VirtuallyYours

by Caroline McCall

  The wind picked up, gusting along the beach, scattering a fine film of sand. White topped waves dashed against the shore, splashing their feet with icy water. Dark clouds rolled toward the shore. Charley looked at the leaden sky. There was going to be a storm.

  She had never seen Marc like this before. This grim, unshaven man was utterly different from the one who had been so shyly anxious to befriend her. It was as if some of the old Marc was fighting to come through. As the rain began to pelt down, he grabbed her hand. “Come, Charley, I’ve made us some shelter.”

  It was like something from an old movie, a blue-tiled, clapboard beach house, surrounded by a wide veranda. They shook off the rain as they raced up the front steps and hurried inside. Broad wooden planks floored the house throughout and large comfortable chairs were scattered around the room. A half-drunk mug of coffee sat on a side table, as if the owner had left the room only minutes before. Charley looked around her. The level of detail was breathtaking. This was more than a virtual template. The house felt oddly real.

  Charley heard the sound of footsteps on the wooden stairs and Marc returned with some towels and motioned her to sit so that he could dry her hair. When he was satisfied, he tossed the towel aside and dragged his fingers though the tangled mass. Marc’s touch was gentle, but oddly intimate. Maybe Pete was right, maybe in his own strange way, Marc did have feelings for her.

  “I do not wish to disobey my father, but I cannot let him control my life here. I have done as you requested, Charley.”

  The mirror over the fireplace vanished and Marc displayed the schematics of the ship. “There are twelve Vashtar on board the Pegasus. I have monitored their com links. There is another craft following our course, a Delta class transporter. Communications between the two ships would suggest that it belongs to the Vashtar.”

  “So even if we managed to gain control of the Pegasus, we’d still have to fight off the other ship?”

  “Precisely, Charley, but their crew is small and they will also have to stop for provisions. I have examined the course the Vashtar have plotted. There are several planets with life forms suitable for their hunting needs. The first is two days from here. The second planet is a day from Tarsus Four.”

  Charley looked at the display. Each day they were moving further and further away from Earth. If the Vashtar were hungry, they would head for the nearest planet. “So we have forty-eight hours to come up with a plan to defeat them and take back the Pegasus. How are we going to be ready on time?”

  “I believe I can provide a sufficient distraction while Pete prepares the tech crew for battle.”

  Charley raised an eyebrow. This new Marc was far too human for her liking. If he turned into another caveman like Pete, she was going to trade herself to the Vashtar. “What did you have in mind?”

  His brown eyes sparkled with amusement “I’m going to be a very bad Array and you’re going to fix me.”

  Great, now he wanted to play doctors and nurses. If they got out of this alive, she was swearing off men for good. Well, for at least six months anyway. The amusement faded suddenly from Marc’s face. “Charley, you must return to the bridge immediately.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “The Vashtar have discovered an unauthorized communication with Earth last night. Lieutenant Kirez has summoned the crew to witness a punishment.”

  When Charley pulled off her visor, the bridge was empty, except for Professor Liston. “Ensign, did you request the AV channel for Captain Tinar?”

  Charley brushed him aside. “I don’t have time for that now. Where have they taken Pete?”

  “It’s best if you don’t go there, my dear. The Vashtar can be quite bloodthirsty.”

  There were times that her height was an advantage and this was one of them. Charley approached the Professor until they were to eye. He backed away until he stumbled against the wall. A nervous tic hammered beside his left eye.

  “Believe me, Professor, you don’t know the meaning of the word. Now where the hell are they?”

  “S-s-storage bay four.”

  Charley raced toward the storage bays. As she approached, she could hear the guttural roars of the Vashtar. Don’t let me be too late. The tech crew huddled together against one wall. Eric’s injury was bleeding again and an angry red stain marked the sleeve of his uniform. Pete stood in the center of a circle of baying Vashtar. His left cheek had an ugly bruise. Blood from his injured face splattered down the front of his tunic. Pete bent his knees, bracing himself to receive another blow. The smiling lieutenant raised his fist again.

  “Don’t you touch him.”

  There was a shocked silence as Charley entered the circle. Pete grabbed her arm roughly and swung her behind him. Kirez stepped forward, a sadistic gleam in his eye. “Discipline your female, Alpha. Or I will.”

  Chapter Eight

  Pete looked around him. Kirez was still smiling, waiting to see what he would do. There was no way out of this. The Vashtar closed in, roaring at him. “Do it. Do it.”

  If he didn’t punish Charley, one of them would. What the hell was she doing here? He had warned her never to challenge them. Even with his tech enhancements, he couldn’t hope to protect her from all of them. Out of the corner of his eye, Pete could see the lieutenant’s hand closing into a fist. He rounded on Charley, looking pleadingly at her. Charley’s face drained of color. She nodded her head and closed her eyes. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t hit her. But if he didn’t, one of the Vashtar might kill her.

  “Human, we are waiting.”

  Pete felt a sudden pain in his chest where his heart should have been. Now there was a gaping, ugly sea of bitterness. Charley’s eyelashes fluttered open again. Her gray eyes stared steadily at him. She trusted him, but if he hit her, he would hurt her. Nothing else would satisfy them. Pete drew back his arm, his mouth forming a silent apology.

  “Stop this barbaric display.”

  At the appearance of the captain, the soldiers grew quiet. “A female may not fight a male. If she is injured, it will lessen her trading value.”

  As he unclenched his fist, Pete said a silent prayer of thanks for the captain’s business acumen.

  “Discipline her in private, Alpha, but do not injure her too much. I need her to fly my ship.”

  Pete caught an indignant glare from Charley and he flashed a warning glance, telling her to keep quiet. It was time to get her out of here. With that, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder, wincing as his injured back screamed for attention. “Stay down,” he hissed as she began to struggle.

  No one tried to stop him as he left the storage bay. The techies followed behind them. Eric was babbling hysterically while the others tried to calm him down. “Shut up, Eric. Go see if you can find a medi-kit.”

  He’d had better days. His back hurt like hell and Charley looked like she was going to kill him. When they reached the coms room, Pete dropped her onto the bed. Eric acquired some brandy and Pete took a grateful slug from the bottle, coughing when the fiery liquid raced down his throat.

  A leather-clad soldier appeared in the doorway, glaring at the techies. “There is a problem with the water dispensing system on level two. Get back to work.”

  Pete waited until they were gone before he spoke to Charley. “What the hell did you think you were doing back there?”

  The wounded expression on her face almost stopped him, but the anger simmering below the surface was ready to explode. “I gave you a direct order that you were not to engage the Vashtar. For God’s sake, Charley, they could have hurt you.”

  “Please don’t be angry with me, Pete. I couldn’t let them kill you.”

  Pete didn’t know what hurt him more, the pain from the beating or the pleading look in her eyes. “Ah hell, Charley, I’m not angry with you. I’m angry with myself. How do you think I felt back there, knowing that I couldn’t protect you?”

  Charley shook her head wordlessly. She must have been terrified and he was bawling her
out for trying to help him. Pete took another swig from the bottle. The blood on his back was beginning to congeal, sticking to his clothes, and it stung like crazy. “I better get cleaned up.”

  Charley watched as Pete searched in his kit bag and pulled the bloodstained tunic over his head. She gave a shocked cry when she saw his back. Fists couldn’t have made those marks. They must have beaten him with their weapons and some of the cuts were still bleeding. Pete had taken the brutal punishment for all of them and he must have been in agony when he carried her here. Her fingertips touched the marks gently. “What did they do to you?”

  “A little thing called the gantlet. The Vashtar wanted one of us to run through a line of them. It turned out to be me.”

  They had hurt Pete like this for sending a message to Earth. If their plan to take back the Pegasus went wrong, the Vashtar wouldn’t be content with a beating. They would kill all of them. Except her. They would need her alive to fly the ship until they reached Tarsus Four. Charley swallowed. She didn’t want to think about what would happen then. Maybe she didn’t have to worry about Pete finding out about her father after all. These last few days might be all that they would have together.

  Pete reached out to stroke her face. “Hey, don’t worry, Charley, we’ll get through this, I promise.”

  A sudden feeling of tenderness welled through her. Pete was the one who was injured, and he was trying to make her feel better. His thumb brushed along her cheekbone and she thought for a moment that he was going to kiss her. Charley felt suddenly shy of him and she pulled away. “Those cuts need to be cleaned.”

  “Are you offering to play nurse?” Pete’s tone was joking, but his eyes were serious.

  Charley searched through the medi-kit, trying to hide her flushed face. Grabbing a bottle of antiseptic and a sterile cloth, she headed toward the bathroom.

  “We can’t use all of the medi supplies. We might need them later. I’ll clean your wounds in the shower.”

  The tiny bathroom barely held both of them. Charley was thankful for running water. Most of the other ships only had sonic showers. Pete stripped down to his shorts. His almost naked body was beautiful. His skin was darker than hers was. A light sprinkling of springy hair covered his chest, trailing downward in a dark vee. Charley wanted to run her fingers along the ropes of muscles descending along his abdomen. Pete grinned when he caught her looking at him and she averted her eyes. She could feel her heart racing.

  Pete stepped into the shower and faced the wall. A spray of water ran through his hair, bouncing off the hard muscles of his shoulders. Charley ached to plant a kiss on his bruises, to slide her arms around him and feel his naked skin against hers. Instead, she dabbed at the cuts, cleaning the blood away. Pete gave a gasp of pain.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “Do you want me to stop?”

  “No.” His voice sounded choked.

  “Almost done.” Charley had just finished cleaning the last cut when she saw the mark just below his rib cage. Pete had been injured before, and badly too, from the look of the pale blemish. Her fingers pressed lightly against the tracery of scar tissue. “How did this happen?”

  “That’s a souvenir from my last visit to Tarsus Four. It was made by a shuriken blade—you know, a throwing star? Jake had to pull it out of me. Sometimes those things are tipped with poison.”

  Charley looked at the jagged white lines on his skin. Her heart flipped. She hadn’t known that Pete was one of the team who rescued the hostages or that he’d been injured. He could have been killed and it was all her fault, hers and her father’s.

  When Charley bent her head, planting a light kiss on the scar, Pete’s breath caught in his throat. His muscles tensed under her touch before relaxing again. Feeling bolder, she traced a path along his shoulder blade with her mouth. She was conscious of a low male groan, but still he said nothing. Charley continued her ministrations with her lips, a kiss here, a featherlight lick there, all the while caressing him gently.

  The water streamed steadily downward. She was in the shower stall with him now, the warm water soaking through her tunic. Her hands grew more adventurous, sliding around his waist, enjoying the feel of the taut muscles beneath her fingertips. Her touch roamed downward until her fingers encountered the waistband of his shorts. Dare she?

  Pete reached down and his warm wet palm covered her hand. “Oh, Charley,” he groaned.

  Turning quickly, Pete caught her around the waist and pressed her against the glass wall of the shower stall. His mouth descended on hers for a hungry kiss. He fisted his hand in her wet hair, holding her in place while his mouth ravished hers. Without breaking the kiss, Pete tugged at the fastening on her pants. Their fingers clashed as she helped him, wriggling out of them until they lay in a sodden heap. His voice growled his approval and he tugged at her tunic, breaking his kiss only to pull it over her head.

  Pete’s mouth traced a fiery path down her neck and along her collarbone before his lips fastened on the pebbled peak through the thin lace of her bra. His mouth was so hot. Darts of pleasure fluttered in her abdomen. “Oh, yes.”

  Upward, his mouth trailed again, biting and nipping on the tender skin of her neck. The bruises were beginning to fade and he fastened his mouth hard against the same spot, sucking and laving with his tongue, claiming her again. He pulled away. Rivulets of water ran down his face. Blue eyes stared at her, hungry with longing. “Charley…”

  A loud banging sounded on the bathroom door, startling both of them. Pete’s face was an agony of frustration.

  Charley recovered first. “I’m cleaning his wounds,” she called.

  “Be quick about it.” Kirez banged on the door again. “Tinar wants you on the bridge. There’s a problem with the Array.”

  They listened in silence as heavy footsteps moved away from the door and out into the corridor. They had to hurry or Kirez would be suspicious. Charley switched on the water collector, and as they dried off, she told Pete quickly of Marc’s plan to take over the ship while the Vashtar went hunting.

  “Charley, even if we do succeed in getting the Pegasus back, the weapons systems have never been tested in combat.”

  Combat. The reality of their situation suddenly hit her. While Pete and the techies were fighting the Vashtar, she would have to battle against another ship. All of their lives would depend on her.

  “Hey, don’t think about it now, Charley. I was sick as a dog before my first battle. My legs froze and I couldn’t move a muscle.”

  “What did you do?”

  “My friends Jake and Strom each grabbed an arm and hauled me along with them. I realized that I wasn’t fighting against the enemy—I was fighting for my friends. After that I was okay.”

  Pete’s hands cupped her face, teasing her with one last lingering embrace. “I promise you that we’ll make it through this. You and I have a date when we get back to Earth, and next time, there will be no interruptions.”

  Earth. If they made it home, their own lives would take over again. She would be back at the Academy, and after that, she would have to leave Earth for good. What a mess. Someone’s heart was going to get broken into a thousand tiny pieces and she knew that it was going to be hers.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Nothing,” she lied as she pulled on a dry uniform tunic. “I’m just thinking about Marc.”

  “I’m not sure if I like the idea of my girl thinking about other men.”

  His girl. She was never going to be Pete’s girl. What would he do if he found out who she really was and what she had done? This thing with Pete had to finish before they got back to Earth, before she made a complete fool of herself and told him that she loved him. It was better to end this now. “Pete, I can’t be your girl. There can be no us when we get home.”

  His face paled, he looked as if someone had punched him. Charley pressed on, stumbling over her words. “I’m graduating in June and I don’t want to settle on Earth. I want to travel, see other planets. So it’s better i
f we don’t get involved.”

  Charley turned away before he could respond. It was over. She had to get out of here. As she hurried along the corridors, Charley was conscious of the lights flickering overhead. It was impossible for a system to have that many faults on a single circuit. She remembered the problem with the water dispensers earlier. Marc must be trying to take control of the automated systems.

  Tinar was pacing the bridge impatiently when she arrived. Charley averted her eyes from his face and slid quickly into the com chair. If they were to get out of this alive, she had to get the weapons and aeronautics systems on-line.

  “There have been problems with a number of systems today.” Tinar grumbled.

  Liston nodded his head, anxious to placate him. “It’s a prototype ship on its first voyage. That is to be expected.”

  “Fix them.” He glared warningly at Charley. “And I want an audio link back to the bridge.”

  Charley pulled the visor over her face. “I’ll see what I can do, Sir.”

  * * * * *

  She was back at the beach house. A wood fire burned steadily in the grate. Through a tall window, she could see the stormy sky. Rain lashed against the veranda, making the wind chimes rattle loudly. There was no welcoming smile from Marc. “My father spoke to me today. When we reach Tarsus Four, one of the Vashtar is to become my new interface.”

  Charley’s heart raced, pounding like a drum. What would happen when the Vashtar no longer needed them? They would trade her, and she didn’t want to think about what they would do to Pete and the others. Outside, the storm grew wild. Lightning erupted in the sky, slashing through the leaden clouds with crackling flashes. Out on the ocean, the waves grew monstrous, racing toward the shore and crashing loudly against the sands. Marc was doing this. Marc was making the storm. If he could make a lightning storm here, what could he do on the ship? She had to calm him down. “Marc, please don’t. We’ll get through this.”

  “What if we don’t?” he said bitterly. “Every time I’m with you, Charley, I change. You make me feel things that I should not be able to experience. I cannot let them hurt you.”