by Laurie Bell
The grey animals—at least four times Mate’s size—drew closer. The whites of their eyes shone almost as brightly as her skin. Nostrils flared wide as they snorted terrible, terrified sounds.
The monster put on a burst of speed and snatched up the trailing beast. It consumed the animal in a crunch of bone. Toni screamed again, digging her nails into Dan’s damp skin. A sudden iron-rich smell of blood overpowered Dan’s scent. Her stomach quivered and she swallowed back bile. Everything went dark as rock surrounded them.
“For Xendia’s sake, will you shut up!” Dan gasped.
He slowed as he stumbled toward the back of a cave. With every step, the walls closed in. Releasing a loud groan, he lowered her to the ground and then flopped beside her, panting loudly. They stared at the entrance, waiting for the animals to fight their way in. She ran her hands over her clothes. Her knife was missing, her holster gone. How had she missed that earlier? I don’t have a weapon. Those things could have killed them. She was completely helpless. What if he’d left me behind? Why didn’t he?
A roar and a shriek froze her mind. Stomping and stamping, the scrabbling of claws on stone, and then a sudden silence, sent shivers down Toni’s spine.
“I don’t think it can get in here,” she whispered at last.
“I kheghing hope it can’t.”
She reached out a trembling hand and touched his arm. “Thank you.” Why did you save me? Confusion filled her. No one had put her before their own safety before—well, no human.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, sucking in great gulps of air. Beneath her fingers, his body trembled from the run. She inched away from his sweat-soaked skin.
“No, I don’t think so. I’m a bit sore, but then again, I was sore already.”
“Not going to yell at me for making it worse?”
Even in the murkiness of the cave his grin sent flames to her brain. “Give it a rest.”
Now that her heart was settling back into its normal rhythm, the throbbing in her head took over. She needed to lie down. “Now what?”
Dan started to laugh. “Shenghi! Oh, I ache. You’re not exactly light, are you?”
“Hey!” she snapped, poking him hard in the side. When he flinched, her eyes brightened.
“Oh, don’t even think …”
She blamed relief at being alive for what she did next, reaching out to tickle his side as a giggle exploded out of her. In the back of her head, all she could see was Mate’s unlit eyes and dead stare as he was swallowed by a thundering monster with clawed feet. Tears prickled. She laughed to hide her sob. She was alone here but for the smuggler twitching beneath her hand. The smuggler who’d just saved her life, again. He grabbed her wrist, stilling her move. His fingers pressed into her skin, and tingles raced up her arm. She pulled away. What am I doing? Her strange behavior had to be the result of concussion.
They sat in an awkward silence she didn’t want to break. The damp dirt smell of the cave was seeping into her pores. There was something else in it, animal urine maybe? Ew! No matter which way she lay, the smell wafted into her nostrils. Finally, she leaned up on her elbows, “Why aren’t you wearing a shirt?”
He rose quickly. “Uh, yes. Well, I was pulling the console from your ship and it was ho—”
“Wait, what? Why were you in my ship?” She tried to jump to her feet but everything hurt too much. She slumped back, and glared at his shadowy form. Between clenched teeth she sucked in a sharp breath. Mate!
“Hey, relax. I was only pulling the parts we need for the repairs. Was looking for a charge.”
Her anger tightened like a fist within her chest. Breathing hard, she growled. “Do not go into my ship without me.”
There was no movement beside her. Even the sounds of his breathing stopped. “You don’t trust me?”
Not in the slightest. “No.”
“I just saved your life.”
She rolled her eyes, knowing he couldn’t see it. “And that stops you from being a smuggler, does it?”
“No. Look, don’t make a big deal—”
“It is a big deal! It’s my ship.” She slapped her hand against the damp dirt, scratching her palm against something sharp. Khegh it!
“Look, sweetheart—”
Sweetheart? Fury exploded as a ball of flame behind her eyes. She was surprised she couldn’t smell smoke. “Khegh off! No ship, not without me.” She didn’t want him near Mate and Zach without her there to watch his every move. She scrubbed at her hand removing the dirt clinging to her skin.
His clothing rustled. The sound of his boots scuffed the rocky ground as he paced. The clomping moved toward the cave’s entrance.
Her gut tightened. “Where are you going?”
“To look for our supplies. I’m hoping they didn’t get trampled.”
“No, you can’t. Not yet. You can’t go out there.” She told herself she wasn’t worried about the smuggler, she just didn’t want to be left alone in here, unable to protect herself. I need a weapon.
“Well, it’s a little small in here what with you and your ego.”
“My ego? Listen here—”
“You listen. You’re still hurt.”
Through clenched teeth she bit out, “I’m fine.”
“You’re not. Stay here. I’ll—”
“Those animals are still out there,” she reminded him.
“They’ll be gone and—”
“You can’t go out there yet.”
“Stop interrupting me!” he shouted, throwing his hands up. She could just make out his outline, a moving shadow. She snapped her mouth shut. Stubborn kheghing ass! Huffing out a breath, she rubbed at her tight chest and focused her gaze on the blackness in front of her.
“Really? That worked?”
“Shut up,” she said without looking in his direction.
It sounded as though he slapped a hand against his leg. “We need water, and I have to check the site.”
“You don’t even have a weapon,” she pointed out. “Wait, why don’t you have a weapon? What happened to your gun?” And where is mine?
There was silence. His voice softer when he admitted. “I took it off when I was pulling the backing from—”
“Oh my gods, you put your weapon down on a moon you know nothing about?”
“I thought it was deserted.”
“Clearly the scary, hungry wildlife didn’t get the message.”
Dan grumbled quietly. She heard his body shift and the creak of cartilage as he knelt beside her. He reeked of sweat. “I won’t be gone long. We need our supplies, and you’re right, I need my weapon in case those things come back.”
Trying to make me feel better? The adrenaline from their run had well and truly disappeared and her aches were growing stronger by the second. She’d probably pass out soon. And then she’d be all alone, in a cave, in the dark. Her throat tightened. “Yeah, good idea. You should go so you’ll be back before nightfall.”
His voice lightened. “Are you worried about me?”
“No.”
Ugh, he was grinning. Of course he’d jump to that conclusion.
“You are. You don’t want me to get eaten.”
“Oh, go already. I need a drink and you’re the only one capable of getting it, that’s all,” she mumbled.
The ruffle of his clothing grew closer. She pulled back, uncomfortable with his proximity. “I will come back,” he said softly. He climbed to his feet and walked out.
She stared out of the cave long after he’d gone. That’s what she was afraid of.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Toni roused.
Blinking slowly, she found the cave had grown darker in the time she’d been asleep. Heavy silence hovered around her and she became aware of her heartbeat thudding in her ears. Why isn’t he back yet?
She scratched at the dried sweat on her neck, feeling it flake under her nails. Dan was a resourceful smuggler, so no need to worry, right? He wouldn’t get into any trouble alone, and he certainly wou
ldn’t need her help to stay alive. That thought gave her pause. He didn’t need her help. He could repair his ship on his own, so why hadn’t he left her to die? He could have then stripped her ship of the parts needed and left. They were enemies. It was her fault they were even here. Why did he save her?
No matter what game he was playing, she had to remain cautious. Whether Dan was helping her out of the goodness of his heart or because he needed something didn’t matter. They were stuck together on this moon, and the longer she needed his help, the longer it would take to complete repairs and get out of here.
And when we leave, what then? She shook away the question. That could wait until they actually reached space. There was a lot to do between now and then, and she’d spent enough time thinking like an injured woman. It was high time she started thinking like an agent and fended for herself.
First things first, she needed a bathroom.
With sluggish movements, she dragged herself to the wall and used its uneven surface to pull her body upright. Dizziness hit her immediately. Leaning back, she closed her eyes and focused on breathing until her equilibrium settled.
Hesitantly, she took a single step and was pleased when she didn’t fall or stumble, shuffled forward. What felt like hours later, she reached the mouth of the cave and glanced up. The sky was alight with wavy green lights. Icy. Finding a spot, she went quickly and yanked her trousers up, hating the feeling of being exposed. The longer she was on her feet, the weaker she felt. Her head was swimming again by the time she staggered back into the cave.
Damn it, she’d meant to look for some sticks or moss so she could start a fire. Her stomach lurched. Spinning on a heel, she limped back out of the cave and dove into the closest clump of bushes, dry heaving painfully.
Nothing made a reappearance. Thank goodness she hadn’t eaten earlier. As the spasms tapered off, she broke out in a sweat, sending shivers through her body setting her limbs trembling like a newborn mooncalf.
“There you are.”
She didn’t react to his voice. His approaching footsteps could barely be heard above the buzzing in her head. Right now, she wouldn’t have cared if he was the monster come back to eat her; in fact, she would have welcomed it. She moaned pitifully and clutched her head, too weak to move.
“Here,” he said, holding a small container to her mouth. His other hand came across her waist to steady her body. She relaxed into his embrace, sipping at the warm salty liquid to rinse out her mouth. She spat on the ground and took another sip.
“Ugh.”
“Let me help you inside, Trina,” he said not moving away until she settled on the ground. Toni rested her head against the jagged cave wall and focused on Dan. He returned carrying armfuls of leaf matter and broken sticks, piling it high before setting it alight. He glanced up at her. “What were you doing outside?
“Bathroom.”
“Should have waited.”
Toni glared. “For how long? I had no idea if you were even coming back.”
In the light of the newly built fire, his eyes widened. “I told you I was coming back. Didn’t you believe me?”
No. Peering around, she was curious to learn more about their hiding place. Now that she could see she found the cave smaller than she’d thought. Shadows danced over uneven walls, naked roots poked through rock.
“You will have to trust me sooner or later,” he told her, rifling through a bag at his feet.
She didn’t answer that either.
Toni must have dozed, the scent of burnt moss and some sort of flower filling the air, lulling her into a relaxed state. She came fully awake when she recognized warmth and pressure from his body behind her. Instantly, she rolled away from him, her body twitching and her heart thumping. “What are you doing?”
“It’s going to get cold in here. There’s a frost outside. You need to stay warm until your head clears. Just close your eyes.” He waited, staring at her, making it her decision.
It’s not that cold. The next breath she huffed out appeared like a fog in front of her mouth. Reluctantly, she slid back to him. He threw a blanket over them both and tucked it in around his body. The banked fire threw a golden glow against the surrounding rock. She could hear the crackle and pop of wood and sap.
“I don’t—”
“Not now,” he grumbled against her neck. She flinched at the brush of his warm breath. “Just go to sleep.”
Yeah sure, like she’d be able to sleep with him pressed against her like that. Slowly, the heat soaked into her and she drifted. His hand crept up to rest against her hip. She didn’t move, telling herself it was because she didn’t have enough strength to knock him away.
*
As much as it pained her to admit, he’d been right about the two ships. The Blackflame’s nose was gone. She couldn’t bear to look at the gaping maw of twisted metal as they approached. Her examination of the TAFF drive was more promising. Running her fingers along the cables, she was pleased to find most of them intact. She could pull them, along with the initializer and the stabilizer. Without her shades, her vision blurred at a distance but in here she could use her sensitive eyesight to her advantage. Third chip down was cracked. She could see the faint green sheen of chelix gas leaking from the tube line behind it. She skipped the next chip too. The stack below seemed to be fine. Bending her head, she crawled deeper into the duct. Thankfully she was able to move her neck without stabbing pain this morning.
Yeah, that was plenty of switches. She could yank most of them though it mentally pained her to do so. Her empty stomach groaned. “Hey, grab the dehydrated packs if you can find them.”
“You’re already over my stellar cooking skills?” his voice drifted back to her. He insisted he could patch his ship’s hull so she’d sent him to the lower hold to hunt for her soldering equipment—if it had survived the crash.
“No, just afraid you’re gonna try and get me to cook.”
“That bad?”
“Wanna try me?”
“Ah, that’s a no.”
Ass! She wriggled further, hissing with the pull of skin around her hip. She shifted her weapon to the small of her back. She wasn’t planning to advertise that she’d found it and wouldn’t put it down, no matter how many bruises she got winding through the innards of her ship.
“Anything useful in there?”
His voice sounded louder. He was coming back. “Yeah, enough that I should be able to repair your comms, get out a signal maybe. Try the engineering hatch.”
“Below the generator?”
“Yup.”
One more should do. Clasping her hand around the scrounged chips she scooted back. Oh, yang cord. Tugging the cable free from its connection, she climbed from the duct and headed for the hatch.
“That’s not going to work,” she said, staring at his hands.
“Well, we won’t know until we try it, will we?” he snapped dangling from the power exchange tube. The hand holding the decoupling wrench was bent under the casing.
“It’s not compatible with a Stargazer. I’ll have to recode it and splice the connection cable.”
He shot her a narrowed glare. She ignored it. “You’ve already blown two switches simply from using the wrong cable size.”
“I blew it?”
“Yes, you wouldn’t let me do it.” Toni sat down at the open hatch and started stripping wires. Dan returned to dismantling the transformer box. Trying to, anyway. She suppressed a smirk watching him twist. There was no way his big man hand was getting behind there.
“Don’t forget the—”
“If you say the tri-splice lines again, I am going to come up there and—”
“Threatening the injured woman? Nice, Dan, real nice.” She shuffled sideways, her body still aching, and picked up her tablet. Writing a new line of code to convince the incompatible parts to work together should be pretty simple. She just had to tell them they really did use the same power structure. While she waited for him to prove his intelligen
ce was greater than hers, she figured she’d get started. “You going to admit it yet?”
“Nope.” She couldn’t help the grin that crossed her face at his growled response. At least he couldn’t see her reaction. She didn’t need him thinking he was entertaining her or anything.
The code simulation flashed a red failed message. She ran it again. Red red red. She lifted the device to throw it, but instead slammed it on the floor and let out a howl of frustration.
“Hey? What?” Dan poked his head out of the hatch, his brows scrunched together. “Don’t kill the tablet,” he warned.
“It won’t work.” She stabbed at the command keys angrily. “The codes won’t work. Why won’t the codes work?”
“If that’s the way you’re treating it, I’m not surprised.”
“For khegh’s sake, if these codes don’t work then nothing we’re doing is going to work. Nothing! All this time wasted for nothing.”
He pulled himself out of the hatch. “Well, I suggest you start by treating it better.”
She contemplated throwing the tablet at his head. “It’s your ship—you make it work!” She knew it was a stupid thing to say as soon as the words left her mouth. The look he shot her said it was, too.
“Time for a break, I think,” he said, approaching to help her stand. She took one look at him and recoiled.
“You’re not touching me with those.”
He examined his grease-stained hands then rubbed them against his thighs. “Better?”
“Gods, you’re disgusting,” she groaned, wriggling back across the floor to get away from him.
