Interstellar Service and Discipline 03 Fallen Star.lit

by Morgan Hawke

  “Better?” Sobehk curled his lip showing a long fang. “I caught you, remember?”

  Fallon curled her lip and showed her teeth, too. “It took you three days, and I almost made it that last time, too!” She scrubbed her free hand across her watery eyes and glared at him.

  Sobehk grinned. “I still got you.” He tugged her closer. “Come here.”

  Fallon sighed and let him pull her against his chest. She pressed her cheek against his heart and curled her fingers into his silver hair. Blood and fury, he smelled good. “I’m still going to kick your ass, as soon as you’re well enough.”

  Sobehk wrapped his other arm around her and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. “We’ll just see about that.”

  Laughter rang out. “What happened to ‘nice’?”

  Sobehk snorted. “Fuck you, Khan.”

  Khan’s laughter softened to chuckles. “All right, I’m convinced.” He sighed. “But I still need to do a map before I can release custody.”

  Custody? Fallon stilled then turned to look over her shoulder. Only three strides away, a man sat in a small chair. He was draped from head to toe in the folds of a voluminous hooded robe that began as blood-bright scarlet and darkened to deep black where it reached the deck. Fallon couldn’t believe she hadn’t even noticed him.

  Within the hood of his robe, bright copper eyes gleamed predator green within their feline-slitted hearts. A shimmering black circlet graced his brow. His sharply sculpted pale face was completely devoid of softness, and yet his mouth was surprisingly full and sensual. “Such a direct gaze.” He raised a slender brow and looked over at Sobehk. “I’d say that you left off the conditioning altogether.”

  “There wasn’t time.” Sobehk sighed and brushed a hand against his bandages. “This happened within minutes of her collaring.”

  “I see.” Khan rose gracefully from the chair, lifted his hands and dropped the scarlet hood, revealing hair the color of rich cream bound severely back into a complicated braided tail. The graceful curve of his ears had the same cuts in the lower arch as Sobehk, but the rings piercing his lobes were as black as the band around his head.

  Fallon glanced around, but neither master-surgeon Tah nor Mohr were in the small room. They must have left while she was still blind. And the door was missing. Damned mimetic ship.

  Sobehk’s hand squeezed hers. “Isabeau, this is Mehdjay’syr E’sey Khan. He’s a lord-officer from the office of Security and Intelligence. Address him as ‘Syr Khan, or ‘Syr.”

  Fallon swallowed hard. He was an investigations agent. An icy finger slid down her spine and every hair on her body shivered to life. She was in a small room with no door, with a wounded man and an investigations agent.

  And she was a criminal that had just killed somebody. Great...

  Chapter Ten

  Khan stepped toward Fallon. The black hem of his silk robes whispered across the deck. “Hello, Isabeau.”

  Fallon automatically backed away. Scary, scary man ... She could tell just from his gliding steps that he was augmented to the hilt and combat trained. He could kill her, and easily.

  Sobehk’s hand tightened on hers, holding her at his side. “Isabeau, stay with me.”

  Fallon turned to see Sobehk’s pale face. He didn’t look well. She did not need to add to his stress. She took a breath and nodded then looked back at the lord-officer. “‘Syr?”

  Khan folded his hands behind him. “Isabeau, I need to map the contents of your mind.”

  Fallon sucked in a sharp breath. “You want my mind? ” He wanted her to turn over her personal data, her private programs, her memories and experiences ... everything that made her who she was? Was he insane? She bit back her initial comment. What he was, was dangerous. Pissing him off was probably not a good idea. “What for?” She cleared her throat. “‘Syr.”

  Khan glanced at Sobehk then focused on Fallon. “Somehow a rather nasty assassin ended up onboard this ship. It killed two men and severely wounded two more ...” He looked down. “I was sent from the office of Security and Intelligence to find out who sent it and why.” He shrugged with elegant precision. “We collected as much data as we could from the ... assassin, but we couldn’t collect much.”

  Sobehk smiled tiredly. “There was this big hunk of live-steel in the middle of his brain.”

  Khan’s bright copper gaze locked on Fallon. “And the only person who currently knows anything ...”

  Fallon winced. “Is me.”

  Khan smiled fleetingly. “I’m afraid so.”

  Fallon took a deep breath. “How much of ... my mind, do you need?”

  Khan lifted his chin and tilted his head toward Sobehk. “All of it.”

  All of it? Her throat closed tight and her voice came out in a breathless whisper. “I don’t know if I can do that, ‘Syr .”

  Khan took a deep breath and released it. He spoke quietly, gently and completely without remorse. “Isabeau, I’m not asking.”

  Fallon felt the icy chill of fear then the hot flash of temper surged. “You honestly expect me to let you take my mind? ”

  “Isabeau!” Sobehk’s growl was a low rumble. “He’s not taking it! He’s just looking at it.”

  Fallon turned to glare at Sobehk. His blue eyes focused on hers. His expression clearly appeared angry, but his face was far too pale and his mouth nearly white. She clutched his hand and finally noticed how cold his fingers were. He wasn’t angry, he was afraid. Something more was going on here. Her temper bled away under an icy wave of cold hard terror. “Sobehk, what’s going on? What haven’t you told me?”

  “Quite perceptive.” Khan sighed. “Do you want to tell her, or shall I?”

  “I’ll do it.” Sobehk closed his eyes briefly. “Isabeau, you must cooperate with ‘Syr Khan, or you’ll be ... taken.”

  Fallon’s heart tried to stop in her chest. She grabbed the edge of the bed to stay upright. “What?”

  Sobehk stared hard at her. “When you took out the assassin, you were declared too dangerous for me to ... keep. They want to impound you.”

  Fallon shook her head. “Dangerous? But what about the collar?”

  “He no longer has control over it.” Khan very deliberately stepped away.

  Fallon frowned. “Then who ...?” He gaze focused on the red-robed lord-officer, and her blood froze in her veins. Oh, no ... No, no, no ...

  Khan turned to face her and a small smile appeared. “Very perceptive indeed.”

  Fallon turned to Sobehk, her fingers biting into his palm. “How do I get out of this?”

  Sobehk sighed tiredly. “Let him in your head. All he wants to do is look.”

  Fallon closed her eyes and hunched her shoulders. Blood and Fate ... Why not ask for my soul while you’re at it? She opened her eyes to stare at Sobehk. He was the only person she knew on this ship, and the only person who knew her. Did she really want to lose him? No. No, she didn’t. She licked her dry lips. “Will it hurt?”

  Khan moved to stand at the end of Sobehk’s bed. “It hurts only if you try to keep the probe out. As long as you let it go where it will, you will feel nothing more than a slight tingling.”

  Fallon flinched. “Great.” She took a deep breath, trying to control the pulse beating in her throat. “Can you make it quick?”

  “I’ll make it as quick as I can.” Khan strode for the small table on the far side of Sobehk’s bed. He opened up a small computational. The holographic projection behind Sobehk’s bed shivered then changed.

  She stared up at Sobehk. “How in fury did everything get so ... complicated?”

  Sobehk’s brows rose. He smiled. “It got complicated when you saved my life.”

  Fallon snorted. “So it would have been a lot simpler if I’d let Tusk kill you?”

  Sobehk nodded gravely. “I’d be dead and you’d be in a holding cage on your way to the Mehdjay headquarters for Security and Intelligence where they would assign you to a trainer to see if you could be reconditioned and imprinted on so
meone else.”

  Fallon frowned, her fingers closing tight around his. “And if I couldn’t be ... reconditioned to like somebody else?”

  Sobehk looked toward the lord-officer on the other side of the bed. “They destroy rehkyt that can’t be recovered.”

  “Terrific.” Fallon groaned. “You know, if you had left me on Dyson’s, we wouldn’t be going through all this.”

  Sobehk’s brows rose. “So this is my fault?”

  Fallon snorted. “Damned straight, it’s your fault.”

  “If you hadn’t taken my glider ...” Sobehk smiled tiredly.

  Fallon rolled her eyes. “You got it back the next day!”

  Sobehk groaned. “I really need to beat that ass of yours.”

  “Probably.” Fallon smiled just a little.

  “Speaking of your ass ...” Sobehk patted the blankets. “Get it up here on the bed.”

  Fallon jerked back. “Are you out of your mind? You’re hurt!”

  Sobehk glared at her. “Did I, or did I not, just give you an order?”

  Fallon released a small sound. She desperately wanted to climb up there with him, but he was not in any kind of condition to deal with jostling. “Sobehk, I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Then be careful.”

  “Are you sure?”

  His brows lowered. “Get up here. Now.”

  Fallon scowled as she moved to the foot of the bed. “What did I ever do to deserve a big bully like you?”

  “You stole a glider,” Sobehk said dryly.

  Fallon climbed up at the very foot of the bed and faced him on her hands and knees. “I thought it was a kiss in a bar?”

  Sobehk smiled. “That, too.” He shifted toward his right with a wince and patted the side of the bed with his left hand. “Come here.”

  Fallon crawled to his side. His arm settled warm and comforting around her. She sighed and carefully set her head on his shoulder, snuggling into his embrace. His leg shifted under the blankets against hers. She lifted her knee and set it over his, pressing against his side. She set her palm over his heart. She felt his pulse steady and strong under her palm and stared up at him. “Don’t let me hurt you.”

  His hand pressed atop hers and he smiled. “Your assassin couldn’t get me. Think you can do any better?”

  Khan came to the side of the bed in a whisper of heavy silk. “I’m going to set the probe in your data jack; then I want you to turn over and face away from Sobehk.”

  Sobehk scowled. “Why?”

  “Because you are wounded, and if my suspicions are correct ...” He glanced down at Fallon and sighed. “She’s going to need you to hold her, more than she needs to hold onto you.”

  Fallon swallowed. So, it was going to hurt. Great .

  Sobehk set his jaw. “I can take it.”

  Fallon stared up at his tired and bruised face. No, he couldn’t. She took a breath and smiled, though it hurt. “You and that big, fat ego of yours.” She looked over her shoulder. “Do it. I’ll turn over.”

  Khan stared down at her; his brow rose, and a slight smile curved his lips. He nodded. “I’ll set the probe.”

  Fallon turned away. Fingers moved the hair from the back of her neck. Her hands closed into fists.

  Khan pressed his device into the portal in the back of her skull. “It’s in.”

  Fallon twisted her wrist from Sobehk’s grasp and wordlessly shifted onto her back, then her side, facing away. She dug her fingers into the blankets and mattress and focused on Khan.

  Sobehk spooned against her back, his arms closing around her. His lips brushed the back of her neck. “I have you.”

  Khan held a small device in his hand. “Are you ready?”

  She nodded, her mouth dry.

  “Then we begin.” Khan activated the device in his palm. “Relax, and try not to fight it.” He turned and faced the holographic projection at the head of the bed. “Take nice, deep, steady breaths. Don’t try to think, just let it go.”

  A shimmer went through her augmentations then something oily began seeping across her thoughts. Fallon closed her eyes.

  “I understand how difficult this is. I’ve had to go through one of these, too.” Khan’s voice was calm, soft, and almost gentle.

  Fallon frowned. The fact that he’d gone through the process of having his mind ... probed, made him seem less threatening, though not by much. But why had he told her that? He hadn’t had to.

  There was a slight bump and what felt like a puzzlement in her mind. It was a request for entry.

  Fallon released her personal firewalls and opened as wide as she could. The pressure eased.

  Khan sighed deeply. “Good.”

  Breathe in, breathe out ... Another bump in someplace unexpected. Fallon frowned, but there was nothing there to open. The bump persisted then abruptly shifted and moved elsewhere. Tension whispered through her body. Another bump ... and shift. Tension tightened and pressure built. Heat flushed through her body and a cold sweat drenched her skin.

  Sobehk’s hand swept dawn her hip. “She’s heating up but sweating cold.” He sounded annoyed. “What are you doing in there?”

  Khan turned to look at them with a frown. “Sweating cold?”

  Fallon panted for breath under a wave of heat and opened her eyes. Sweat gathered and dripped. Pressure built in her mind and in her joints. She released a small sound of distress.

  Sobehk hissed. “She’s sweating ice cold, but her temperature is rising fast.”

  Khan stood over her his eyes hard. “How many doses does she have in her?”

  Sobehk shifted against her. “Two.”

  Fallon tightened her fingers in the blankets. “They said three.”

  Both of them took a startled breath. “Three?” they chorused.

  Sobehk’s fingers bit into her hip. “Are you sure?”

  Khan gripped the chrome rail on the side of the bed and shook his head. “Never mind that ... How many times has she been ridden?”

  Sobehk leaned up. “Isabeau, has anyone ... fucked you?”

  Fallon groaned under the ache building in her joints. “Just you.”

  Khan frowned. “How many times?”

  “Once, right after the first dose.”

  “Once?” Khan bared his long teeth. “One of you had better be wrong.” He strode for the wall and punched a button. “Sehnbay’syr Tah, how many doses are in this rehkyt? ”

  “Three.” Tah’s voice fizzled with electronic interference. “Is there a problem?”

  Khan’s hand curled into a tight fist and he stared at the floor. “Was she mounted after her last two doses?”

  “No, I assumed A’syr Sobehk mounted her after her second ...?”

  Khan looked over at Sobehk, his brows low over copper eyes that burned.

  Sobehk’s nails cut into Fallon’s hip. “There wasn’t time!”

  Khan’s mouth tightened to a white line. “Apparently not.”

  Another bump moved in Fallon’s mind. This time the shift became another bump ... and then another. Pressure intensified. She dug her fingers into the mattress hard enough for her nails to pierce it. The sound of ripping fabric was loud.

  Khan stared up at the holographic display and bared his teeth. A growl rumbled. “This has been one farce after the other!” He punched the wall. “Get a mattress in here and bring me the fourth dose, now!” He moved away from the wall and pulled at the fastenings on his robe, opening it. He let the cream robe drop from his shoulders, revealing a long black robe bound with a scarlet sash.

  Sobehk stiffened. “What are you doing?”

  Khan tossed the heavy outer robe over a chair by the wall at the head of the bed. “I’m going to dose and mount your rehkyt .”

  “Khan, no!”

  “No?” Khan turned to face him with his teeth bared. “Then you’d rather she die?”

  Sobehk jolted. “Die?”

  “Yes, die.” Khan drew several daggers from the folds of his scarlet sash. “Let me put
this in clear detail for you. You have in your arms a newly Primed rehkyt .” He turned and tossed the daggers onto his robe. “A Prime rehkyt that has yet to be mounted after her second dose or after the kill that made her Prime, and yet was given the third course.” He tugged his sash free. “A Prime rehkyt that is currently undergoing a mapping of her mind with boring probes.” He pointed to the holographic display at the head of the bed. “According to that, she is riddled with sleeper codes that lead to one rather nasty trapdoor program.”

  Fallon’s heart stuttered in her chest. A trapdoor program? How in fury ...?

  Khan jerked the black robe from his shoulders, baring a pale chest marked with jagged sword scars. Small black rings pierced his pale nipples. “When those probes run out of places they can map, they are going to converge on that trapdoor.” He threw the robe at the chair, leaving only his long black kilt. “Make no mistake – they will get in. And when they do, the pain will drive her straight into rahyt! Is that clear enough for you?”

  Fallon shivered. Rahyt was madness, insanity, and killing rage.

  “Rahyt? Are you sure?”

  “She has three doses and only been mounted once. What do you think will happen?” Khan sat on his robes and jerked at his boots. “If she isn’t dosed and mounted, the rahyt will trigger regeneration fever. She will bleed to death from every pore in her body, after she tries to kill us once the rage hits.”

  “Bloody Chaos ...”

  “An apt description.” Khan scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “The only other option is killing her before she goes into regeneration fever.”

  Fallon scanned for the program and winced as her thoughts burned, but found nothing. “I can’t find it ... I don’t see it!”

  “You’re not going to. It’s a trapdoor -- a sleeper virus. You won’t see it until it’s active.” Khan pointed to the wall. “According to what I’m seeing, you’ve been hacked.” He waved his hand at the holographic display. “It’s sloppily done and recent.”

  Sobehk shifted behind her. “Khan, she doesn’t deserve to die!”

  “No, she doesn’t.” Khan set his hands on his hips. “She’s keeping her promise to cooperate, but every part of her that’s still hers has already been mapped. It’s tracking the sleeper traces, but it’s running out of traces to find. We are running out of time.” He turned to face Fallon. “She is running out of time.”