A New Reason To Fight: An Intergalactic Romance

by T. J. Brandow

  “And so now you’re taking her for a ride in the desert?” she asked. “Maybe she’d be better off if you just left her behind.”

  “No can do,” Lobo replied. “I could never leave behind the other half of my soul.”

  Maggie’s smile lit the room as she added, “Besides, I would never let him if he tried.”

  “You’re finally awake,” Jennifer said with a grin. “Interesting new man you’ve got here, Maggie. A whole lot better than Fred, I’ve got to tell you.”

  “Fred?” Maggie scoffed. “He’s even more of a jerk than I thought he was.”

  “So I’ve heard,” she replied. “Well, come and help me with the barbeque and cutting up some potatoes for the salad. No sense in me doing all the work alone.”

  Maggie glanced over at Lobo uncertainly.

  “Go ahead, Mags, I’ll just rest this leg a little longer,” Lobo said. “But so you know, Jennifer, once we’ve eaten we’ll need to head out. We can’t afford to sit still for long.”

  “Understandable,” she agreed.

  *****

  The meal and the conversation were both enjoyable, and by the time they were ready to leave Maggie had already composed her letter and left it with Pete. “I don’t want you to use it until I’m safe, though,” she added. “If I’m still on this world, and not outbound, all bets are off, okay?”

  “Of course, Maggie,” Pete agreed.

  The rover was now moved to the back of the house, sitting near the gate. To get out to the desert, all they would need to do was follow the little dirt path down the short hillside down into the sand, and then they could take off from there. Lobo went ahead and transformed their ride into a hover craft as soon as both he and Maggie had gotten on board.

  Pete and Jennifer stared in awe. Pete said, “Wow! It’s a real-life transformer! This is so great! Okay now, you two, be safe.”

  Maggie’s hand flew up into a wave as Lobo began working the controls and the rover quickly sped away. The sky was full of stars, and the air was still warm as they sped out into the middle of nowhere. But they both had the nagging suspicion that they were not alone.

  As they traveled over the land at top speeds, Maggie couldn’t help but marvel at the way the dirt was not disturbed at all. It felt more like they were traveling over the water than the land, such was the ease of their passage. The sky was practically moonless, with just a small sliver of light, and a gentle wind began to cool the air.

  “Well, we’re here now, but the ship isn’t,” said Lobo as he turned off the hover function ad allowed the rover to settle onto the soil.

  “What do we do now?” Maggie asked him. “Are you going to call your sister for an arrival time?”

  “No way,” Lobo said. “Attempting contact from the potential landing site would be a really bad idea. If those boys were to pick up the signal, it could lead them right to us. No, I’m afraid our only real choice will be to sit tight. But don’t worry, I brought along everything we might need, including a tent with a cloaking device.”

  “What, you mean it’ll be invisible?” she asked curiously.

  “Only from the outside,” Lobo said. “It also has a temperature selector and a built-in mattress. All we need to do is push a button, and the tent will do the rest.”

  “Well, where is the thing? I didn’t see it in the trunk.”

  “Right here,” he said, pulling an object about the size of a ring box from his pocket. With a flick of his wrist and a push of a button all in one action, Lobe released the tent, which selected a nearby landing site and erected itself. Moments later, it blinked out of sight, but the door was open so they could still catch a glimpse of the inside.

  “You guys sure have some convenient little toys,” said Maggie, impressed. “You go on in and lay down. I’ll bring in our gear.”

  “No way, Mags, I’m not letting you do it completely alone,” he grumbled. “At least let me bring in the pillows.”

  “Fine, go ahead,” she said. “And use them to prop up that leg.”

  “This thing is taking longer to heal than I expected it to,” he complained.

  “Probably because you haven’t stayed off of it,” she pointed out knowingly.

  “There is that,” he conceded. “But now, there’s nothing to do but wait. I should be able to stay off of it this time.”

  They got in all the gear and zipped the tent closed. Maggie started to make some sandwiches while Lobo laid down. Then they curled up together and shared one pillow for their heads.

  “So, this tent is totally invisible with the door shut,” said Maggie as she stared at the ceiling speculatively. “Is it sound-proof also?”

  “That depends,” Lobo said, glancing over and seeing the sly grin that just touched her lips. “How loud were you planning to get?”

  “I was actually wondering the same thing about you,” Maggie told him with a naughty grin. “But I suppose out here, there’s nobody around to complain.”

  Lobo’s arm, which was already behind her back, constricted, bringing Maggie on top of him. Their lips crushed together hungrily.

  “God, Lobo, having my body pressed to your back all day was sheer torture” said Maggie between kisses. “Do you have any idea how many times I wanted to ask you to pull over.”

  “About half as many times as I thought about doing it myself,” he replied, kissing her harder. Their tongues somehow met for a dance, and their breaths mingled hotly together. “I want you, Mags. You have no idea how much.”

  “Oh, I think I do,” she told him as she moved on top of him, straddling the evidence of his need rather appreciatively. She gave an experimental wriggle, and Lobo groaned. Giddy with power, Maggie wriggled some more.

  “Maggie, stop torturing me,” Lobo begged. He grasped her hips and tossed her aside, then quickly straddled her hips instead. “These clothes have got to go. Now!”

  “Yes,” Maggie agreed, and there was a trembling in her voice. Her hands could barely work the button on Lobo’s fly, they were shaking so much. Lobo took over the job, unbuttoning his fly, and hers as well. They scrambled out of the garments quickly, but then Lobo hit a snag. The leg brace was in the way of completely removing the long shorts he was wearing, or the underwear beneath them.

  “Dammit!” he growled.

  “Leave them,” Maggie said. “We’ll figure out a way.”

  “I’ve got it figured out already,” he said wickedly, moving on top of her again. The leg brace didn’t quite reach his knee, so he simply shucked the clothing down and around it and laid with his knees between Maggie’s thighs. They were both so ready there was little need to bother with a little formality like foreplay. Instead, Lobo impaled himself within her, and Maggie moaned as she threw her legs around him, clinging tight.

  Even though their movements were a bit difficult, neither one of them seemed to mind. Lobo drove into Maggie again and again, and she matched him, thrust for thrust, her moans growing louder right along with his.

  It almost became a game between them, seeing just how loud they could actually be. Then, after they both came, and Lobo crashed with his face blissfully positioned between Maggie’s breasts, they looked at each other and started to laugh.

  “Do you think we disturbed the coyotes?” asked Maggie as she reached down to stroke his hair.

  “Yeah, and the rattlesnakes as well,” he said, grinning right back.

  “Your rattlesnake seems to have liked it pretty well,” she teased him.

  “So did your beaver,” he added with a chuckle as he rolled off of her and settled his leg back on the pillows. He drew his clothed back up to a more comfortable position. “You know, that leg doesn’t hurt nearly as badly as it did before. I wonder if I could get away with leaving that brace off for a while.”

  “Well, maybe,” Maggie said. “I don’t know, though, you busted the thing up pretty bad.”

  “Yeah, that’s true,” he sighed. “Xenon didn’t think I should remove the splint for at least another four days
. I’m just really tired of the thing. I don’t know how much more of it I can take.”

  “Is that really the problem, or did you just not want it in the way tonight?” she teased.

  “I’d just like to get some sleep,” he complained.

  “I can understand that,” Maggie agreed. “Did you bring along some narbloo?”

  “Yeah, I did,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s out in the trunk.”

  “I could go get it, if you like,” she offered.

  “Put your clothes back on if you do,” he said. “It may be warm in here, but the temperature outside has probably gotten a bit colder.”

  Maggie slipped on her shirt and pants, but didn’t bother with socks or shoes as she unzipped the tent door. Humming contentedly, she padded over to the rover and opened the back end, rummaging for the needle.

  Then she felt cold steal pressed against her temple, and she froze right where she stood.

  “Hands up, missy,” said a man’s voice. “And start explaining to me why I can’t see your tent.”

  TWELVE

  “I don’t want no trouble with you, mister,” Lobo heard Maggie say. “We’re just a couple people on vacation, and we’ll only be here a couple of hours. Plus, we don’t have anything valuable either.”

  “I’d say you do,” he scoffed. “Like that vehicle that ain’t what it seems, and a tent that ain’t even there. I’d say those are pretty damned valuable to a guy like me. You two must really think I’m stupid. Come on out of there, mister. Nice and slow.”

  Before he complied, Lobo deftly released the ties that were holding on his make-shift leg brace. The pair of sturdy one-by-ones that Xenon had cut to size in Maggie’s garage were each about eighteen inches long, and could easily become weapons if need be. However, that meant he needed to be careful of the limb itself, since removing the splint left it vulnerable.

  The man looked him over as he stepped out, doing his best not to limp. Seeing the boards in his hands, he moved the gun off of Maggie and aimed at him instead. “Best drop those things right now,” he ordered. “I’m not playing around.”

  “I believe we are at an impasse, sir,” Lobo told him. “There is no way I would ever allow you to obtain either of the technologies for which you have expressed interest. It would be best for all parties concerned if you would simply move along.”

  The man guffawed and slapped his knee. “Listen to you, freak boy. Ain’t that funny? You just don’t get it, do you? I know what you are. Your kind comes around here all the time, landin’ their dang ships wherever they please like they own the place. Got you a really cute human this time, though, didn’t you? Well maybe I’ll just shoot you and keep her too.”

  “If you know what I am, then you also know what I’m capable of, correct?” Lobo scoffed. “Don’t be a fool.”

  “So you’re trained in that fancy martial art stuff too?”

  “Everyone who ventures into space learns that,” said Lobo smugly. “Including my friends, who should be here soon.”

  “I ran that ship off three hours ago,” he scoffed. “You think a silly little female alien is going to rescue anybody? Don’t make me laugh. She even started crying.”

  “The ship was already here?” he clarified.

  “Didn’t I just say so?” the man snarled. “Now get on over here and show me how to work this contraption’s controls. Never saw such a crazy configuration in my whole life. And don’t try anything funny, either, or your lady’s the first one to die.”

  Lobo stepped gingerly over to the rover, still hiding his limp and the painful winces as best he could. The first thing he did before anything else was press the communication beacon so that anything being said, Linnid would hear.

  “Okay, mister, but before you think to just take equipment like this, first you should know what you’re getting yourself into. These levers right here control the speed, and this machine can get up to eight hundred miles per hour. I don’t suggest you go beyond the second marker, right here, while you are on this world, since you may crash into something otherwise.”

  While he was distracting the man, Maggie stepped up behind him and injected him with the narbloo. Lobo’s eyes went wide as the drug quickly rendered the man unconscious.

  “I hope I didn’t just kill the guy,” she commented dryly.

  “No, but he’s not likely to wake up for quite some time,” Lobo replied.

  Linnid’s voice came over the com-link, “I take it you guys have finally arrived? Was that the freaky guy just now?”

  “It was, indeed,” Lobo told her. “Could you just get down here and get us, already? I think I’ve had about enough of this world.”

  *****

  As Maggie watched, a ship in the shape of a large disk with lights all around the edges came quickly down and hovered just above the ground. A dark-haired woman who looked quite similar to Lobo stepped briskly down a gangplank and hugged him.

  “Come on, help gather the gear and let’s get out of here,” said Lobo then. “Those government types are sure to have noticed the signal I sent you by now, and they will have been combing the entire area looking for us. I’d just as soon avoid that entanglement completely.”

  “Dad’s going to be mad about you riling up the natives like this,” Linnid commented. “And about you bringing one along, too, no doubt. Are you sure we shouldn’t just leave her behind?”

  “No can do,” Lobo insisted as he started up the rover. “Pack up our ride, and we’ll drive all of this inside. It’d be a lot quicker than carrying it ourselves.”

  Linnid simply shrugged and did as she was told. Wordlessly, she stepped back up the plank and Lobo and Maggie rode up on the rover, and once they were all inside a little alarm sounded as the ramp closed once again.

  “Brother, you look like you need to get over to sick bay,” she commented then. “I don’t know what’s wrong with your leg, but it’s nothing a med-bot can’t fix. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  “This is Maggie,” he explained. “My new bond-mate.”

  “There’s just one more problem, though,” said Linnid then. “Did you really mean it about leaving the passengers here on Earth if they refused to come along?”

  Lobo groaned. “You’re not seriously going to tell me we need to go back to Florida, are you? Linnid, it’s your show, and you’re the one who didn’t make them go. I need to see to this leg, and it’s going to put me out for a while. Sorry, but it’s your call.”

  “Should I come with you?” asked Maggie uncertainly.

  “Stick with Linnid for now, all right, Maggie?” he told her. “I’d rather you didn’t see what the bot is likely to do to me.”

  *****

  Maggie watched as Linnid bit her bottom lip and strode back over to a set of controls.

  “Well, it looks like there’s some trouble brewing to the south,” she said after punching a few buttons on the console. “Long-range scans indicate that a large group of military personnel is headed right in our direction. We’re going to need to evac immediately. Go strap into the acceleration couch, Maggie, okay?

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” Maggie agreed. She stepped over to one of the black couches arranged along one wall of the circular area and laid down. Once the belt was on, she braced herself for a bumpy ride, but one didn’t happen. Other than the press of acceleration which nearly overwhelmed her, the ship didn’t seem to have any problems rising right up into the sky. A view of the clouds quickly changed to the darkness of outer space.

  “Well, now that we’re up here, I suppose we should try to get our passengers back,” Linnid sighed. “If I don’t take them home, the whole mission will have failed and Dad will never give me a ship of my own.”

  Maggie unstrapped herself and joined Linnid, sitting in the chair by her side. “That does sound kind of rough,” she agreed. “So, where are they?”

  “Spring Break,” she explained. “They booked rooms at a motel there, and they were all out part
ying when my brother called for help. Would you mind telling me what exactly has been happening here? What happened to Lobo’s leg, and why are we cutting the trip short?”

  “Well, sure, I’ll explain,” Maggie agreed. “But first, can I ask you something?”

  “Go on.”

  “Xenon told me that when somebody forms a blood-bond, people other than humans are able to see a glow. So, am I glowing right now?”

  “Bright and beautiful,” Linnid said, grinning. “I’d say you’re well and truly hooked. So, the real question is, how? I want details, sister.”

  “Sister?” Maggie smiled. “That’s something I’ve never been. But anyway, Lobo was riding around on a really dark evening, and I was on the way back from driving freight. I ended up hitting him with my truck, and somehow or other both of us were bleeding.”

  “And the rest is history,” Linnid agreed. “Except, why are you running now, and what were the two of you escaping?”

  “Agents involved in some sort of alien task force, apparently,” she shrugged. “I don’t know everything that’s going on, but Lobo seems pretty convinced that if these boys catch us, they won’t treat us very kindly. I think your best bet is to pick up your cargo and leave.”

  “We’re going to have to head for Florida to do it.”

  “And we’ll be doing it without Lobo’s help,” Maggie sighed. “I’m pretty sure that whoever is fixing his leg will knock him out with that narbloo. Last time it put him out all night.”

  “If the med-bot is repairing the leg, it could leave my brother out for an entire Earth day,” Linnid explained. “It won’t just set the bone, it will go in and regenerate the thing. It takes a while, but once it’s done the leg will be as good as new.”

  “How long will it take us to get to Florida?”

  “We have to fly outside of the radar, and it’s all the way across the country,” Linnid considered. “But in this ship? I’d say three hours, maybe four tops. I’ve engaged a cloak to make us look like an airplane. Maybe you should get some rest while you wait, eh? You look like you could use some sleep.”