by Maggie Shayne, MaryJanice Davidson, Angela Knight, Jacey Ford
"Oooh, I like that," Gregory said, kissing her ear. " 'Our' style."
"Hey, hey. You're supposed to be my deep dark secret, remember?"
"Sorry, I forgot." He was actually nibbling on her ear now, and she was laughing and trying to shut the door and fending him off at the same time.
"Sure you did. Big undead jerk."
"What the hell?" Eddie gasped. "What did I miss?" He looked around wildly. "How long have I been out? What month is it?"
"You were out long enough," she said, and put her arms around Gregory, and kissed him.
"Not such a secret anymore?" he asked, kissing her back.
"Eh, it's just the Boy Blunder. If he blabs, I can always kill him."
Eddie's reaction was best left to the imagination.
* * *
Warfem
ANGELA KNIGHT
* * *
Acknowledgments
Several good friends helped me with this story by diligently checking it for logic holes. Any I failed to plug are my sole responsibility.
My thanks to Martha Punches, Morgan Hawke, and Katherine Lazo, as well as my wonderful critique partner, Diane Whiteside.
And as always, thanks to my agent, Roberta Brown, and my wonderfully patient editor, Cindy Hwang.
* * *
CH@%!*R 1
The thugs followed Alina Kasi out of the bar. Three of them. Two were obviously muscle—a big, beefy blond and a wiry rodent of a man who looked like the kind who'd carry a blade. Then there was the one she figured for the brains of the trio, a thoroughly unremarkable brunet with a pleasant smile and cold, cold eyes.
Alina, planning her trap, was careful to give no indication she'd seen them. Instead she strolled down the pedwalk, tilting her head back like a woman enjoying the cool evening air. Zipcars ghosted overhead, sighing softly in the darkness. Across the river, Jamalda's two moons rode high over the arches and spires of the city skyline. It was all pretty enough for a tourist trid, if not for the three men skulking along behind her like a trio of wolves.
Just out for a stroll, boys, she thought. Come try your luck. Rajin would be outraged, of course. The Femmat aristocrat would expect Alina to tuck herself safely away in that miserable hotel Kasi House had booked for her. After all, Alina was only scheduled for a one-day layover on this planet, waiting for the jumpship that would take her on to Calista. She shouldn't be out looking for trouble.
All true. A responsible courier working for a responsible employer would never take this kind of chance with a file. But Alina wasn't working for a responsible employer, and she was just frustrated and pissed enough not to care. Besides, these three were no real danger to her.
They were, at best, entertainment.
The trio had been shadowing her since she'd arrived that morning, except they'd changed height, weight, and even species with every encounter. Alina figured they were using some kind of imagizer to project disguises over their true forms. Must be using high-end equipment, too. The illusions would have been good enough to fool her if her sensors hadn't told her the same three men had been tailing her all day.
All of which added up to data thieves. She wondered how they thought they could get the file out of her computer implant. The comp wouldn't give it up if even if they killed her, so they must believe they could force her to upload it to whatever storage unit they had.
Idiots.
She did hope they didn't have a data stripper, though. In theory, one of those devices could bypass her comp's security and gut its files. Of course, to use the stripper, the thieves would first have to hack open her skull, since her comp wound through her brain in a mirror of her neural pathways.
That wouldn't exactly be easy, because Alina was a Samurai Class Warfem, genetically engineered for combat. Her bones and muscles were so heavily reinforced, she was stronger than all three of the men who stalked her. And given her battle computer and the sensors implanted throughout her body, she could also out-think and out-fight them.
As she would shortly demonstrate.
So what are they carrying? Alina thought to her comp.
The leader and the blond have stun batons, while the small dark one has a nano-knife, the computer replied in its soundless mental voice.
That all? Every other time data thieves had jumped her, they'd been armed like men going after a Soji Dragon. Alina had still protected her files, but she'd had to work at it.
There are stiff penalties against carrying beam weapons on this planet.
Which means nothing to data thieves. Any interesting talents? Cybernetics?
Standard human. No apparent implants beyond data jacks.
She frowned, wondering if they might be setting a trap of their own. What kind of fool would send three standard humans to take a Warfem?
Fools or not, though, they were getting ready to try for her. Alina could almost smell it in their sweat. Go to full alert.
Instantly, the implant began readying her body for the coming battle, preparing the chemical dump she'd need if she decided to go into the berserker state called riaat. She didn't think it would be necessary, but one never knew.
As the comp did its work, Alina took a moment to decide on her next move.
It was 2500 hours, almost midnight on this planet. Alien constellations spilled overhead, the star population thinner out here on the galactic rim than back home on Vardon. Stores and shops rose to either side of the pedwalk, utilitarian boxes built of ferocrete, square and unimaginative compared with the soaring, curved shapes back home.
Trid signs, some of them amazingly lewd, gave the scene what color it had. Women, strutting eternally in midair, wearing some designer's idea of the latest fashion; men posing in jump shoes and very little else; an alien doing… whatever that was. All of them cooing come-ons or chanting their respective stores' hours.
But the only sound that interested Alina was the scrape of her pursuers' boots on the dirty pedwalk behind her. There were no other footsteps. Despite the illusionary company of the signs, she was alone with them.
Which was exactly the way she wanted it. She needed room and privacy to break a few bones and get a few answers. Who were they, and who were they working for?
And in the process, they'd hopefully put up a good enough fight to let Alina blow off some steam. After years in the emotional cage Rajin had built for her, she needed it.
They were almost close enough. One… Two… Three…
"Kaaassssi!" Lifting her voice in the ringing battlecry of her House, Alina spun and charged.
She caught them completely by surprise. Somebody shouted as she slammed her fist into the big blond's jaw. He rolled with it at the last moment, so the punch didn't quite land as hard as it should have. Still, backed by her genetically engineered strength, it put him down.
In the same smooth motion, she grabbed the right wrist of the rodent-faced one as he went for his knife. Spinning him around, she seized his left shoulder and cranked his right arm up and back until the joint gave. He howled in agony, and she shoved him aside.
Cold pain sliced into her ribs, ripping her breath away. Instinctively, she whirled and rammed her fist into the cold-eyed leader's nose, winning a howl. His stun baton lost contact with her ribs, and she could breathe again.
Her computer snapped a mental warning, and she ducked the blond's roundhouse as he came at her again. Pivoting on one foot, she slammed a knee into his balls, then gave him an uppercut that clicked his teeth together. He hit the ground. He wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.
Her comp confirmed it. Opponent unconscious.
"Fuck this." The rodent man reeled off. Apparently the dislocated arm had discouraged him. She turned her full attention to the leader.
He bared his teeth at her, his nose streaming blood. "If you're smart, you'll give the file up now."
"Got a better idea, thief." She bounced on her toes, her blood singing with the raw enjoyment of a good, clean fight. Finally, something she could hit. "You tell me who sent
you, and I won't break every bone you have."
The leader only smiled.
Alert! the computer howled. Tevan combat cyborg, closing fast from the rooftop!
"Told you," the thief mocked, evidently reading the instant alarm on her face.
Blazing hell, it was a trap. Alina snapped into a spinning kick that slammed into the side of his head. His jaw broke with a wet crack clearly audible to her enhanced hearing.
Then she whirled and ran. No way was she going to try to fight a Tevan cyborg. One of those bastards could take on a Warlord and win. He'd beat her into paste.
Worse, if the Tevan had a data stripper and got his hands on the file, Rajin would take out her anger on Galar.
Should have thought of that before you went after these fools, she thought, furious with herself.
The Tevan hit the ground behind her with a meaty thud. "Warlord's slut, get back here!" His rumbling roar made her blood chill. Big boots boomed on the pavement. She put her head down and ran faster.
What have we got?
Tevan cyborg, 2.3 meters tall, two hundred and ninety kilograms. Skeletal structure reinforced with titanium laminate. Nano-cybernetic muscle implants give him strength superior to a Warlord in riaat. And he's gaining on you. Eight meters … 7.9… Seven meters… Those pounding footsteps grew louder.
Give me riaat. I need to outrun him. She certainly couldn't outfight him.
Fire flooded her consciousness, as the computer released a wave of neurochemicals from reservoir implants throughout her body. In seconds, the chemicals did their work, quadrupling her strength and decreasing her ability to feel pain. Euphoria replaced her fear with a hot, feral joy she knew was an illusionary product of riaat.
Time to make things a little tougher on the Tevan. She lengthened her stride, bounding now, feeling as light as if somebody had suddenly cut gravity in half.
The Tevan is still closing. Four meters… 3.8…
A low building stood off to her left, no more than three stories, its gray face gleaming ghostly in the light from the two moons. Alina veered toward it and leaped. Her feet hit the roof, knees bending to absorb the impact.
Something heavy slammed into the side of the building behind her with a crunch. Before she could jump clear, a massive seven-fingered hand clamped around her left ankle and spilled her to the roof. She rolled, trying to kick free. The reptilian bastard hung on the edge staring at her, his four yellow eyes glittering with battle madness. Before she could kick him in the head, he plucked her off the roof and slung her across the pedwalk.
Alina twisted in midair, tucking in her chin and saving herself from a headfirst collision with the building. The impact still knocked the breath out of her.
Stunned, she hit the walk with a teeth-rattling jolt. This time she did see stars.
Up! the computer demanded, its metal voice as strident as an enforcer's siren. The Tevan is closing!
Alina lifted her spinning head. Blood poured hot and wet from her nose, and her scraped face stung. She glimpsed the Tevan's armored boot drawing back, aimed right for her head. She flung herself clear as it flashed by.
Panting, bleeding, Alina reeled to her feet.
The Tevan stalked her, two meters plus of muscle, orange scales, flame-red armor, and cybernetic implants. He had a short, bearlike muzzle, with a crown of spines that protected his four small yellow eyes. His hands and feet were broad, with seven thin, agile digits on each. Peeling back his orange lips, he revealed a mouthful of razor teeth. "Surrender the file, and I won't kill you," he rumbled in Standard, his voice a chilling basso growl as inhuman as the rest of him.
"Blow that," Alina snarled, knowing if she lost this fight she was dead. And worse, so was Galar. "You want it, you're going to have to bleed for it."
"Warbitch, I'm not the one who's going to bleed." He lunged.
She ducked the huge fist flying at her face. Pain faded as her computer pumped endorphins into her bloodstream. Her concentration narrowed on the task of staying alive.
Alina shot a punch into his ribs hard enough to shatter ferocrete, but he just plowed another punch toward her gut. She twisted aside and pumped a kick into his thigh.
The Tevan growled and sprang. Alina leaped back to circle just out of reach, looking for an opening. With riaat jacking her strength to superhuman levels, she could stay out of his way, but that wasn't good enough. Her reserves would run out long before he tired.
Despite his vastly superior strength and reinforced bones, she had to put him down long enough to make good her escape.
Then it happened. Alina ducked one vicious fist—right into the path of the other. A sun went nova in her skull. The world spun as she slammed into a wall for the second time. Then the ground came up and hit her in the face. Her comp shrieking warnings, Alina tried to scramble to her feet.
She didn't make it. Her knees gave out, and her cheek collided painfully with the pedwalk.
The Tevan's massive boots rang on the rough surface as he stalked her. "Now, Warbitch, you're—"
A male bellow cut him off in mid-sentence. Something massive flew out of the darkness to barrel into his back. This time the Tevan was the one to hit the wall.
Dazed, Alina watched the flurry of movement—fists, feet, arms, big bodies surging and striking at one another. Who the … ?
Command beads glittered in her savior's long hair. A Warlord.
A Warlord had come to her rescue.
* * *
CH@%!*R 2
Yes! They had him now! The thought banished Alina's pain, sent strength pouring through her. No matter how battered she felt, she damn well wouldn't just lie there while a Warlord fought for her. Reeling to her feet, she yelled her battle cry and charged.
The Tevan rolled one yellow eye toward her, but he didn't dare take his attention off the Warlord who was powering punches into his head and body. The air was full of meaty thuds and grunts, the smell of sweat, and the Tevan's lizard reek.
The Warlord has cracked the Tevan's armor, her computer said as she looked for an opening. Right side, between the eighth and ninth rib. A set of red crosshairs popped into her vision, pinpointing the weakness.
Alina rammed her fist dead in the center of those crosshairs. Something in her own side shrieked in agony with the force of the blow, but the cracks widened. The Tevan roared and twisted to strike out at her. She ducked his wild punch as the Warlord hit him squarely over his cracked armor. The acrid scent of alien blood rose.
With a bellow of frustrated rage, the Tevan broke and ran, lumbering like a galloping bull. Alina and the Warlord raced after him, tearing down the darkened pedwalk in the exaggerated strides of full riaat. A zipbike flashed low over their heads, probably a passerby wanting a closer look at the chase. The Warlord reached out a powerful arm for the Tevan's armored shoulder.
But the alien leaped straight up, grabbed the back of the zip-bike, and heaved himself astride behind the driver. Before Alina and the Warlord could do more than curse, the bike arched skyward, its gravlevs glowing blue against the night.
She broke stride, panting as she stared after the Tevan in rage. "Well, that absolutely grinds." Shaking her head, Alina turned toward her Warlord savior. "Thanks for—" She broke off.
He was easily two meters tall, with the lean, powerful build of a Comanche class Warlord, built for agility and speed as much as strength. His hair was a rich dark sable, and a small, neat beard framed his sensual mouth. The intricate tattoo of Arvid House spilled down the left side of his handsome face in brilliant iridescent blue and scarlet.
Her attention narrowed into the small circle at the base of the tatt, right over the hollow of his strong cheekbone. The circle had not been filled in. Like her, he was still unmarried. After all these years.
The lust that was one of the side effects of riaat rolled through her in a hot and burning wave, blended with pure longing. It had I been so damn long since she'd seen him, touched him. "Baird," she choked, her voice shaking. Sweet Goddess, she
wanted him.
Too bad she could never have him.
Baird stood frozen, staring at her, taking in the blood smearing the side of her face, the loneliness and hunger in her eyes. His own blood burned with riaat lust and pain, and he took a step forward, tempted to push her to the pedwalk and take her right there.
Instead he stopped and clenched his fists, fighting himself. He didn't mind the desire—he understood that. The aftermath of riaat always engulfed his body in an erotic storm.
What bothered him was the pain. It felt as if someone had scooped a huge, aching hole out of the center of his chest, and the only thing that would fill it was her. Despite the investigation, despite duty and honor, despite the long, bitter years that had passed, he wanted her still.
He couldn't afford that. He had a job to do.
Comp, kill the riaat lust, Baird ordered. Instantly, the desire began to drain away, leaving his body feeling cold. Yet the pain remained, searing him like a beamer burn.
"Damn you, Alina," he gritted. She had no right to such power over him.
She opened her mouth as if to retort, but her face suddenly paled. Her eyes widened and rolled back in her head.
Baird jumped forward to catch her before she hit the ground. She felt lighter than he remembered as he lowered her to the pedwalk. What are her injuries?
Concussion, fractured cheekbone, two cracked ribs, and extensive bruising and lacerations, his internal computer replied. Given the extent of her injuries, a medtech is advisable.
And yet she'd waded back into the fight with the Tevan to back him up, then helped him chase the bastard down the alley. Some of that lunatic endurance had been riaat, but the rest had been pure, stubborn Alina.
Call a unit, he ordered. Aloud, he said, "Alina? Alina, talk to me."
She lifted her blond head, combat beaded braids clinking. "Baird. Goddess, Baird, been so long. Missed you…"
He had to control the impulse to tighten his grip on her. His comp was draining off the chemicals of riaat, but he was still more than strong enough to hurt her without meaning to. "I missed you, too, brat." He had to stop to clear his throat. He'd always hated seeing her hurt.
