by Tracy Lauren
“V…” Dax reprimands. “That is not nice.” But I can’t help but notice there is a lightness to his tone, as if he is holding back laughter, and sure enough, when I turn to look at him his eyes are shining with mirth.
“Land here, we will wait for the others to join us,” he tells me, and I follow his instruction, bringing the ship down to make contact with the silty bottom of the canyon. Dax pops the hatch open and immediately Zair rushes our ship.
“You! You are insane! You could have killed me, and just look at what you have done to my ship!” she wails at us.
“And yet you live! I think you are forgetting to mention what an exceptional pilot V is,” Dax tells her.
“Exceptional pilot? Look at what she did to my ship!” she wails again. “I don’t know how she beat me, but I can’t believe— Wait! Are you sure she was piloting? I would never accuse you of causing damage to my ship, Dax, but perhaps you gave your traveling companion some assistance with speed and maneuvering?” Zair accuses.
“Are you suggesting I cheated?” I fume.
“I simply cannot believe that you are a pilot, or a good one at that!” Zair shouts at me. “I mean, just look at you!”
“Close the hatch, Dax,” I tell my ‘traveling companion’ as I luxuriate in my rage.
“One moment,” he tells me. “You are well, correct?” Dax calls to Zair. “No injuries?”
“My ship, Dax! Just look at my ship!” she responds. Dax gives her a little wave and lowers the hatch. I pull up on the controls, steering the ship up and out of the canyon while getting very close to the last hanging metal hoop.
“She doesn’t think I can do it,” I say as I pull up and towards that rusty and precarious hoop. I position our ship right over the thing before I give it a gentle nudge. Even through our closed hatch I can still hear the groaning of metal and then a loud snap. I turn our ship in time to see the metal hoop break and bounce down the side of the canyon only to land squarely on Zair’s ship. Dust and smoke rise into the air and we can see Zair working to wave away the cloud surrounding her. Dax erupts into laughter.
“Let me never cross you, V!” he says when he can finally breathe again.
Chapter 27
V
When we pull back into the hangar Dax is still hysterical with laughter and exhilaration. He sings my praises and I silently take his compliments, unsure of what to do with them. It wasn’t so different from that first time I flew. Sure, then it was about life and death and this time it was about something else… I don’t know what…my pride maybe? Or maybe it was simpler than that…maybe it was my rage at the wheel.
“People say that I am a risky pilot!” he says, hopping down from the ship and reaching up to help me down. He grabs a hold of me by my waist and instead of delivering me to the ground he pulls me into an embrace. “That was amazing, V,” he says, pressing his forehead against mine.
The roar of a nearby engine cuts out and Merkeem dismounts his small, motorcycle-like vehicle. Dax drops me to the ground to rush over to his friend. “Did you see that?” he asks, slapping at Merkeem’s arm.
“Everything, down to the destruction of the O ring and Zair’s ship!” he exclaims. The other ships filled with our audience are starting to arrive now, but not everyone looks as cheerful as Dax and Merkeem. When I see The Oscillion’s guards collecting debt, I understand why.
He’s applauding as he approaches us, The Oscillion, that is. “You continue to show me things I have never seen before,” he says, addressing only me. I shift under his gaze.
“Yeah? I guess that means you lost even more money on account of Dax and me,” I tell him boldly.
“On the contrary, sweet V, I would never bet against you,” he says simply.
“And you would be right not to!” Dax exalts before turning to some of the other men to sing my praises.
“You bet that I would win?” I ask The Oscillion, surprised.
“Of course.”
“I don’t understand, why?”
“Because you possess something not everyone has,” he tells me, lowering his voice and stepping close to me. I look up into his red and unblinking eyes, and though he smiles at me his expression is cold.
“I’m a good pilot?” I ask, unsure of myself. My voice is just barely above a whisper.
“You are a good pilot, your instincts behind the wheel are impeccable, but that was not what I was referring to.”
“What do I have that other people don’t?” I press, still interested in knowing what it is he sees in me.
He leans in to share the secret, coming that much closer. “Desperation,” he says with his lips pressed against my ear.
“Excuse me?” I ask, recoiling.
The Oscillion shrugs. “Some pilots go down with their ships,” he says, inclining his head toward a tow craft pulling Zair and her battered ship back to the hangars. “Others never would.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demand.
“I do not mean to offend you. It is a quality I admire, a quality that you and I share. Because you and I? We would do anything to win.”
“That’s not true…” I stammer. “I’ve just been trying to survive—”
“There is no need to explain yourself to me, sweet V—”
“Stop calling me that!” I tell him.
“That’s what he calls you, is it not?” The Oscillion asks, nodding his head toward Dax.
“You aren’t him,” I say firmly.
The Oscillion looks over at Dax, talking and laughing with the others. “What will you do when that ship goes down? Will you still do whatever it takes to survive?”
“What…what do you mean? Is that some kind of a threat?”
“There she is!” Zair bellows, hopping down from the tow craft and making a beeline for me. Before I know it, Dax is at my side and The Oscillion has slinked away to watch from the shadowy corners of the hangar. I grit my teeth and straighten my back. The Oscillion just gave me a fresh dose of rage and I’m starting to enjoy dwelling in that emotion. Poor Zair doesn’t know what she’s about to get into.
“Whoa, Zair,” Dax says, putting his hands up to stop her advance on me. “Are you this angry every time you get beat on the courses? Let it go, tomorrow is always another race.”
“Protecting her, are you, Dax? And driving for her too, no doubt!” she tells him before turning to the crowd. “This is crap and you all know it! This creature has never even been on Quar before and they expect you all to believe that she beat me fair and square?”
Some of the crowd murmurs their disbelief and I side step past Dax to get to Zair. I push her hard on her shoulders and she stumbles back a few steps before she steadies herself.
“I don’t give a fuck what you think, all that matters is you lost and I won.”
“How dare you touch me, you disgusting thing!” she hisses, and the crowd gasps their shock at her words. “Oh, come on,” she says to them all, exasperated. “Look at her! She’s no goddess!”
“How long are you going to cry about losing, Zair? You’re making a fool of yourself and honestly, I have better things to do today than to listen to you bitch,” I tell her.
“I’ll bet you do!” she scoffs, looking Dax up and down. “You might be able to help her on the courses, Dax, but no one can help a thing like that in the bedroom. I’ll always have her beat in that department and you know it, don’t you?” She turns back to me to add the cherry on top, “No matter how hard you try, he’ll always be comparing a timid little thing like you to a real female like me.”
“I’ll show you timid, you dumb skank—” I say, and this time I actually do grab a heavy metal tool from a rolling cart and raise my arm to swing it at her. Dax grabs me on the wind-up, though.
“Zair, back off. V won. She beat you. Move on,” he says gravely.
“I refuse to believe—”
“Believe it, she has you bested in every sense. It is time you go.”
“One last challenge,
” The Oscillion calls out.
“Oscillion! Enough! We do not need the females shedding blood to prove a point!” Dax growls.
“They want a physical competition, Dax, who are you to get in the way of that?”
“I am—”
“V’s traveling companion?” The Oscillion finishes for Dax. His tone seems to convey just how little weight that title holds. “How about a test of strength?” The Oscillion suggests.
I throw down the alien tool and it clatters on the ground loudly, echoing in the otherwise silent hangar. “Whatever it is, let’s do it. I’m done having her try and excuse away the fact that I beat her.”
Dax looks at me, his eyes unhappy and searching my resolved expression. I don’t relent. “Fine! But my choice!” he bellows. “Another race. Whoever can get to the top of the loft quickest wins! But after that, we are done with this competition!”
“How is that a test of strength—” Zair challenges.
I scan the room quickly, focusing on the loft. Immediately, I notice a rope and pulley that leads up to the second level. The pulley is twice as close as the stairs. “I’m in,” I say.
“I still do not agree that this race will measure strength,” Zair complains.
“Are you in or not, Zair? If not, let this craziness go,” Dax insists.
“I’m in,” she huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.
I see the amused Oscillion whisper to his guard, who immediately begins collecting more bets from our onlookers. I narrow my eyes at him. I’m going to show all these sons of bitches.
“Okay! Females, line up here, at the far end of the hangar,” Merkeem tells us. “When I whistle, the race begins, first to set foot on the loft wins. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” we both say.
“At the ready?” he asks, and we nod in response. A piercing whistle echoes through the hangar, and Zair and I both break into a sprint. Zair makes a beeline for the stairs, but I head for the pulley. I grab onto the two ropes and begin my ascent. I’m halfway up before I even hear Zair’s boots hit the metal steps. Soon after I swing my leg over the railing and I’m able to walk to the top of the stairs to meet Zair there as she huffs her way to the top. The aliens below holler and cheer, while Zair hisses in displeasure and flicks her scales at me before turning on her heel and storming out.
And suddenly I'm feeling a bit cocky, so I head back over to the rope and pulley and climb out onto it again. I do a quick inverted arabesque to the sound of cheers and whistles, before I turn myself upright and descend.
I’m smiling when I reach the bottom, but it quickly fades when I run head on into Dax’s chest. I look up into his usually laughing eyes, only to see a deep frown etched across his features.
“Everyone out!” he bellows, and his tone is so serious, even The Oscillion listens.
Chapter 28
Dax
The room clears quickly, and Merkeem slides the massive door shut when he leaves, causing everything to darken dramatically when it slams shut. Light still filters through in ribbons between rusted and deteriorating cracks in the metal exterior of the hangar, illuminating the swirling dust particles in the air.
“What?” V demands, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.
“What? What? What has gotten into you?” I shout. “Why this rivalry with Zair? Why pit yourself against her?”
V lets out a long breath of air before finally saying, “You just don’t get it, Dax, and I don’t think you ever will.”
“I never will understand you if you do not speak to me! I am not a mind reader, V! I thought today was all in fun, but I saw you…you were going to hit Zair!”
“Yeah, I was going to hit her! Did you hear what she was saying to me?”
“That is no reason to resort to violence!”
“Listen to you! Hypocritical much? How many people have you hit in your life?”
“This is not about me, it is about you! Tell me, V, how many people have you hit in your life?”
She crosses her arms again and looks away.
“Answer me!” I yell.
“None, alright! None!”
“But today you would have hit Zair, and not just with your fists, but with a weapon?”
“Yes! Yes, I would have hit her! I would have knocked her out and been glad for it if you hadn’t stopped me!”
“Why, V? This is not you!”
“You’re right! This is not me and it’s never going to be me again! Don’t you get it, Dax? Don’t you get what I’ve been through and what I’ll never get back?”
“You have a chance to start over, V, to be happy.”
“You’re asking me to be something I’m not and I just can’t do it!” she shouts.
“You think I want you to be something you are not? How can you even say this, let alone think it?” I demand, honestly perplexed at why she would believe such a thing. I love V, I love everything that she is and there is no way she can stand here right now and tell me I want her to be something else.
“You want me to be wild and free and happy and…and…all the things that you are. But that isn’t me! That wasn’t even me on Earth and it’ll never be me out here!” she snaps angrily. “So just stop! Stop trying to change me!”
I advance on her and she tries to turn away from me. But I will not allow it, not in this moment. No, she must look into my eyes and see how serious I am. “These are lies, V, and you know it! You are the one who speaks of changing, of being someone new. I want nothing more than for you to be yourself, no matter what that means. All I have ever wanted in life is you. I want you when you are sad, when you are angry, when you are lost. But make no mistake, I want you happy as well. I want to see you smile, and damn it, I want to be the one who makes you smile.”
“Oh, just stop with that!” she yells, wrenching herself from my grip.
“Stop what?” I exclaim, being pushed beyond confusion.
“You’re always making a joke out of flirting with me and I’m sick of it, Dax! It’s mean and it’s hurtful and I just can’t take it anymore!” And though her voice rises an octave, there are no tears in her eyes now, only frustration and anger.
“Making a joke? What are you talking about, V? I am flirting with you! I am constantly flirting with you! It is practically the only thing I do!” I shout, exasperated.
She struggles to find her words, her lips move, but nothing comes out. Then she shifts suddenly into a defensive posture before saying, “Well, you must be doing it wrong then.”
“Wrong?” I laugh now, raking my hands over my face. “How can my flirting with you be wrong?”
She huffs a few times and then tries to explain. “You treat me like I’m… Like I’m your best friend’s sister.”
“I do not understand, I treat all my friend’s families with kindness—” I begin.
“No! You aren’t getting it, Dax! You treat me like I’m untouchable! Cute and sweet, but not anything you’d take home to keep your bed warm at night. Not like the men at the bar treat Zair. I don’t want to be treated like a delicate flower. I want to be flirted with like a woman—a sexy, desirable, grown-ass woman.”
“Believe me, you do not want to be treated like the men at bars treat Zair—” I assure her.
“Don’t tell me what I want!” she insists.
I look at her…my poor V, just as exasperated as I find myself. My beautiful goddess who does not understand how badly I want her. All this time I have been trying to show her patience and she has been dreaming of passion. I advance on her again. Slowly this time, stalking my prey. “A grown woman would not wait around for a man to please her,” I say coolly.
“Is that right?” she scoffs at me, but she notices that look in my eyes and the anger suddenly melts from her face. She is apprehensive, as if just realizing how plainly we have been speaking to one another. Today her walls have come down and her secrets have come out.
“A grown woman would find a way to please herself,” I tell her, continuing my a
dvance. V backs away until she bumps into the cool metal of a small derelict craft, collecting dust in the hanger. Still, I continue my advance until her back is pressed tight against the ship.
“What are you—” she asks nervously…breathlessly. I grab her hands and pull them up over her head, repositioning my grip to pin her wrists in place with one hand, allowing my free one to travel down her body. She sucks in a gasp of air when my palm runs roughly over her breast. I stop finally at her rounded ass and knead the flesh there, pricking it lightly with my claws.
