by Shara Lanel
Ju was behind me swearing up a storm. Freddy yelled out, “Won’t someone bleedin’ tell me what this is all about?” Ju, and everyone else, ignored him until he made some comment about her shapely ass. For this he earned a kick in the forehead, since they were both on hands and knees.
By the time we made it to the engine room, basically falling out of a small hole into a big man-made cave, Nate and Daed were having an intense argument. Freddy came up next to me and whispered, “What the fuck?”
“Nate said something about the core blowing us to Pluto.” Oops, probably shouldn’t have told them that. Ju and Tracha gasped, and Freddy looked slightly concerned. It was hard to be worried and maintain his blasé attitude at the same time. Gave him kind of a comical expression.
We inched closer so we could hear the argument over the clunking and roaring of the engine, which was also damn hot. Sweat dripped from my forehead into my eyes. I swiped it away and listened intently.
“I was worried you’d fire me,” Daed yelled.
“And you think I won’t fire you now?” Nate’s arm movements drew attention to his agitation, not to mention his fiery-red face. This must be bad for him to lose his calm so completely.
“I’d hoped it would hold. I did my best, but it didn’t fit.”
“If you’d told me, we would have stayed at the space station until we found the proper piece.”
Daed took a deep breath, though his hands formed fists. “I didn’t find out until we were in space.”
That’s when Nate turned to glare at Ju. “And why didn’t you put the part in place until after we’d launched?”
Ju flinched. Daed whacked Nate’s arm. “Don’t blame her. It was my choice.”
“And a bad choice it was.” Nate towered for a moment, then he took a conscious step back. I was so proud of him for refusing to pummel Daed, though he looked quite tempted. Daed, on the other hand, didn’t seem quite ready to back down. Maybe it was a sense of self-preservation.
“How bad is it?” Nate asked, keeping his hands flat at his sides. “Will it hold together, or do we need to turn back?”
Now I was ready to pounce on Ju’s boyfriend. I didn’t want to turn back. We were so close, relatively speaking. I didn’t want us to lose any distance.
Daed turned to the monitors. “I think if Tracha helps me adjust some of the settings, we should be fine until the next space station.” The next space station was actually on the far side of the moon, within Earth’s orbit, so close to Earth that I’d be able to see the atmospheric layers.
Nate gave a curt nod. “Do it.” He turned to Tracha. “Keep me up to date.”
“Yes, sir,” she said. Then she hesitated, as if rushing to Daed would make her a traitor.
“Get a move on, girl. Do you want us to be drifting around Mars as our life supports fail?”
That got the girl moving, though I hoped he was exaggerating.
Chapter Seven
Nate paced the lounge as Helena played the vid game she’d been glued to for the last couple of weeks. Freddy manned the helm to give Nate time to relax, but he couldn’t relax. The sound of the engine had changed again just as they neared the moon. He could hear it from anywhere in the ship. Tracha and Daed swore they’d make it to the space station, but Nate had serious doubts, and the closer they flew to the moon, the more he pictured Helena with the de Lunas. The memories were maddeningly arousing, and that was dangerous on so many levels.
“Nate, don’t you want a turn?”
“No, that’s okay.” He observed the curve of her neck from petite chin to shoulders. He wanted to kiss her there, throw her back on the cushions and fuck her senseless, but the sound of the damn engine held him back. Or was it the image of the de Lunas pleasuring her that stopped him? He’d feel like a fake if it was that memory turning him on instead of her firm, willing body. He wished he could talk to her about it, but what would she think? He hoped that if there was one thing she’d gained during this trip it was a sense of self-worth. How could he bring up the ménage when that might evoke shame?
“Nate, sit. You’re making me nuts.”
“You’re playing your game.”
“But I can’t concentrate with you walking back and forth. Just sit. We can find something on the satellite if you’d rather.”
Nate plopped onto the cushions, but immediately felt antsy. Way too wired. He needed a punching bag. Some of the higher-end ships had full gyms with virtual sports rooms. He’d love to challenge Freddy in a virtual shooting range, just to let off steam and maybe whoop his ass while he was at it.
Helena clicked off the screen and faced Nate. “Spread out on your stomach.”
“What?”
“Do it, flyboy. That’s an order. Oh, take your shirt off first.”
“Um, this is the public area, you know.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter.”
Well, that was the problem, wasn’t it? And what was he supposed to think when she wanted him prone and shirtless? He complied, though, feeling a rush of blood to his groin. Face down, he tried to relax. “I’m ready to jump out of my skin here.”
“No worries. I’ve got the cure.”
She rubbed her palms together for a few seconds, then laid them atop his shoulder blades. Warmth sunk through his skin. Slowly, Helena moved hands and fingers across his back. She paused whenever she hit a particularly tense muscle, kneading it thoroughly before moving on. Nate’s eyes drifted closed, and for once he was able to shut out the sound of the ill engine. He was grounded through Helena’s meditative touch and her Zen-like humming. His lower back was really tight, so she spent several minutes focusing on it, alternating between fierce kneading and long, steady strokes. She even massaged his scalp with light, scratchy touches. Nate thought about a cat purring, because that was how he felt, completely out of his body, completely at peace.
Until the explosion.
Helena ceased humming, but she kept her heated hands on his back. “Take a deep breath first,” she murmured. “And get up slowly.”
He obeyed. Probably a good thing, or the vertigo would have knocked him prone again. A touch of it made him stand up just as slowly. “What’d you do to me?”
“Just chilled you out.”
“More like heated me out. I feel like lava.”
Helena grinned. “A talent I have.”
He smiled briefly, squeezed her hand, then took off for the engine room. He hoped Daed and Tracha were already down there, or he’d wrap his hands around their scrawny necks when he found them.
The heat blasted him the moment he dropped down onto the metal floor. He spied Daed’s feet sticking out from under the survoactuator while Tracha typed frantically on one of the wall computers. Since she was most accessible, Nate zeroed in on the female first. “What’s going on?” he asked in the calmest voice he could manage. Even that made her jump.
“Um, um ... I think we’re in trouble.”
“Elaborate on that statement, please.”
“I think if we don’t land immediately, we are going to be blasted to into the next galaxy.”
Down here in the core of the ship, they couldn’t see the broad side of the moon, but Nate had seen it earlier on the flight deck. It would take them hours to circle the big rock.
“When you say immediate, can we hold off until the other side of the moon?”
“Um, um ... No.”
Nate swore and reached for Daed’s feet to drag him out of hiding. As soon as he could see his face, he barked, “Well?”
“We’ve got to land now, and even that might not go well.”
Thank Zeus that Helena had given him that massage, or he might’ve been in cardiac arrest by now. “You’re positive that nothing else can be done?”
“Sir, I really don’t want to be blown to the asteroid field. I’m telling you how it is. Land now.”
“Fuck.” Nate stalked across the floor and pulled himself into the shaft. Once he reached the normal-sized pathways, he ra
n toward the bridge. He was sure Helena would be close on his heels, since she’d seen him speed by. On the main deck, he saw Freddy whistling with his hands behind his head. Grr, if only he could smack him just for fun. Instead he said, “We’re in trouble.”
Freddy rotated the chair. “What kind of trouble?”
“We’ve got to land immediately. Do you know anything about the moon tribe?”
“I’ve heard stories.”
“Well, they’re most likely true. I need you to get ready for an attack. I don’t know what we’re going to need to do to get this ship repaired. In the meantime, we’re going to have to keep from becoming the de Lunas’ unwilling dinner guests.”
“I’ve heard the pleasure can’t be matched.”
“Did you also hear that you’ll be dead afterwards?”
His eyes widened, and he finally took his arms from behind his head. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. I’ve had a couple of run-ins with them.”
“So you survived?”
“With weapons.”
Freddy leaped to his feet. “Can I arm Helena and Ju?”
“Definitely. Helena should have some resistance to them by now, but Ju has none. However, she should know her way around a laser better than Helena.” Nate had lowered himself into the pilot’s seat as he was talking, flipping off the autopilot and entering in new coordinates. The dark of the moon filled the view shield, the craters lit by the lights from various settlements. Already someone from the moon was comming them, offering greetings and asking their business. Nate formulated his response in his head while adjusting dials and digi-readings. How could he ask for help while making it clear they weren’t available as entrees?
Freddy had left the room by the time he’d pressed the com button to talk.
* * * * *
“What’s happening?” I asked Freddy the moment I saw him in the hall.
“We’re landing now.”
“Excuse me?” I grabbed his arm, because he seemed like he was going to rush by me.
“Now. On the moon.”
“No fuckin’ way! The de Lunas are there!” And suddenly I had the freakiest feeling: a rush of heat to my pussy at the same time a clench of fear slammed my gut.
“Yes, for which I’m told to prepare weapons. I better be getting some compo for this. I was not paid to be a digger.”
“Whatever that is.”
He shook his head without answering me and continued to mumble as we walked down the hall. I understood less and less of what he was saying, but when I turned to head in the other direction, he grabbed my arm and tugged me along. Okay, guess I was going with him..
“Where are you taking me?”
“To the guns.”
“I don’t know how to shoot.”
He stopped, and I slammed into his arm. “I thought you’d killed someone.”
“Did Nate tell you that?”
“No, I researched.”
I let out a deep breath. I never would’ve trusted Nate again if he’d divulged that detail about me. “You were able to find that out with research?”
“Yeah, I just searched Earth databases for you.”
“Well, that is deeply disturbing.”
“They weren’t exactly legal databases. Not just anyone can get that info. No worries.”
This did not reassure me. Freddy opened the hatch to his bunk and climbed down the ladder. I followed him. Of course, even if he showed me how to shoot, that wouldn’t stop me from being bowled over by the moon people’s pheromones. Once I dropped to the floor, I asked, “Didn’t the database tell you how I killed the person?”
“No, that required another level of clearance, and I didn’t bother with that.” He flipped open the top of an oversized trunk. “I just wanted to know who on this crew could take care of themselves.”
“Well, I didn’t shoot him.”
He grunted. Inside, the trunk was a jumbled mass of metal and alloys. Upon closer inspection, I could make out the butts and nozzles of an assortment of weapons. They appeared to be in pieces. Freddy pulled a couple of pieces out and snapped them together in seconds. He handed a gun to me and proceeded to pop together several more in no time. Wow. I was in the presence of a weapons master. All humor and flirtiness had left his face as he snapped together his arsenal. I admired the strength in his jaw and the flexing muscles in his forearms.
Finally he looked up, but still there was a glassiness in his eyes, as if he was in a different place mentally. “Let me show you how to aim. Unfortunately, there’s no safe place on the ship to practice firing.” He grinned for just a moment. “So don’t squeeze the trigger. We don’t want to blow a seal or have a ricochet blasting us.”
“Gotcha,” I said. Of course, since I wasn’t sure how to squeeze a trigger, I also wasn’t sure if I could avoid it.
Freddy demonstrated stance, then wrapped his arms around mine to show me how to steady the weapon. I was actually feeling guilty and somewhat lonely, here with this sexy guy. I wanted it to be Nate with his arms around me. I wanted to see his welcoming and reassuring eyes and feel the connection I seemed to have with him. This bugged me, though. I found Freddy attractive. Why didn’t I enjoy his presence as much as Nate’s? I didn’t have any special arrangement for exclusivity. I wasn’t mated. More importantly, I’d be staying on earth, and Nate wouldn’t.
Rather than confronting this puzzle, I concentrated on Freddy’s instructions. Dial this for stun, press that for kill, recharge, safety, taser distance setting. Raise your hand if you think I’m going to remember all this crap.
“Can’t I just stay on the ship?” I asked in an overly whiny voice.
Freddy smiled, looking slightly closer to normal. “Guess that depends on Nate’s plans. Maybe he’s worried they’re going to come on board and drag us off.”
“Maybe. You know you’re not raising my confidence level at all.”
“Gee, sorry.” Yeah, he sounded it. Not.
The ship lurched, catching us both off guard. I dropped my gun and toppled. Freddy caught me and managed to hang on to his weapon. Oh, yeah, much better training than I.
“Okay, I’m going to the bridge now,” I said, forcing the quiver out of my voice. “Should I take one of these to Nate?”
Freddy let go of me, once he was sure I wasn’t going to fall over. Then he handed two lasers to me that had the word GLOCK emblazoned across them. “For Nate.” He’d gone back to Rambo mode, and his words were barely more than a grunt. “And this is yours for your hip.” He once again showed me how to make sure it wouldn’t fire whilst strapped just above my ass. “And this is for your ankle.” The mini-holster and mini-gun were a matching set, and they itched like hell. “Keep this on always. And one more thing.”
“I’m going to fall over if you load me up anymore.”
“This.” It was the size of a pen with only one button. He pressed the button. A beam shot out three feet. Gee, glad I hadn’t bent any closer for a look-see. “This is a laser that cuts and burns. Great for frying eyeballs and getting people to back off. Usually missed in a search. This is often best hidden in plain sight, the more obvious, the less suspicion.”
He pressed the button again, and it went back to looking like a pen. I slipped it into my pants pocket, hoping I wouldn’t accidentally lean against it and slice my leg off. “Can I go now?”
“Yeah. I’ve got to arm the rest of the crew.” His eyes still had that off look to them. I hoped he’d return to normal Freddy mode after our little detour to the moon.
* * * * *
“And why does our moon have such a boring name? Moon. I mean, that’s just what it is, not a name.” Helena had no problem chattering in time of crisis, Nate noted as he gripped the manual steering stick. They’d gone into a twirl for a moment, but now were heading at a ninety-degree angle for the moon’s surface. Not really what he’d been hoping for. A bit of a level glide would be better.
“I mean, Triton and Charon are at least names and not
just definitions.”
Nate pulled back on the stick, leaning back as he did so, almost falling out of his chair as he wrestled to bring the ship’s nose up. The rest of the crew was MIA from the bridge, probably hoping to miss the full-screen view of crashing into a crater. The ship finally responded, barely, but now he could see horizon as well as rock. An improvement.
“I suppose we could say Luna is the name, but doesn’t that just mean ‘moon’? So really it’s still just a definition.”
At least she was strapped into a chair with a crash helmet on, but what was with the incessant talking?
She’d brought the guns and explained how decked out she was and how she wondered what good that would do if she breathed in the pheromones. Nate had explained that she should have a bit of resistance built up now. Tracha and Ju had no experience with the moon people. He’d convinced Tracha to stay on the ship with Daed to work on the core. He’d find the part himself this time, but they might need to do some other damage control after the crash landing. Ju refused to cooperate, even for her safety. She was gung ho to be at Nate’s side. Stubborn female.
“I think Europa is my fave moon name, though. Sounds exotic. Or maybe it just reminds me of Earth. You know, Europe. Have you ever been to France or Italy? I went to Italy for a cooking class once. Fab pasta.”
Nate grunted, not in answer to her question, but in argument with the ship’s insistence on pointing straight down. More rumbles from deep in its belly were not a good sign. Each time there was rumbling or booming, he lost a little bit more control of the ship. He wished he hadn’t sent Freddy away from the bridge so fast. He could have used some relief. His biceps burned and his thighs cramped with the strain of holding this obstinate stick for two hours.
“Nate, are we going to die?”
The sudden change in Helena’s tone shocked an answer out of him. “Of course not.”
