by K. D. Austin
Arden laughed, and the deep bass reverberated off the metallic walls. “The Scourge is the most advanced space station in the galaxy. Of course, since I’m in charge here, I might be a little biased.”
“I thought the GalMars had the most advanced space station, Earth Star.”
Arden roared with laughter again. Hanna wasn’t sure what was so funny and was beginning to believe she’d been rescued by a space case. This man was beginning to make Mister Starfield seem sane.
“The GalMars used to own the most advanced space station. Then I stole it.”
Hanna’s jaw dropped. Definitely a case of space madness here. She needed to find a way to get out of here.
“I can see you don't believe me. That’s okay. You will. In fact, that’s part of why we brought you here, Hanna.”
Her suspicions rose like a rocket on takeoff. “What do you mean?”
“Well, word among the stars is that you’re the best hacker in the galaxy. Can even hack people.”
Hanna tried hard to blank her expression, trying not to give anything away. This could all still be some elaborate trap by the GalMars. Or it could be something worse if this man was as loony as he seemed.
“Hacking into a person is impossible.”
“But of course! ‘The Cyber-Human Implants are secure.’ ‘The CHI are safe.’ ‘It’s not possible to alter someone’s mind using the CHI.’ I know all the propaganda crap, but I’ve also lost two of my best mates to mind-hacks. They’re both informants for the GalMars now, so let’s drop the charade, okay?”
Hanna stared at the gigantic man. The playfulness had left his eyes, but the anger that had replaced it didn’t scare her. In fact, she recognized that look from her own life, and it made her immediately like Arden Mann. The galaxy had hurt her too. She nodded slightly.
“Why did you bring me here?”
“We are in need of your…unique…talents, Hanna. I believe you’re the key to the future of the galaxy.”
“That sounds a bit dramatic,” Hanna said slowly. The pain in her head was steadily increasing the longer she sat up. She didn’t know how much longer she could be coherent.
“Maybe. But we really do need someone with your skills to help us restore my hacked mates and track down the treasure that was stolen with them.”
“A search for hidden treasure. How classic pirate of you.” Hanna began struggling again to slip her shirt over her head, careful of her injured shoulder.
“Stop. You’re going to kill yourself,” Arden said and gently extricated Hanna from the tangle she’d made of herself and the shirt. When the fabric cleared her face, she became aware of how close this man was. She could smell the oils and metals of spaceship repair lingering on his hands, as well as a spicy odor that her mind associated with fragrant teas, though such an extravagance would be unlikely for a space pirate, even one who supposedly stole a battle station from the GalMars.
“Thanks,” Hanna said in a voice that wavered unexpectedly. His closeness affected her, and she wasn’t sure whether it had to do with her muddled state or something more primal. “Please step back.”
Arden looked down at Hanna, and for a second she thought she glimpsed boyish hurt on his face, but if it was ever there, it was gone before she could know for sure. Then he moved back hastily.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay. I just feel horrible and didn’t want to puke on you.”
Arden smiled. “I appreciate that. I’ll get something you can put on for now while you’re healing. The nanobots we dropped into you should repair most of your injuries completely, but it’ll take another forty-eight hours or so.” His face lit up. “I know exactly what you need. Sit still.”
“As if I could go somewhere if I wanted to,” Hanna said, trying to smile, but when Arden bolted out the door and left it open, the temptation to do just that flared inside her. Her head swam dangerously as she leaned forward, though, and all thoughts of getting off the cot became lost in her struggle to maintain consciousness.
“Hey, Hanna, are you still with me?”
She felt a tentative touch on her shoulder and tried to respond, but her mouth didn’t want to cooperate.
“Bova! I didn’t want to do this, but…”
Panic floated to the top of the miasma that constituted Hanna’s thoughts. He was going to do something to her. She had to get away.
“Here. Can you put this on your chest over your heart?”
Arden pressed a small, flexible square into Hanna’s palm. She stared at it uncomprehendingly. The panic now submerged beneath childlike curiosity. What was this funny item? Could she eat it? She was a little hungry.
Arden took it back. “Okay, don’t get all jumpy, but I’m going to put this on you. Sorry in advance for the grope.”
Her eyes struggled to focus, and her mind fought to comprehend Arden’s words. His tone seemed nervous, and Hanna felt she should be a little scared, but she couldn’t hold a thought, much less an emotion.
Then a hand the size of her head pushed against the side of her breast, and she jumped, bumping her head against the solid wall behind her. Blackness rushed from the corners of her vision.
* * * *
“Star’s scars,” Arden said, grabbing Hanna’s suddenly limp body before she tumbled off the med-cot. “I warned you.”
He eased the naked woman whom he had barely managed to rescue from the GalMar onto a lying position on the med-cot. He was still horrified by the beating the GalMar gorilla had been unleashing on the slight woman. He had feared he was too late.
When he’d hijacked her communiqué with the landing authority on Benn, he knew the GalMars would pick her up for questioning—her cover story had been pathetic—but he hadn’t thought they would try to beat a confession out of her. As far as he knew, they’d left those methods behind about a century ago when the CHI had become the accessory no human could live without. There was no reason to extract information by force when you could just read it straight out of a brain.
The medical bay on the station boasted the most advanced tech in the galaxy, and Arden had employed as much as he understood, and some he didn’t, to try to keep Hanna alive. Now he feared it may not have been enough, which was why he had the little patch in his hand. He’d read just enough about the Resurrection Complex to know that a third of the patients that it had been tested on had died. However, the other two-thirds had recovered quickly from fatal wounds.
As he watched, Hanna’s breathing became irregular. Her perfectly sized breasts jittered as her lungs started to fail. Arden didn’t hesitate. He took the Resurrection Complex patch and attached it over Hanna’s heart. Immediately, wire-thin tendrils snaked out from the edges and embedded themselves into the pale flesh of her left breast. Her breath accelerated until she was panting, though she still appeared unconscious. Hanna’s body spasmed twice in a motion that, mixed with the heavy breathing, caused Arden to think of an orgasm, but he pushed that thought away for now. He simply hoped she wasn’t dying. He needed her.
After the jerking ended, her breathing slowly returned to normal, and her eyes snapped open.
Arden released a tightly held breath.
“What was that?” Her eyes spun wildly in her head, and then her entire face flushed, causing her paleness to be replaced by a lovely rose, and sweat broke out across her body. “What did you do to me?”
Arden noticed that Hanna looked exhilarated, embarrassed, and angry all at once. “It’s called the Resurrection Complex. And I think I just saved your life, again.”
Hanna glared at him suspiciously from eyes that were far more alert than when he’d first entered the room after she awoke. The flush on her face, which had spread down her neck and across the top of her breasts, was slowly dissipating, and again Arden had the impression of a woman who had just come. Of course, for all he knew, the patch had caused her to orgasm with whatever it did that brought her back.
“How do you feel?”
Sh
e continued to stare at him, but the suspicion faded from her face along with the rosiness. “Actually, pretty good. I don’t feel like I’m going to puke anymore, and I can actually think without my head feeling like it’s going to explode.”
“Good. I’m glad I didn’t waste that patch on you. I only have about a hundred. They came with the station.” He smiled at her and then reached down onto the floor. “I brought you this before your near-death episode interrupted me.”
He held up an Enhancement Exoskeleton, or EXS, as the GalMars designated them. This particular model was labeled “EXS-T4.” Arden was unsure what the “T4” indicated about this exoskeleton, and he didn’t really care.
“This is an EXS. It’ll manage the pain from your injuries that will likely return once the immediate effects of the Resurrection Complex wear off. It’ll also allow you full mobility with that broken leg and dislocated shoulder. Though I imagine the nanobots have knitted the bones back together in your leg, it will still be weak for a couple of hours.”
Hanna’s face clouded momentarily, and it occurred belatedly to Arden that he’d failed to go over all of her injuries with her. He wasn’t a doctor. He was a space pirate. A damned good one at that, so she’d just have to get over his lousy bedside manner.
“What else on me is broken?” Her voice betrayed no fear. Arden admired her for that.
“Well, your skull, as you’ve probably guessed, but I made sure the nanobots made that a number one priority. And I put a knitting cap on you. It’ll hold your skull in the proper position and protect you from serious injury should you hit your head while it’s healing, like you did just a minute ago when you passed out.”
“Internal injuries?”
“You had a ruptured kidney and spleen, as well as four broken ribs and a punctured lung, but the bots have already repaired those.”
“I guess I owe you,” she said and lowered her eyes briefly.
Arden laughed lightly. “Not at all. I told you my motives were completely selfish. I need your help. The GalMars have kidnapped some of my crew and stolen something from me. I think you can help me get it back. So go ahead and suit up.”
Hanna looked at the EXS in his hand. The device looked like strips of transparent plastic film in the shape of a headless stickman. The corners of her mouth turned down, but Arden saw a distinct twinkle in her eye that he liked.
“So, your plan is for me to parade around in nothing but this exoskeleton thing for your viewing pleasure?”
Arden shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Well, now that you mention it, that’s a brilliant idea. But the EXS has a built-in hologram feature. You can appear to be dressed in any attire you desire.”
“But I’ll still be naked.”
“I also brought you these,” Arden said, holding up both a pair of body shorts and a matching band bra. “So you’ll be covered no matter what.”
“I’ll be wearing underwear.”
Arden nodded. “If you were in an actual hospital, they’d have you remain naked until the nanobots finished to ensure they could enter and exit your pores and other holes as needed. I’m making a concession here.”
Hanna shook her head slowly. “You’re so generous.”
Reluctantly she allowed Arden to help her into the skintight white shorts. With the recently broken leg, she really didn’t have much choice. Then she struggled to pull the bra up her body.
Arden reached over and grabbed the sides of the flexible fabric. “Here let me help you.”
She jumped as his hand grazed the side swell of her right breast as he pulled the band up the last few inches.
“Sorry,” Arden said though he enjoyed the goose bumps that rose on the left side of her body.
“It’s okay,” Hanna replied, her voice quivering slightly.
Arden’s found his face less than five centimeters from hers, his brown eyes staring at her lips. Unexpectedly, Hanna began closing the distance. Arden felt his pulse quicken and started to pull her to him.
A voice boomed from a speaker hidden in the ceiling.
“Arden, we have a potential situation. We need you on the bridge.”
Chapter 6
Arden moved across the room as if he hadn’t been about to kiss Hanna, and she stared after him wondering what had almost just happened. Had she been about to kiss him? She had just met this man and knew less than nothing about him. Hanna decided that though her mind felt clearer, obviously she was still suffering from the effects of either her injuries or the drugs.
Then Arden was back gently taking her elbow and helping her to her feet.
“Come on, Hanna. I’ll introduce you to the crew as we go. But first let’s get this EXS on you.” He deftly laid the thin transparent strip down her spine, her arms, and her legs. Hanna fought to stand still as his large hands slid from the base of her neck and down to the top of her butt. As much as she tried to ignore the reality, Arden’s touch ignited an animal passion in her. She’d never felt something so primal before. The odd thing was that though she found him attractive, he hadn’t struck her as sexy when she first saw him, nor did he now. His touch, however, was almost like some type of magic.
It’s just a side effect of the Resurrection Complex, she told herself.
As Arden put the EXS’s arm strips on, Hanna quivered slightly. When he ran his hands down her bare thigh and calf, she practically spasmed with the electricity of his touch.
“Sorry. Just a little ticklish,” she said, trying to cover how turned on she suddenly was. Her pussy had become so wet she feared it would show through the body shorts.
“That’s okay,” Arden said. Hanna tried to determine if he sounded a little short of breath. Was the connection mutual, or was this all in her mind? Which one did she want it to be? Finally, he helped her into her own boots. “Now come on, let’s see what all the fuss is about on the bridge.”
Arden swept out the door without waiting to see if Hanna would follow. Hanna quickly found the hair-thin cables that extended from the end of the EXS’s left arm strip—the suit had a set for each arm—and plugged them into her wrist port. A display popped up in the corner of her eye with a menu for the EXS. She quickly scanned the options with slight movements of her eye. She initiated the strength enhancement, along with the pain-management system. Immediately, the pain in her shoulder, head, and leg diminished to a faint ache that she believed she’d be able to ignore quickly. Amazing!
Finally, she located the holographic functions and after a few seconds determined how to choose an outfit. She picked black synthleather pants and a white synthcotton tank because the attire both looked practical on a pirate vessel and also had less chance of being discovered as a hologram than something looser fitting in case she moved too close to someone.
She moved quickly to catch up to Arden. She was fascinated by how effortlessly she moved with the EXS. She had never worn any type of enhancement suit before and had had no idea the rush it was. She felt incredible and nearly invincible. Too bad she hadn’t had this baby on when that vicious Sergeant Lance had attacked her.
“Umm, so do you have any idea what sort of a ‘potential situation’ we’ve got here?” Hanna asked to bring her mind back to her present situation. The GalMar sergeant was in the past now, and she was happy to leave him there. Having no real idea what Arden Mann’s pirate band might be doing right now, Hanna had no way of guessing what kind of situation might need Arden’s attention.
Arden didn’t quite run, but he walked very quickly down a distinctly teal-colored corridor.
“What? Oh. I don’t know exactly. Salvor, that’s my first mate, doesn’t get excited by much. So I’d guess that either the sani-station has backed up again or we’re being attacked by the Galactic Marines.”
Hannah groaned. “I’m hoping for the sani-station.”
“Then you’ve never been on a space station with a sanitation issue. Whew!” Arden covered his nose and made an oddly adolescent puking gesture. Hanna shook her head slightly. Some boys
never grew up no matter how big they were physically. Yet, for some reason she found it endearing in the giant man.
Arden motioned at the color scheme on the floor and walls. Everything—walls, doors, ceiling, and floor—was all the same shade of teal. The only break in the monochromatic scenery was a slight highlighting on doorframes and at the seams where wall, floor, and ceiling came together, which provided some sense of depth and distance.
“This area, like all the others in this station, is color coded. Learn the colors, and you’ll never get lost.”
Hanna listened as Arden launched into an explanation of what colors led to where. She basically ignored his discourse, assuming that she could simply access the station’s net and have a map to anywhere she needed to be. If she decided to hang around, that was. She still hadn’t determined whether it was worth her time to help this guy find his hidden treasure. He had saved her life, so she owed him something, but she’d have to determine exactly how far that debt ran.
There were holographic numbers and letters floating above some doors.
“What are those?” Hanna asked, pointing at a series of holographic numbers floating down the left-hand side of some of the cross corridors they encountered.
Arden turned his head to see what she was indicating and then shrugged. “No clue. At first, we thought they were some type of numbering system for rooms, et cetera. But they don’t line up with anything consistently. They’re just one of the many mysteries about this station that remain unsolved.”
Hanna found the idea intriguing, almost as intriguing as Arden’s apparent lack of concern about the numbers. If this truly was a stolen GalMar station, those numbers would be something. As annoying as she found the Galactic Marines, they were masters of efficiency. The floating numbers had some important function for this station. Oh well, it wasn’t her concern at the moment.
Arden swung into a vermilion corridor that caused Hanna to nearly close her eyes due to its bright contrast to the previous corridor. Who chose these colors? Arden slid to a stop in front another floating hologram, A-1, that hovered above a door.
