Perilous Hunt: Fallen Empire, Book 7

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Alisa?” Leonidas asked softly.

  “Yes?”

  “Thank you.”

  For having horrible timing and decision-making abilities and almost getting him killed on an operating table on an abandoned station in the middle of a remote asteroid belt? Her smile might have been bleak, but she forced herself to offer it, regardless. “You’re welcome. I’m glad you’re alive and hope your recovery is swift and painless.”

  “Yes.” Leonidas looked down at his underwear again. “Tomorrow, I hope to wear pants.”

  Chapter 11

  With a plate in hand, Alisa knocked on Leonidas’s hatch. The Nomad had a couple of hours before it would reach the big orange asteroid, and she wanted to check on him. She’d already looked for him in sickbay, but Alejandro and Tiang had apparently sent him to spend the night resting and recovering in his own bunk.

  “Come in,” came Leonidas’s muffled invitation.

  Alisa stepped into the dim cabin, hoping she hadn’t woken him up. He probably needed a lot of good sleep—she hoped the Alliance would leave them alone long enough that he could get it.

  Leonidas lay in bed, his dark hair tousled, a muscled arm across his blanket, the rest of him hidden, save for one bare foot that stuck out at the end. She smiled fondly at him, feeling the urge to kiss him, but it would be too soon for that. Especially since it wasn’t a particularly platonic kiss that came to mind.

  “Lights,” he murmured, and the dimness lessened.

  “You don’t have to turn them up on my account. I hear you’re supposed to be sleeping.”

  “I wanted to see what you were carrying.” He sounded hopeful. Alisa wondered if the doctors had let him eat anything yet.

  She walked the plate over to the fold-down desk, set it where he could reach it, and sat on the edge of his bunk. “Tiang said I could bring you brain food to help heal your neurons. Like liver and oily fish and raw egg yolks.”

  “Oh?” With his head on the pillow, he couldn’t see the top of the desk, though his enhanced nostrils could probably tell that she hadn’t brought any of those things.

  “I asked Beck to make triple-chunk chocolate cookies instead.” Alisa would have liked to make the cookies herself, but she hadn’t dared leave the autopilot for long while they were cruising through an asteroid field. She had waited until the Nomad was passing through a relatively clear section before coming down to visit Leonidas.

  His second “Oh?” was much more enthusiastic.

  He started to push himself up, but she laid a hand on his chest, pressed gently, and handed him a cookie. Had he truly wished to rise, she couldn’t have kept him down, but he lowered himself back to the pillow without a fight. He had to be wiped out after that surgery.

  “Thank you,” Leonidas said, accepting his prize with a smile.

  “You’re welcome.” Alisa decided that it wouldn’t be appropriate to peel his blanket back so she could leer at his muscles while he ate, but she did leave her hand on his chest, again feeling gratitude that he had survived that debacle. If he hadn’t, she did not know what she would have done. Except blamed herself. Forever. “I’m glad you made it through,” she said quietly, not bothering to quell the emotion seeping into her voice.

  “Me too.” He gazed up at her while he ate his cookie. “Your hair is nice.”

  “Uh?” Alisa had been about to ask if he had watched the station’s shuttle bay footage, but the unexpected compliment derailed her, especially since her hair was pulled back in its usual braid, rather than arranged in some flattering style. She hadn’t even washed it since they entered the asteroid field.

  She was on the verge of protesting that there wasn’t anything appealing about her hair right now, but noticed that his gaze had drifted lower, following her braid to where it draped over her shoulder and down to her chest. She wasn’t wearing anything sexy—she didn’t have anything in her wardrobe these days that would even qualify—but the T-shirt she had on hugged her features more than it disguised them.

  “Leonidas,” she said, a sense of delight coming over her, “are you ogling me?”

  His gaze jerked up to her face. “No, of course not,” he said, the words tumbling out, one hand coming up to grope the air, as if in search of answers. “I just hadn’t noticed before that you were—that you’re so—I mean, you were always pleasant to look at, but I didn’t realize that your curves were… curvy. And that I liked that.”

  She bit her lip, pleased by his fumbled admission. She fought the urge to tease him. His cheeks were already flushing red. Still, she couldn’t resist thrusting her chest out provocatively as she leaned over to grab another cookie. She thought about putting one in his hand, which was still lifted uncertainly, as if it didn’t know what it should be doing. Instead, she guided his hand to her chest, giving him something else to grasp, wondering if he would enjoy that now or let go in favor of the cookie.

  He opened his mouth, as if to protest this familiarity, but his gaze dropped to her chest again and he cupped her tentatively. A tingle of pleasure went through her as his thumb brushed her through her shirt, and she started having thoughts of peeling away his blanket again. Was he wearing anything under it? Her own cheeks warmed as the temptation to explore stole through her, but she reminded herself that he was likely wearing bandages and that this was not the appropriate time to explore.

  “Is this considered flirting?” Leonidas asked, a hint of wonder in his voice.

  “Mm, flirting usually involves words and playful gestures. Usually when you’re stroking a woman’s boob, you’ve moved on to the next stage.”

  “Oh? What happens in the next stage?” His gaze shifted from her chest to her face, more than wonder in his eyes now. An intensity had kindled there, a look she hadn’t seen from him before, though she had often longed to see it. “Are there fewer clothes?”

  “A lot fewer,” she whispered, her body heating from more than his gentle stroking. He had touched her before, but he had never looked at her like this. Before, he had touched her as a favor, to please her. Now…

  His hand shifted from her breast to slide down her ribcage to her waist, and then around to her back. She leaned closer to him, in case he wanted to push her shirt off. Instead, his hand trailed lower, tracing the contours of her butt. He smiled and cupped it.

  “This is nice too,” he said, squeezing lightly.

  She almost laughed at his analysis, wondering if he would pause to say that about each body part the first time they had sex. Which, she firmly told herself, should not be tonight. No matter how much she was enjoying his exploratory touches. She had no idea how long he would take to fully heal down there, but couldn’t imagine that anything vigorous was on the doctor’s orders. Still, that didn’t keep her from thinking about kissing him, especially since their faces were much closer together now, as she leaned into him, both of his hands now tracing her body, raising tingles of warmth wherever they touched. There was a smudge of chocolate on his upper lip. Maybe it wouldn’t be inappropriate if she cleaned it off for him. That would simply be polite. A favor.

  She had just decided that a short kiss wouldn’t hurt anything when he asked, “Can I see you naked?”

  Alisa blinked and met his eyes, surprised, if only because he had never asked anything of the sort before.

  “You’ve seen me naked before,” she said, not that she objected to the idea of giving him a show. The suns knew she had been waiting for him to want one.

  “That was before. I need to… compare.”

  “Like a science experiment?”

  His smile was a touch sheepish. “Yeah.”

  “Do I get to see you naked too?” She wriggled her eyebrows and slid the blanket down his chest a few inches, letting her fingernails graze the firm flesh underneath.

  “Yeah,” he said again, his voice a touch raspier this time.

  “Good. Let me just clean some chocolate off you first.”

  She leaned forward, fully intending to get her kiss, but th
e hatch clanged open.

  Alisa backed away so quickly she fell off the bed.

  “Alisa?” Leonidas asked, rising to one elbow.

  Before she could respond that she was fine, Admiral Tiang walked in with his medical kit and a syringe full of a disgusting-looking beige substance.

  “Greetings, Colonel,” he said, nodding to Leonidas, as if there was nothing unusual about finding Alisa on the deck in his patient’s cabin. “Captain.”

  Alisa flushed and pushed herself to her feet, feeling like she had been caught doing something naughty.

  “Tiang,” Leonidas said, his tone faintly exasperated.

  “I’ve prepared a vitamin, mineral, and phospholipid compound to assist with healing.” Tiang walked to the bunk, pausing to tut at the plate with disapproval.

  Alisa expected him to point out that triple-chunk chocolate cookies did not assist with healing. Instead, he plucked one from the plate and bit off a piece while handing Leonidas the syringe.

  Leonidas eyed the liquid-filled implement dubiously, but squeezed the contents into his mouth. Judging from the face he made, the compound was not as palatable as a cookie. Alisa had a feeling she wouldn’t want to kiss him until he had a chance to sani his teeth. Nothing like a medical visit to ruin a moment.

  “Are you experiencing erectile function yet?” Tiang asked brightly, looking at Alisa’s shirt.

  She realized the hem was rucked up, revealing skin. She wasn’t sure if it was rumpled from Leonidas’s roving hands or from falling off the bed, but she hurried to smooth it down. Between bringing cookies and, er, herself, she felt like a bad influence on a healing patient.

  Leonidas sighed, not looking like he wanted to answer the question, but Tiang withdrew a netdisc, fired up the holodisplay, and lifted a finger, poised to fill in some notes.

  “Just preliminary… stirrings,” Leonidas said.

  “Ah! Stirrings are promising, especially so soon.” Tiang grabbed another cookie and tapped in notes with one finger while he munched. “Shall we do a quick exam?”

  Leonidas gave Alisa a distressed look.

  “Captain?” came Yumi’s voice over the comm.

  Alisa used the interface on the wall to answer. “Yes?”

  “There are a couple of small asteroids wandering through the field in front of us. The autopilot beeped a few times. I’m not sure if that means it needs your attention or not.”

  “I’ll be right there.” Alisa patted Leonidas’s leg through the blanket. “We’ll have to continue our visit later.”

  “You never answered my question,” he said, as Tiang poked into his medical kit.

  She paused on her way to the hatch, trying to remember which question she might have left hanging. “The one about science experiments?”

  “Yes,” Leonidas said.

  “I’m certain that we can set it up so you can get your results.”

  “Science?” Tiang looked up from his kit with interest. “Results? I have excellent software for collating results and making graphs if you wish a copy.”

  “I don’t think that will be necessary,” Alisa said, “but thank you, Admiral.”

  Maybe she had spoken too soon. Leonidas had started stroking his chin thoughtfully at the mention of graphs. That was what she got for falling for a man who had been studying engineering before he turned to soldiering.

  • • • • •

  The big orange asteroid was a dud. As was a long, reddish one and one so pockmarked by craters that it looked like a dog’s chew toy. After breaking for a few hours of sleep, Alisa headed the Nomad toward the next asteroid on the list. She’d thought about joining Leonidas for that sleep, but they might have ended up doing unsanctioned science experiments instead, so she’d left him alone to recover and had dozed in the pilot’s seat.

  She checked the sensor station for the hundredth time. There were ships out there, imperial and Alliance, also searching the belt. She didn’t know if they were looking for the Nomad, or if they only wanted the staff, or maybe even the prince, but she veered away from them whenever they appeared. She zipped through the maze of asteroids as fast as possible so they would fall off her sensor monitor—and she off theirs. Unfortunately, each encounter—and flight—added hours to what was setting up to be a long search. Only a day into it, she wondered if she had brought enough food and water along.

  “How’s the hunt going?” Mica asked, ambling into NavCom with something steaming wrapped in a pancake.

  The smell of herbed eggs wafted up the corridor from the mess hall.

  “Nobody has shot at us in more than twelve hours,” Alisa said.

  “That can’t last. There are probably pirates behind that next asteroid.”

  “I see you’ve come to cheer me up with your pessimism.”

  “Do you need cheer? Your cyborg had his penis surgery. What more does it take to make you happy?”

  Alisa flushed, uncomfortable now that Leonidas’s problems were common knowledge on the ship. “I’d like to find my daughter,” she murmured, hoping to change the subject.

  Mica offered a rare sheepish look and muttered a, “Sorry.”

  Alisa waved her hand. She had only wanted to shift the conversation away from Leonidas, not make anyone feel guilty.

  “This is for you.” Mica handed her the stuffed pancake, paper wrapped around it so she could eat it with one hand. “Beck says you better finish it quickly. Leonidas woke up hungry and went through half of the food he’d prepared. The Starseers may have to start a ritual fast.”

  “I guess Tiang’s vitamin concoctions aren’t very filling,” Alisa murmured, though Mica wouldn’t know what she was talking about.

  The surgery must not have changed anything about Leonidas’s appetite. Thinking of the conversation he’d been having with Tiang about shortened cyborg life expectancies, Alisa found that sad. Tiang had never said he could alter his metabolism or anything else besides his sexual function, but she had hoped the surgery would resolve a couple of his other problems. Since Leonidas had nearly died during it, he might not be willing to go under the knife—or the nanobots—again in the future.

  Mica poked her, nodding at a huge asteroid looming ahead. Alisa veered around it and reminded herself that letting her mind wander wasn’t a good idea while manually flying through the field.

  “I’m thinking of sending a message to Admiral Hawk,” Alisa said.

  “I didn’t know you were buddies now.”

  “He doesn’t know either. But he’s the only one I can think of who might straighten out the Alliance and keep them from pestering us further.”

  “Maybe he wants them to pester us.”

  “If he’s still hoping to recruit Leonidas, he shouldn’t.”

  The asteroid field opened up, leaving Alisa space to breathe. She took a bite of the pancake wrap. Inside, she found, in addition to the perfectly cooked scrambled eggs, a Lebronazian spiced sausage that delighted her taste buds. While she ate, she tapped a number into the comm.

  “Do you know how to get in touch with Hawk?” Mica asked.

  “Not really. That’s Suyin Tiang’s office code.”

  “The office that existed in the burning building where the roof caved in after we landed on it?”

  “You don’t think she’ll be there taking comms?”

  “Uh.”

  “I’m sure she’ll check the messages,” Alisa said, opting for optimism. “We’re far enough out that all I can do is send a delayed message anyway.”

  “It’ll be extra delayed if the roof fell on the comm console.”

  Alisa hit record. “Dr. Tiang, this is Alisa Marchenko. I’m trying to let Admiral Hawk know that Admiral Tiang is here on the Star Nomad of his own free will. It seems there’s been some confusion about that among the Alliance ranks. I also wanted to let you know that, even though it’s not my primary concern at the moment, if we retrieve the staff, I’m open to working with the Alliance to find a suitable means of disposing of it, so that neither
the empire nor these rogue Starseers can use it to cause further trouble. Lastly, I’ve heard that Commander Tomich may be in some trouble, on account of me. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to clear his name.” She finished with a cheerful, “Thanks for your help, Doctor,” signed off, and took another bite of her breakfast.

  “I don’t recall Hawk mentioning that disposing of the staff was his primary interest,” Mica said.

  “But he also didn’t mention that he wanted to acquire it for the Alliance to use or study. After the Laikagrad earthquake, he may see the wisdom of getting rid of it.”

  “You’re being optimistic without reason again. We in the engineering trade call that being delusional.”

  “I’m confident something will happen as a result of that message.”

  “Sure, the Alliance will triangulate our position and show up at the next asteroid before we do.”

  Alisa lifted a hand, on the verge of shooing Mica out of NavCom, but she remembered a thought she’d had earlier when she had encountered Bravo Six in the cargo hold, discussing his research with the Starseers and asking if any of them were scientists.

  “If you don’t have any more pressing work,” Alisa said, “can you take a look at Six?”

  “At what?”

  “The android. Maybe you could fix some of his damage.”

  “An android is a sophisticated artificial intelligence with a physical composition more human-like than machine. You can’t hammer out the dents the way you can on a dishwashing robot.”

  “I feel guilty every time I look at him—and that missing eye.”

  “So get him an eye patch.”

  “Mica.” Alisa frowned.

  “What? It’s not like I have spare cybernetic eyeballs floating around engineering.”

  “Just… see what you can do. Please?”

  “Fine, fine, but your tool-tinkering Starseer dad would be more likely to fix an android.”

  “I don’t think he made it off the station before it blew up,” Alisa said quietly.

  “No? In the confusion, I hadn’t realized… Er, sorry.” Mica hesitated, then reached over and clumsily patted Alisa on the shoulder.