Catalyst (The Kithran Regenesis)

by Dani Worth

  When we reached the tunnel leading to our temporary home pod, I sped up, not taking the time to admire the beautiful blue foliage outside the clear dome walls as usual. I slammed my hand on the door panel. It read my palm, unlocked the sliding door. “You grab the clothes. I’ll grab the knives.”

  “Vala, you’re going to a supply station. Why would you need knives?”

  I didn’t answer. While Yaira had been studying botany with our mothers, I’d traveled and learned the hard way it was better to be outfitted with weapons no matter where you went. Plus, I loved my knives and hated leaving them anywhere.

  Diving to the floor of my sleep pod, I placed my hand over the lock on the floor safe. We didn’t have crime on Kithra—not with so few people living here—but I always played it safe with a few things. The floor panel slid open, and I pulled out the wooden box that held the custom knives I’d designed myself. Sharp, kithronite blades flowed gracefully from polished, curved tiger’s eye handles. It had cost me a fortune to buy the kithronite because the price of the metal that had been mined and stored off planet had skyrocketed. I was getting ready to throw the box in the bag with my clothes when I decided to slide the knives into my boots instead. Before shutting the safe, I took a few precious seconds to stare at the silver filigree ring resting in the bottom. I’d carted it around for years after stealing it from Jacks. Old guilt curled in my gut as I slipped it on my thumb.

  “Better hurry. You have less than four minutes left.”

  I grabbed the bag, kissed my sister’s cheek and took off. “See you in a few days,” I called over my shoulder.

  Flying with Lux was always an experience, and since it was only the two of us on the ship, the crazy captain felt free to daredevil it through the debris fields. After one particularly close call with a massive hunk of rock, I groaned and covered my eyes. “I know I said I liked the stunts, but come on!”

  All she did was laugh and swerve—around what I didn’t know because I kept my eyes covered.

  “Do your men know you take these kinds of risks?”

  “They do and they love me as I am, thank the fucking universes. But I’ll slow. Sheesh. We’re almost there anyway.” She slowed the ship down and glanced at me. “By the way, the ship’s sensor is showing me we have another passenger. How much you wanna bet it’s that sexy kid who’s been following you around?”

  I leaned over to look at the sensor and sure enough, we had company. “It could be anyone.”

  “Suppose so, but I spotted him by the ship before we left. That is one stunner of a young man, nearly as pretty as my Egan. If I were you, I’d be all over that.”

  “He’s too young.”

  She lifted one dark eyebrow. “How very un-Gwinarian of you.”

  Shaking my head, I smiled. “Yeah, I know. But I’m not into having a relationship right now, and he seems the type.”

  “Vala, he’s what…eighteen? Nineteen?” She chuckled. “He’ll take sex any and every way he can get it right now. There is absolutely no difference between humans and Gwinarians when it comes to teenaged male hormones.”

  “He’s twenty.” I watched the heat blob moving around on the sensor screen, before muttering. “And trust me, I’m thinking about it.”

  Once we arrived at the space station, I didn’t waste time seeking out our stowaway. Instead, I left the ship and went after the Tracker. I found her cursing in one of the wide supply station hallways as her boot heel fell through one of the hexagon shapes in the metal floor. She leaned against the wall, her pretty, shoulder-length dark red hair sliding to cover her face, and took her boots off. She glanced up at me, a wry smile twisting her lips. “You couldn’t wait for me to get to Kithra?”

  Rumor was Jarana spent time tracking these days only because it paid well, and she was still buying freedom for certain Replicants she’d mistakenly sent to a nasty prison planet called Bastilleen. She’d made it clear she’d be retiring to work on Kithra’s rebuild once she got them all free.

  Shivering as a cold breeze swept through the tunnel, I frowned at her. “Why wouldn’t you tell me what you found over the coms?”

  “I don’t want to talk about what I found here either.” She muttered something under her breath and glared at the floor.

  It was hard not to chuckle. She looked like such a bad ass standing there in her weird faux leather outfit with that hoity expression on her face. The boots in her hands weren’t the only things ruining the effect though. I crossed my arms, aimed an eyebrow at her pink toenails.

  She sighed. “It’s hard to come off tough when you’re standing barefoot on extremely uncomfortable metal.” She glanced down. “And when your men think it’s funny to paint your toenails girly colors while you’re sleeping.” She nodded her head toward her bunk room. “Let’s talk in there so I’m sure we’re alone.”

  I followed her into the room and grimaced at the tiny, depressing space. “This supply station is the sorriest hunk of metal I’ve ever seen.”

  “The Company cares only about mining kithronite.” Jarana dropped her boots on the floor and crossed her arms. “So exactly who is Jackson Canfield?”

  “I told you. He came to Kithra when I was sixteen. He was a professor studying the caves.”

  Shaking her head, Jarana leaned against the gray wall. “He was no professor. The instant I started searching the webs, alarms sounded. I had more than twenty tracking systems on my ass within seconds and a request from some pretty high-up government officials within two minutes.”

  Frowning, I slumped onto the bunk.

  Jarana leaned over, her face not far from mine. “You better come clean with me because I can guarantee we’ll have someone on Kithra before long trying to figure out why I was looking for the man.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair, stared at her. “I don’t know exactly who he is. I fell in love with him when I was sixteen and he’d have nothing to do with me.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “You had me tracking someone because of a girl’s crush?”

  “Partly.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Look, I don’t know for sure, but I watched the man for years—every time he came to Kithra to visit—and the last time I saw him, his behavior was…off.”

  “Off how?”

  Sighing, I pushed her away from me and sat forward. “You know how my family went on vacation days before the explosions?”

  “Yeah, I heard the story.”

  “Two days before we left, I saw him running from the caves and the look on his face—” I broke off, unable to articulate the absolute hell of guilt I’d carried all these years.

  “What kind of expression?” she asked, voice low.

  I looked up. “You’re already figuring it out. Fear and guilt. I would have searched him out that day to find out what was going on but I couldn’t find him. I tried to contact him on the coms but he didn’t answer.”

  “How do you know he wasn’t killed in the explosions?”

  “Because I did manage to find out he left Kithra the day after we did.” I’d also found out he’d been the donor behind our family’s vacation money gift. I didn’t tell her that part, just touched her arm. “Jacks always contained his emotions, even when he grew annoyed with that girlish crush of mine. I only saw him lose it once before that day and well, that was due to passion.”

  “I thought you said he didn’t have anything to do with you.”

  “We kissed once. But the passion I’m talking about wasn’t for me. I could tell what he felt for the man I saw him kissing was strong.” I held my breath. “But that last day, he was upset, running, and something told me it was bad. Days later, the explosions happened in those caves.”

  Jarana stood straight, every muscle in her body taut. “You think he knows what happened, don’t you?”

  “Maybe.”

  “And you never told anyone about this?”

  “Not a soul. I don’t know for sure and still can’t really believe it. I did spend some time around
the man and he was kind. He let me down gently. A lot.” Sighing, I squeezed my eyes shut. “It’s hard to explain, but a part of me is terrified he had something to do with what happened and the rest of me is still that young woman who loved this man. I hired you to find him because I have to know.”

  “And you plan to ask him outright if he helped kill our people?” She crossed her arms. “Do you really think he’s just going to give you that information? Whoever he is, he’s in deep hiding and there are people looking for him. Dangerous people.”

  “Tell me something, if you thought you had a way to finally find out what happened, wouldn’t you want to?”

  “Yeah and that’s why I’m going to continue digging. If the man is alive, I’ll find him. I’ve spent years building good contacts.” She grabbed her boots, stuffed them into her black satchel and swung the latter over her shoulder. “Come on. If I know Lux, she’ll wait to start loading until we’re there and I want to go home to see my family.”

  Chapter Two

  “I put him to work.” Lux grinned and reached up to secure her long black hair into a high tail. “Vala, the kid’s got it bad.”

  “Got what bad?” Jarana eyed Bastian as he hefted a crate and carried it on the ship. Admiration lifted one eyebrow as her gaze slid down to his butt. “Absolute and utter hotness? Wonder if Maska would like him.”

  “Don’t be greedy,” I snapped without thought then cringed when Lux’s eyes went wide and her grin took on a calculated gleam. Great, I did not need Lux Moyans getting into my personal business.

  “Greedy?” Jarana’s mouth tightened. “You spent too much time on Earths.” She looked back at Bastian as he strode to the crates. “He’s got a sort of feminine grace to him, don’t you think? Like a dancer or something.”

  “There’s not a feminine thing about him,” I muttered, wishing she would shut up.

  She grinned. “I do think my Maska would like this one.”

  She was messing with me. I could always tell when a Gwinarian love match was complete and she had that in spades with Maska and Erik. Besides, I didn’t think Erik would ever allow another into their tight circle. Lux and Jarana’s chuckles followed me as I had to force myself to walk, not stomp, to where Bastian now stood still, those dark eyes locked on me as always—like he couldn’t help himself. He ran his gaze over my tattooed arms before drawing them back up my body to my face. Heat turned those pretty eyes molten.

  Squirm-inducing memories filled me of myself as a teenager. Had I looked this desperate following Jacks around?

  When I stopped in front of him, I wished—not for the first time—that I’d inherited my mother’s long legs. I was short for a Gwinarian at five foot five, and Bastian had over a foot on me. I opened my mouth then shut it. Asking him why he was here or what he wanted was pointless. It was damned obvious. I just shook my head. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “I have a few suggestions.”

  It was the first time I’d heard his voice, and its smooth warmth flowed into my pores like steam from a saunobath.

  Up close, his eyes were spectacular. Gwinarian eye shades came in ambers and browns and he had both—dark brown with a thin layer of amber that made his eyes look iridescent. He’d caught his long hair in a tail at the nape of his neck, but strands had wiggled free and framed his face. They looked silky soft, and before I could stop myself, I reached up to rub one between my thumb and finger. It was as satiny as it looked. I closed my eyes. “You are so young.”

  “So?”

  Again, I opened my mouth, planning to explain that I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but before I could speak, Lux let out a cry. I spun around to find her flat on the deck, a stranger standing over her with a tranque gun in his hand. He now had it pointed at Jarana who held her hands up in the universal sign for surrender. She watched him closely, eyes narrowed, and I knew she waited for the right moment to attack.

  So I gave it to her. I screamed.

  His eyes turned toward me and Jarana didn’t hesitate. She high kicked the man’s face, turning at the last minute to give his chin the brunt of her bare heel. The crunch noise was loud. If she’d put her boots back on, he would have lost skin. He staggered back, and I started to run to them but stopped when Bastian grabbed my arms and pulled my back to his chest. “Wait,” he said, voice low.

  Glancing up, I saw he looked in another direction altogether so I followed his gaze to the two men by us, one with a laser gun, another with a tranque.

  Two more kicks sounded and I whipped my gaze back to find that Jarana had taken out one of the men at the knee. She yanked her laser gun out right before she cried out as Lux had. A man I hadn’t seen stood over her with an old-fashioned stunner. Thing still smoked.

  “Are they breathing?” I stared hard at Jarana, then Lux, but couldn’t tell. My heart stopped beating.

  A big, ugly bruiser came at me, took my arm. Bastian wouldn’t release me.

  “We just want the Gwinarian woman. Let her go and you won’t get hurt.”

  Bastian snorted, shoved me behind him and I growled before poking him in the back. “I can take care of myself.”

  I quickly slid one of my knives out of my boot, and jumped around Bastian just as one of the men fired his tranque gun. I took the brunt of the blast and the fury on Bastian’s face was the last thing I saw as I fell.

  I groaned and blinked into darkness. Disoriented, I tried to pull my foggy thoughts into order, but they felt sluggish, unattached. I lay still, my palm against hard flooring and pulled myself together long enough to feel the vibration of an engine beneath my hand.

  My mouth tasted like someone had blasted it with sand. Sitting up, I moaned when pain slashed through my skull. “Lights,” I whispered, hoping the ship would pick up the whisper. When it didn’t, I groped inside my boots to find the knives gone. They would have run detectors over us for weapons. I forced myself to my hands and knees. Dizziness swamped me and I swayed a bit, before reaching out ahead of me to make sure the path was clear for crawling.

  When I touched warm flesh, I sucked in a breath and scrambled back until I felt my spine hit something solid. Just then, low light filled the room and I blinked hard to try and adjust my eyesight faster. First thing I saw was Bastian stretched out on the floor, his dark auburn hair in a wild disarray over his face and spilling out onto the tile around him. Holding my breath, I crawled to him.

  “Be alive,” I whispered even as I realized he was the warm thing I’d touched and dead didn’t go with heat. I brushed his hair from his face, and bit my lip when I saw the cuts and bruises marring his light skin. A painful-looking split darkened his full bottom lip and one of his eyes had swelled to twice its size. I hurriedly opened the small, metal connectors on his shirt, feeling hot tears prick the backs of my eyes when the marks continued down his chest. Picking up his hand, I saw the scrapes on his knuckles. “Hope you got a few good punches in,” I murmured.

  “I did.”

  I barely heard the whisper but grinned with pure happiness when his unswollen eye opened slightly. “Bastian, what the Suns happened to you?”

  “Fought a little. Think I lost.” That one eye looked me over closely. “They didn’t hurt you?”

  “Hurt me? Other than my pride? No.” Looking around the small space, I realized we were in some kind of supply room. Bolted cabinets lined three walls. There was nothing else in the room other than Bastian and myself. No chairs, bed, blankets… Nothing.

  I shivered. “Where are we?”

  “A ship. We were on the loading dock, remember?”

  I remembered seeing Jarana go down next to Lux, remembered Bastian trying to shield me.

  “You took a stun meant for me, so you got more than they planned. The one they hit me with didn’t work right away.” He started to sit, then groaned.

  “Be still. Suns, they worked you over.” I offered him a small smile. “You fought for me, didn’t you?”

  “Not very well.”

  “Bet
you did some damage with those big hands of yours.”

  “I did.” He closed his eye, then opened it again when I shivered. He lifted one arm in an invitation to me and I could tell it hurt by his slight wince. “We’ll have to share body heat.”

  “You have bruises forming in front of my eyes—I don’t want to hurt you.” I stood up, assessed the locks on the cabinets. They weren’t palm-coded like the newer ones. The locks were intricate swirls of metal and I had no idea how they could be opened. “Who took us? Space pirates?”

  “I don’t know. Think so. All I know is a couple seemed to enjoy pounding me into the loading dock, especially the big one. But another man came running and pulled the others off me. He seemed to be in charge.”

  I lifted one of the locks, tugged. “We won’t be able to pry these loose.” Glancing around, I frowned. “There’s nothing to use even if we could. You need medicine for those cuts.”

  “I’m fine,” he said, voice hushed to a near whisper again. “But I am cold.”

  He wanted me to lie next to him. My fuzzy head was still pounding, so I got back down on the floor and gently rolled against his side. “Am I hurting you?”

  “Far from it.” A small smile tilted the side of his mouth. “Got you where I’ve wanted you for some time.”

  I started to answer but just then, his arm went slack. I sat up. The boy was out again. I took the time to really inspect him, to try and see if anything looked broken. One purple-ish bruise on his lower chest bothered me, but he was breathing okay. I settled against him, glad for his warmth. I should be more afraid, but my mind still felt detached from the tranque. I drifted into sleep even as I fought it.

  When I next woke up, I realized I’d burrowed almost all the way under Bastian in my sleep. The dark in the room unnerved me, yet the sound of Bastian’s heartbeat comforted. He was heavy on me, but so warm, I didn’t mind the pressure. Silky, auburn hair fell in heavy strands over my face, his breath fanned over my neck. His hips nestled between my spread legs and the hard ridge against me assured me he was recovering just fine from the fight.