Out of Darkness

by Anna Carven

  Her pale neck was bare, revealing just a hint of her collarbones. The sight of her creamy, flawless flesh taunted him, offering just a mere suggestion of what lay beneath. Kalan suppressed the low growl of desire that threatened to erupt from his throat.

  This was getting out of hand.

  His gaze traveled down her body, admiring the way the dark fabric tightened over her small, pert breasts. He wanted to unzip her from neck to waist, and tear that utilitarian work suit off her body.

  On her feet were solid black boots that came up to about mid-calf. She’d found a strap of some kind and fastened that vapor gun of hers to her back. The strap ran like a sash across her body, pressing between her breasts. Thick black gloves covered her hands, and she held a small metal case, which presumably contained tools.

  She’d dressed in a practical manner, readying herself for fighting, quick flight and maximum freedom of movement.

  Kalan had liked the pink robe on her, but he agreed that this was more suitable attire given the situation. Never mind. When they were free of this station, he would adorn her as he saw fit.

  “What?” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion, her jaw set at a stubborn angle.

  “Nothing.” Kalan was grateful for his hard exo-armor, because it hid the straining bulge of his erection.

  “Come on.” She set off, and again, he found himself content to follow.

  For now.

  If the situation called for it, he would take control. But he hadn’t yet sighted any Xargek in this lower section of the station. There was only that disturbing thudding noise, which was a constant in the background

  And every now and then, the primitive structures that he presumed lay between the walls of this rust-bucket would emit a loud, unsettling groan.

  Kalan didn’t know much about Human mechanics and engineering. To him, Fortuna Tau seemed like a mess of basic metals and primitive technologies. First Division’s orders were simple: get in, exterminate the Xargek, try to not kill too many Humans in the process, and get out, preferably by commissioning one of the spacecraft the Humans had parked in their loading dock. But if something was wrong, it needed to be sorted out, fast.

  In space, life depended on the structures intelligent lifeforms had constructed to sustain and transport them throughout the Universe. Oxygen, pressurization, and gravitational regulation were essential for their existence.

  If something was about to explode or malfunction, Kalan needed to know about it.

  They went back into the stairwell, and Jia led him down several more flights of stairs. The thudding was becoming louder and faster. The groaning sounds were becoming more frequent. They exited on the bottom floor, which Kalan surmised was the lowest level of the station; the level farthest away from that infernal star Humans referred to as the Sun.

  As they stepped out into the dimly lit corridor, warm air hit Kalan in the face. It was much hotter down here than it was on the upper levels.

  Again, Kalan went in front, checking for any signs of Xargek before he allowed Jia to exit the stairwell. “You know your way around here?” He saw that the floor was rough, uncoated metal. Bursts of steam escaped intermittently from pipes that ran along the ceiling. The muted lights dotting the corridor flickered erratically as they walked, Kalan following behind Jia. He made sure to keep pace with her, following so close they were almost touching.

  In this unknown environment, he wasn’t letting her out of his sight, and he wasn’t going to let any nasty surprises catch him off-guard.

  His proximity didn’t seem to bother her anymore. That pleased him.

  As they were about to turn a corner, Kalan gently touched her shoulder at the part where it joined her neck, intentionally pressing his bare fingers against her skin. She shuddered slightly. That also pleased him. Despite what she said, she liked his touch.

  “Stop,” he whispered. An unmistakable sound up ahead had alerted him. He ran his fingers over her bare skin, just because he could. She growled softly, but didn’t shy away from his touch.

  That was good.

  “What?”

  “Xargek ahead,” Kalan said, his lips brushing against her ear as he bent his head. “Let me handle it. Wait here.”

  “You sure?”

  “I can hear them,” he murmured. “Don’t worry. They’re only young ones.” He quietly unclipped one of his plasma guns from its holster. “Here.” He pressed it into her gloved hand. “You know what to do. Just don’t shoot me this time, Human.”

  She took the gun, looking up as Kalan bent over her. Her dark eyes were wide and serious. Her face was so lovely, he just couldn’t help himself.

  Kalan leaned in and tasted her, pressing his lips against hers. Her reaction confused him. She stiffened, tried to push him away, and responded to his kiss by dipping her tongue between his lips. Her body was pushing him away, but her mouth was hot, insistent, and wanting. She tasted of sweetness and light.

  Kalan wanted to take it further, but they were about to be overwhelmed by an insect swarm, so it was with great reluctance that he gently broke away.

  “You!” Jia’s eyes went even wider. Her cheeks had turned a deep shade of pink. “Don’t do that!”

  Kalan smiled and disappeared down the corridor, leaving her flustered and wanting.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Jia trembled as Kalan stalked off down the corridor, the aftertaste of his kiss lingering on her lips. Ooh, that Kordolian. He was relentless, opportunistic and stubborn.

  She curled her fingers around the plasma gun he’d given her. She was half tempted to ignore his pleas and shoot him. How dare he take advantage of her at a dangerous time like this?

  But despite her head screaming at her to get away, her damn body had responded, and she’d surrendered to his kiss.

  She’d liked it.

  It had sent a wild thrill down her spine and awakened her arousal. Ever since Kalan had come on the scene, her body had been incited into small betrayals. She feared what would happen if Kalan really had his way with her.

  Not to mention this had been her first real kiss. Her first proper kiss.

  Messing around as a teenager didn’t count. Jia wasn’t a prude, and she wasn’t cloistered by any means, but the right opportunities just hadn’t presented themselves in her life.

  In a world where so much of their lives depended on machines, meaningful relationships were hard to come by.

  It had taken a damn insistent Kordolian to break down her barriers, and he wasn’t done with her yet.

  Jia was beginning to feel hot in her worker’s uniform. It was warm and noisy down here, as a result of all the superheated water rushing through the pipes. Even though they were insulated, the heat still managed to seep through. Sweat glistened on her forehead, and she rubbed it with her sleeve.

  She tried to clear the lustful thoughts from her head. She was supposed to be alert and looking out for stray Xargek.

  The sound of squelching and slashing drew her attention. She heard Kalan curse viciously in Kordolian. Then, silence.

  “Jia,” he called. “What is this?”

  Slowly, she made her way towards the sound of Kalan’s voice. The thudding and groaning of the pipes was a regular rhythm in the background now. As she reached him, she saw a mess of scattered containers and splotches of white sticky stuff on the floor.

  As a result of Kalan’s extermination efforts, dead larvae were strewn across the floor. Some were tiny, smaller than the size of her thumbnail, resembling fast-twitching maggots. They lay alongside the usual football-sized ones she was more familiar with.

  “An adult has been here and spilt its larvae,” Kalan growled, stepping around the mess to reach her side. In one of his hands was a long, menacing blade. Jia wondered if he’d be better served with a big stick. “But what is that sticky substance?” There were bits of white gunk splattered on his armor.

  Jia looked closely at the packaging. “That’s Spike,” she said in surprise, not knowing whether to laugh or s
hake her head in disbelief. The packages had spilled out of a nondescript looking storage unit, the kind of place one might usually expect to find tools or cleaning equipment. “So that’s where the dealers have been stashing it.”

  “Spike?” The English word sounded strange coming from Kalan’s lips, shaped by his exotic Kordolian accent. “What is it?”

  “It’s a neurostimulant,” Jia answered. “It’s supposed to make you more alert. The rest of my team seem to believe it makes them more productive.” She rolled her eyes. “In my opinion, it just brings out people’s inner assholes.”

  “Hm.” Kalan raised an eyebrow. “Do you use this Spike?”

  “Hell, no. I don’t trust anything that sounds too good to be true.” She gave Kalan a meaningful look. “There’s always a catch with these things. Let’s just hope it doesn’t have the same effect on the insects.” Jia glanced at the floor, making a face. “Did you get all of them?”

  “No.” Kalan’s face was like thunder. “Some of them were barely spawned, making them small and difficult to kill. But for now, this area has been contained.” He flicked his sword-hand sharply, causing all the debris to shear off it. The obsidian blade gleamed dully in the faint light as he slid it into the sheath at his back without looking.

  As if he’d done that a thousand times before.

  Everything about the way he moved was effortless, graceful, and perfectly controlled. Heat rose under Jia’s collar as she turned away. “Let’s go,” she said, her voice sounding slightly hoarse. She told herself it was because of the heat and humidity down here. They were in the very bowels of the station, navigating corridors the ordinary workers didn’t even know existed.

  Kalan followed her wordlessly, a silent shadow at her back. Jia felt his presence behind her, although she didn’t hear him, and he didn’t once touch her. The fine hairs on the back of her neck tingled as she remembered his lingering touch on her bare skin.

  He’d done that on purpose.

  Sneaky Kordolian.

  They passed various machine rooms and monitoring panels as they headed towards the nuclear section. The solar concentrator was below them, a giant round structure that was attached directly to the lower surface of the station. Jia had often heard the power techs muttering about the fact that the nuclear plant should have been replaced years ago.

  Something about budget constraints.

  Something about the few maintenance bots being overworked.

  Something about the fact that a hundred-and-fifty year old mining station shouldn’t be relying on four-hundred year old technology.

  Energy generation was an expensive and complicated thing, and out in space, the Federation tended to turn a blind eye to such transgressions. As long as the resources kept coming and taxes were paid, the Earth-based intergalactic mining corporations could do what they wanted.

  They stepped across a portion of the floor that was wet; a steady stream of shallow water flowed across it, disappearing into a narrow drain. Jia was pretty sure there wasn’t supposed to be any water on the floor.

  Up ahead, a hazard holosign marked a section of the flooring that was under repair. Jia hadn’t been down here for months, but it seemed that every time she came here, things looked a little more decrepit.

  Jia nimbly dodged the hazardous area, jumping across the thin puddle of water. As usual, Kalan was right behind her, not even making a splash as he crossed the tiny stream.

  The thudding was disconcertingly loud now, but what freaked Jia out more were the shuddering groans that tore through the metal walls.

  Jia wasn’t a power tech; her trade was fixing spacecraft, but she knew what pressure overload sounded like.

  If they didn’t find out what was wrong, chances were, something was going to blow.

  And on this aging hunk of metal, the fallout wouldn’t be pretty.

  If an explosion resulted in an outer wall breach, the station’s pressure detection systems would quickly shut off whatever section was affected. However, if they lost power, gravity regulation would eventually fail, along with lighting, and pressurization.

  That was why Jia had felt compelled to check out the situation.

  With the entire station in turmoil because of the Xargek and the blackout, she hadn’t even had the chance to retrieve her comm from her quarters.

  And the chances of mobilizing a tech team to come to the power plant in these conditions was slim-to-none.

  At least she had an infallible warrior by her side. In these circumstances, Kalan was probably going to be more useful than a bunch of tech-heads with their complicated problem-solving robots.

  Jia’s shoulders slumped in relief as they reached the large doors that marked the entrance to the control room of the power plant. She hit the door-panel, thankful that her role as a first-rank mech granted her access to virtually any space on Fortuna Tau.

  Given her totally clean service record and her reputation for honesty and hard work, no-one had thought twice about giving her full security clearance.

  The boss always sent her to sort out the petty little jobs. Things that weren’t in her job description. Things that could only be fixed by a small person who could squeeze into small spaces, where the robots couldn’t go.

  That’s why Jia knew this place like the back of her hand.

  She was about to step across the threshold, but again, Kalan held her back, this time by snaking his arm around her waist.

  “Kalan,” she whispered harshly, trying to push his arm away. Her fingers wrapped around his magnificent biceps, pressing against that strange armor of his, which was hard yet flexible. Maybe it was her imagination, but the dark material almost seemed to move under her touch.

  He squeezed her gently, before letting her go. “I go first,” he said, his voice quiet but authoritative. “That’s the rule.”

  “For now,” she grumbled, acknowledging that in this situation, it made sense. If there were monsters out there, she’d much prefer it if her monster dealt with them first.

  Kalan slipped past her, somehow managing to brush against her, warmth radiating from his large frame.

  It was definitely the wrong time and the wrong place. Jia pouted as he walked into the control room.

  A few seconds later, his deep voice rang out. “It’s safe.”

  “Not from you, though,” Jia muttered under her breath, as she entered the control room. It was a vast space lined with monitors, AI supercomputers, and holoscreens. The end wall was made entirely of glass, and it overlooked a series of platforms that led to the entrance of the nuclear plant.

  Jia knew that from memory. Right now, the space beyond was dark, aside from an orderly constellation of small blue safety lights that lined the platforms.

  Even the control room was too dark for comfort. She couldn’t see much in the dim light, aside from the faint flicker of various monitors. There was a funny smell in here, too. Jia switched on her headlamp and gasped.

  Someone or something had vandalized the large array of tech equipment. It looked like a targeted attack, with great gashes made in the casing of what she assumed was the AI unit, the artificial ‘brain’ that was responsible for automatic regulation of the power systems.

  Holoscreens had gone out everywhere, and the control board was lit up like a christmas tree with red warning signals.

  Everywhere, the instruments had been destroyed by giant slashes. Perhaps a large blade could had done the damage, but the cuts looked a bit too jagged, a bit too vicious.

  No wonder the mains power had died. The system would have gone into panic-shutdown mode.

  “What the hell?” She stepped forward, and her foot bumped against something soft.

  Jia looked down and cried out in shock, almost dropping her tool-case.

  There was a body at her feet.

  A Human body.

  She stumbled backwards, and somehow Kalan was there, pulling her into him. “Don’t look,” he whispered.

  She’d caught a glimpse of somethi
ng gruesome; a dead man who’d had the flesh torn from his body.

  That was what the funny smell was.

  Oh.

  Shit.

  She’d been able to deal with dead Xargek, but a mutilated Human was another matter altogether. Her stomach threatened to heave.

  But she had to do something first. Fighting off her revulsion, she headed for the only holoscreen that still appeared to be working. Jia sent a comm through to Tech Command. She needed to “Hey, Command, this is Morgan from the Spacecraft Mechanics Division. Do you copy?”

  Nothing.

  “Command, are you there? Hello?”

  The holoscreen showed nothing but darkness.

  What the hell has happened to them?

  “Is anybody there?” She tried again, but there was no response. A chill slid down her spine as she imagined the terrible fate that might have befallen the people in Tech Command. She leaned forward, pressing her hands against the console as a wave of lightheadedness swept through her. The stench of blood and guts was everywhere. It was overwhelming.

  She became dimly aware of Kalan standing behind her.

  “Let’s go out,” he suggested, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He slowly guided her back out of the control room, taking her hand and pressing it against the door-panel so it slid closed behind them.

  It was hot and noisy, and pressure was building in her head. The awful image of the dead man flashed in her mind.

  Whompwhomp. Thudthud. The pipes and walls groaned.

  Jia bent over and retched, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor as her tool-case slipped out of her hand.

  Kalan did something remarkably intuitive. He ran his large hands over her shoulders and back, stroking her as she coughed and spluttered. He gently prised the plasma gun from her hand, sensing she was about to drop it. He slipped it into one of her large pockets, so smoothly that Jia barely noticed.

  He didn’t say anything until Jia had recovered. She straightened to her full height, and feeling unsteady on her feet, she leaned back into Kalan as he wrapped his arms around her. “You are… unused to such things,” he said softly.