“If it’s so smooth sailing, why doesn’t everyone know about it?” Sabine asked, her anger visibly cooling.
“The first few entrepreneurs, smugglers if you will, who tried to map out the route didn’t make it. Once the route was mapped, the smugglers vowed to keep the route a secret within the Smuggler’s Guild,” Kristof explained. “Even with the route, it’s rough flying. A ship must have an abundance of power in relation to its mass in order to maintain course and speed in the outer sections of the run, otherwise the black hole’s gravity gets you. Besides, if a ship is too large they still won’t make it. Anything bigger than a corvette class ship ends up caught by one black hole or the other trying to get into the rift no matter how much power they have, so it would be virtually useless for most military ships or commercial haulers.”
Sabine seemed mollified by the explanation, though Kristof could tell that she still wasn’t thrilled by the plan. The run wasn’t one of his favorite routes either, but it was much preferred to tangling with Clovani cruisers and gravitic generators.
“How long to get through to the other side?” Sabine asked curiously, apparently willing to still go ahead with the plan.
“A day to get there, half a day to skirt the event horizon of the black hole to get into the rift, three days through the rift itself, and then another half day getting out. Once out we’ll be in the Vega sector, two days from your home and past all of the blockade’s traps. Piece of cake,” Kristof finished and winked at her.
Sabine didn’t answer, but instead unstrapped herself from her seat and left the cockpit. Kristof watched her go, wondering if he wouldn’t have done better to refuse this job despite Subat wanting this of him.
“She seems nice,” Max said out of nowhere. “If she doesn’t kill you in your sleep, that is.”
~*~
~8~
Sabine lay on her bunk listening to the hum of the ship and trying to sort out her chaotic mind. She couldn’t deny any longer that she was wildly attracted to Kristof, despite the fact that he was virtually a stranger to her and seemed to take pleasure in annoying her. Perhaps it was due to spending the past ten years of her life alone on a planet with mostly old men and women, with only brief periods where she spent time among people her own age when she was allowed home for state functions.
Kristof was everything she’d been taught to avoid in looking for a consort. Her position, first as a Princess of the Protectorate, and now as Queen, demanded that her consort be of noble birth and impeccable character. Both of these things she knew Kristof obviously was not, despite his misguided noble causes. She chided herself for even entertaining the thought. She also knew, however, that the men on Purannis who would be acceptable to the customs and traditions of her people for her to marry were mostly pompous, arrogant asses; or else they were high strung, fawning bootlickers. Neither type appealed to her in the least, and only served to make Kristof all the more appealing to her.
Sabine had spent her life always being different. Where the other women at court were big breasted, wide hipped blonds, she was dark haired and very athletic, with small breasts and a small waist. Where the other women attended parties and other social gathering, she had trained in combat and studied politics and war. It was true that much of what she’d learned would better prepare her to rule one day, as she had known must one day happen, but it had ill prepared her for the social aspects of her life in or away from court.
Perhaps that was why she found it so difficult to deal with these strange feelings about Kristof. Kristof was unlike anyone she’d ever been around, and her unfamiliarity had made her insecure. She was not accustomed to feeling weak around anyone, and he had that peculiar effect on her. She had wrestled and beaten men older and larger than herself, so why should she feel weak around Kristof? Was it that she wanted to feel that weakness? Was she that tired of always having to be strong? Of always being in control and yet being a slave to duty?
These thought kept going around and around in her head until she thought she would go mad. Frustrated, Sabine rose up from her bunk and headed for the cargo bay. Max had mentioned a small gym and sparring android were on board, and Sabine thought that a round or two of sparring might help to clear her head. If nothing else, the physical exertion would help her sleep.
As she climbed down into hold and walked past a row of crates, the sound of grunts and thuds echoed through the hold. Curious, Sabine crept forward and peaked around the corner of a curtained off area to find Kristof already sparring with the android. Sabine remembered the android’s name was Slag, and had thought it a curious name for an android, until she saw it now. Slag appeared to be a patchwork mixture of several different combat androids, all pieced together into one fighting unit.
Slag may not have looked like much, but as Sabine watched him spar with Kristof she could tell that he operated just fine. Slag and Kristof threw punches and kicks at each other that did not appear to be holding anything back. Each blocked expertly, moving back and forth from offense to defense, each looking for an opening. Sabine knew that sparring androids set at high levels, like this one appeared to be, rarely lost; so she was surprised to see Kristof block a punch from Slag and then somehow deliver a blow that removed the android’s arm from its socket. Slag fell to the floor and signaled for an end to the match.
“Very nice,” Sabine said approvingly as she approached the duo. She tried not to notice the sweat dripping from Kristof’s bare chest, but the scars there were hard to ignore. “What level were you two training at?”
Kristof helped Slag back to his feet and sent him off to repair his arm.
“Thank you,” Kristof answered breathlessly. “I didn’t know we had an audience. We typically train at Level 9.”
“I only caught the last minute or so,” Sabine replied, shocked at hearing Kristof had been training at a near lethal level. She herself normally only trained at Level 6 or 7, though Subat had assured her she could easily fight at a higher level. “I had come down here to make use of your android myself.”
“I fear I have broken him again for the time being,” Kristof confessed with a grin, “but if you’re still looking to spar, I can certainly oblige.”
Sabine had sparred with men before, so she wasn’t afraid, but the thoughts that had troubled her for the past few hours came roaring back. Plus, she had never trained with her own combat androids at a level over seven before, as Kristof had clearly just done. She pushed the thoughts away angrily and stepped onto the sparring mat. She wouldn’t be intimidated by this man, she told herself.
Kristof didn’t waste a moment and launched into an offensive that Sabine barely blocked in time. All thought suddenly slipped away as her training took over, and the next hour found the two of them fighting back and forth, their strikes and kicked becoming more and more vicious as each gave themselves over to the exercise, but she felt as if he were holding back.
“Stop holding back,” Sabine accused Kristof breathlessly, and he renewed his attack with a greatly increased intensity.
Sabine felt the sweat on her body, the beat of her heart, and realized she had never felt as alive as in this moment. Kristof’s punches and kicks came faster and harder, and she amazed herself in her ability to block and counter them. She knew that she had never been tested so furiously, not even by Subat, and pride crept into her thinking even as her heart raced faster and faster.
It was the sweat from her exertion that ultimately betrayed Sabine as it dripped into her eyes at a crucial moment. Temporarily blinded, she suddenly found herself with her arm twisted behind her back and her body trapped beneath Kristof’s as he threw her face first to the mat. She could feel his hot breath on her neck, feel the strength in his muscles as he held her tightly, and she could feel the press of his hips, and more, against her ass and driving her hard into the mat. She was lost in a wild flurry of thoughts and sensations as she lay trapped beneath him. The weakness she had felt before in his presence was now overwhelming her, even as the pride sh
e had begun to feel from the fight faded, when she realized he was talking to her.
“Submit?” Kristof asked her breathlessly, his voice thick from his heavy breathing.
“Yes,” Sabine whispered, that internal weakness shuddering through her as she tried to convince herself it was just the fight she was submitting to.
Kristof released her arm, but was slow to rise from her. Sabine almost whimpered in disappointment when their contact was finally broken. Breathless, she lay on the mat and wrestled with the thoughts in her head, too tired to physically move. He, too, sat breathlessly on the mat; his eyes watching her like a hawk might watch a mouse, she felt. That look did nothing to quell the thoughts racing in her head, threatening to consume her.
Finally Kristof rose to his feet and offered her a hand up. Sabine welcomed the assistance and slowly rose to her feet. She could see the storm clouds of thoughts behind his eyes as she looked up into them, and she knew he was equally troubled by thoughts of what had just happened.
“You fight very well. I can see Subat’s influence in your style. There’s a shower unit in my quarters,” Kristof told her after a while. “Why don’t you go ahead and clean up while I go give Slag a hand reattaching his arm?”
Kristof didn’t wait for an answer before heading off in the direction Slag had went earlier. Tired and confused, and yet beaming at his compliment, Sabine climbed the ladder to the second deck to retrieve her satchel, and then up to the third deck to shower. The hot water felt heavenly on her body, though she knew she would be very sore soon from their sparring session.
Showered and somewhat refreshed, Sabine left Kristof’s sparse quarters and looked around. Max remained at the ship’s controls, as he had since the ship had left the Sanctuary. Kristof hadn’t returned from below and she found that she wasn’t too disappointed. Her thoughts were a mess as it was without having him storm through them again. When she returned to the ladder she looked down into the cargo hold, but there was no sign of him. With the last of her strength, she climbed down the ladder to the second deck and climbed into her bunk, where she promptly fell asleep.
~*~
~9~
Kristof struggled to get Slag’s arm back into the socket with no luck. It appeared he would need to find a new rotary coupling within the shoulder assembly, he thought to himself, as the old one had shattered when he separated Slag’s arm from his body. It was doubtful even Max would be able to fix it this time, he lamented.
“Sorry, buddy,” Kristof said to Slag apologetically as he tossed the broken arm aside.
“It is ok,” Slag responded, his voice coming with a heavy metallic tone to it. “This one has served its function.”
Kristof laughed tiredly, amused as always at the android’s manner in which he referred to himself. More than anything he wanted a hot shower and his bed, but he knew Sabine would not have finished yet. He didn’t trust himself to see her just now. Their sparring session had grown more and more intense as it went on, and all of the barriers he had erected in his mind towards her had fallen away. When he had her pinned to the floor beneath him, it had taken every ounce of strength he’d had remaining to not take her then and there. He had felt in her body that she would not have resisted him, in fact she would have welcomed it, even as he struggled with his own arousal. The way she had said yes when he had asked her to submit had almost undone him.
There was no denying to himself any longer just how badly he wanted her, and Kristof knew that she was feeling and struggling with it just the same. He also knew that they came from different worlds and could never have a future together, so he struggled not to take advantage of their weakness in the here and now. He had no wish to dishonor her, either, and he knew Subat would surely kill him if he did. Again he wondered why Subat would have asked this of him, knowing just how similar Sabine was to Anasha.
Lost in thought, Kristof at last realized that Slag was watching him curiously.
“One wonders why humans fight so hard against serving their function.”
“Our ‘function’ is not as simple as that of an android,” Kristof answered, though he sensed a trap. Slag may look like a junk pile at times, but his insights were usually spot on, Kristof had learned.
“One thinks you humans should think less here,” Slag said as he tapped Kristof’s forehead, “and think more here,” and tapped Kristof’s chest above his heart. “You make too much of propriety, one thinks. One will shut down now, if one is not needed further.”
“Rest easy, my friend,” Kristof said as Slag powered down.
Kristof slowly made his way to the ladder and looked up. He could smell the faint scent of soap in the air and concluded that Sabine had finished her shower. He climbed the ladder, his muscles trembling with each rung, and paused to look upon the now sleeping woman in her bunk. With difficulty, he pushed his thoughts away as he resumed climbing until he reached the top and made his way to the cockpit. The swirling rainbow of hyperspace continued to slide by as Max monitored the controls with his watchful gaze.
“Any issues?” Kristof asked, though not really all that curiously.
“Yes,” Max replied irritated. “You humans are too loud when you couple.”
“We did not couple,” Kristof protested loudly.
“Then what a waste of all that grunting and groaning back there,” the android lamented.
Kristoff laughed tiredly and made his way into his quarters, where he sat on his bed. As much as he wanted a shower, his exhaustion was quickly catching up to him. On the floor before him he noticed that Sabine had forgotten her sweat soaked body glove after she had showered. He knew she must have been as exhausted as he was. He picked it up, intending to toss it into a nearby hamper. But first her scent caught his attention, and he breathed in the smell of her for a moment before tossing the sweaty garment into the hamper and collapsing backward onto his bed.
Even her scent aroused him, Kristof found. Memories drifted up from the distant past, and he could remember the same reactions around Anasha. The two women, while very different in demeanor, were also so much alike that Kristof was beginning to have trouble differentiating between them at times. It didn’t seem to matter that he had only known Sabine for a very short time. As he drifted off to sleep, he knew that this was much of the issue he was troubling over. Her scent still on his mind as he fell asleep, Kristof dreamed of the tiny woman who had brought such sudden chaos into his life.
~*~
~10~
The Devil’s Eyes lay off the bow of the Wraith in the distance as Sabine took in the awesome sight. Scientists for thousands of years had failed to explain how it was possible for the two small black holes to exist so close to each other without collapsing into a one single super black hole. The wondrous anomaly was spectacular to behold, but dangerous beyond that of a normal black hole. The two black holes created massive gravitational distortions throughout the surrounding sectors, causing most ships to give them a wide berth.
Except for the Wraith, Sabine mused. Kristof had told her that over the years smugglers had found a secret way between the black holes, many losing their lives during the mapping process. Even then, the occasional ship entered the run and was never seen again. Sabine found she could have done without that last bit of information, thoughtfully provided by Max.
Kristof and Max were busy with the navigation computer, plotting out their precise point of entry to take them between the black holes. Sabine remained quiet, since astronavigation was not her strong suit. Still, she would have preferred a different route if there had been one available to them. She had seen what happened to ships that were pulled from hyperspace unexpectedly by a gravitic generator and how their engines tended to overload and blow out. She doubted the Wraith’s engines would survive the resulting overload any better, even if they were apparently up to the challenge of navigating the black hole run. She definitely didn’t want to be caught dead in space as a Clovani cruiser bore down on them, so the choice before her was a simple on
e.
“How many times have you made this run?” Sabine asked quietly when Kristof looked up from the computer.
“Seven in total,” Kristof replied just as quietly. “Twice when I crewed on another ship, and five times with the Wraith.”
“And never any problems?”
“The last trip aboard the Star Fox was almost a disaster,” Kristof admitted sourly. “Captain Frosh was an arrogant bastard, and extremely impatient at times. We had made most of the trip through just fine, but he thought to save some time by jumping to hyperspace before we were completely clear of the gravitic fields at the outer edge of the run. Nearly tore the Fox apart when the hyperspace entry wormhole collapsed before the Fox had made it inside. That was when I decided it was time to strike out on my own, and I brought Max with me.”
“And it takes four days to make the trip through,” Sabine added, remembering his initial description of the trip.
“Yes. Once the course is locked in, the ship’s auto pilot will take us through,” Kristof said as he adjusted another control.
“Wait a minute. Why not just have Max pilot us through?” Sabine asked, suddenly suspicious again.
“Max and Slag will have to shut down for the duration of the trip through,” Kristof told her. “Something in the rift adversely affects android neural functions, causing them to temporarily go mad. We don’t know why, since it’s rather difficult to study a mad android safely.”
Sabine chuckled, but she felt no humor at Kristof’s declaration. She knew that it meant she and Kristof would be totally alone for the next four days, and she was so conflicted with herself concerning him that she almost wished she could shut down with the androids. She turned and left the cockpit and went below to the cargo hold to practice her forms as a way to take her mind off the days to come. Kristof and Max could finish their calculations without her looking over their shoulders.
The Smuggler's Ascension Page 5
