he’s an asshole. Probably didn’t help that I told him so to his face.”

  Axur laughed. She was going to miss the sound of it.

  She poured tea into both the waiting cups. “Congratulations on the new job, by the way. Will you have to move to the spaceport?” She pushed one cup and a sugar stick across the counter toward him.

  “I didn’t take it.” He dipped the stick into the tea and stirred once.

  “Why?” Maybe he felt like he owed her. “This is just your legal residence for the year. You don’t have to actually live here. You could be with Jumpers again, and it’d be a good use of your abilities. You like people. You liked Cherkogin.” She pointed to his hanging poncho. “You’re free.”

  “All valid points, and I’d have said yes if they’d offered when I first landed.” He stroked Kivo’s broad head, which was resting on his thigh. “But everything changed when I discovered the pets.” He looked around at her tiny cabin. “I never had my own home before. Being a planetary enforcer would take me away from home a lot.” He swirled the sugar stick in his tea. “I liked being a Jumper. They help people in trouble, and look after their own. But I volunteered for the medic training and kept up my language skills because they’re often more effective than guns.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Don’t tell any Jumpers I said that.”

  “Your secret’s safe with me.” She couldn’t hold her answering smile for long. “You have a lot of assets. You could move to a bigger city and be a medic and rent your printer.”

  He stilled. “Do you want me to go?”

  “No, I want you to stay, because I think I’m in love with you.” She wrapped her arms around her ribs. “But it’s not about me. I want what’s right for you.”

  A slow smile stole across his face. “All the cities are in the south, and Serena would be miserable in the heat.” He stood and eased his way around the end of the counter. “I know you’d take her, but Trouble wouldn’t have anyone to watch over, so I’d have to leave him and the others with you, too. Kivo’s a theft magnet, like Jynx, so I’d have to leave him, as well.” He edged toward her, close enough to touch her. “And that means everyone I love would be h
ere.”

  She looked up at his strong, kind face. “You could have anyone you want. Someone who can promise not to be scared with you. Someone who’s normal.”

  “Normal is boring.” He touched the scarred side of his neck with his cybernetic hand. “I’m no prize.” She hadn’t seen that vulnerable look on his face before.

  “Because you’re a cyborg?” She reached out to slip her hand into his. She stroked a thumb over the exposed biometal knuckle. “Cybernetics are a part of you, but they’re not you. The man I know is caring, smart... beautiful.” Her eyes welled with tears. “Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

  “What if the only one I want is a nova-hot veterinarian who loves animals?” He slid his other hand up her arm slowly and rested it on her shoulder.

  Bethnee smiled. “Nuñez would be happy to hear it.” She put a hand on Axur’s waist. “She and her wife think you’re sexy. They like to share a handsome man on special occasions.”

  Axur shook his head. “The only woman I want also has a cybernetic leopard and a hot-spring pool.” He put his other hand on the side of her face, and wove his fingers into her hair.

  She leaned into his touch. “As it so happens, the only man I want is tall and strong, and loves animals.”

  He lowered his head to hers, stopping just before their lips touched. “Do you still want to kiss me?”

  She raised her hand to his face to caress his cheek. “More than anything. Do you want to be kissed?”

  “More than anything.” He met her halfway to join his lips with hers.

  He tasted cool and sweet. Heat pooled in her abdomen and warmed her core. She pulled herself closer, wanting to share the heat with him. He left her mouth and trailed kisses to the side of her face. She gasped in a mix of pleasure and pain as he brushed by her sore jaw.

  He pulled back to look at her face. “Sorry, I didn’t think.” He touched delicate fingers to her cheek. “I’ve just wanted you for so long. I love you.”