Entropy

by Jess Anastasi

“The deal was with this entanglement thing that you let me be, no matter what you can feel going on in your heads.” He pushed to his feet. Even if he wasn’t going to sleep, getting away from these two seemed like a great idea, especially after the disaster of their last encounter.

  Varean crossed his arms, sending him an admonishing look. “I don’t remember making any such deal.”

  “Well, it was implied. I’m not going to argue. You can take the helm. I’ve got a bottle of Violaine to work on.”

  Neither of them said anything, not that he gave them much chance. He grabbed up his rucksack and went down one level, going into the first cabin he could find. Though this ship wasn’t as big as the Ebony Winter, and not much bigger than a shuttle compared to the Imojenna, it was newer and definitely a whole lot fancier.

  He settled down on the couch, taking perverse pleasure in putting his boots on the plush fabric. Void-space was skimming by the wide viewport in a rainbow of flashes and colors, lulling him as he took a more moderate sip of the Violaine. He’d always found void-space almost hypnotizing, and now didn’t prove to be the exception. He let his mind fall blessedly blank, thinking of nothing, feeling nothing, just letting the light and color fill his head.

  Sure as hell, he hadn’t meant to fall asleep, and it wasn’t until the nightmares—no, memories—started that he distantly realized he had. His brain had never needed to conjure up nightmares. Nothing his imagination could come up with would ever be more horrifying than what he’d actually lived through. Yet still, the images were jumbled and senseless. He didn’t get a logical progression of events or clear picture of any one thing. It was more the feelings of the moment. The physical recollection of confusion and fear and desolation and the unification of all the worst things a person could feel converging on him all at once.

  He never slept deeply enough that he forgot where he was and was always aware on some level that he was dreaming. Except, he didn’t have the power to pull himself out. Never had. He’d just learned to ride it out, knowing it couldn’t last forever, even if it felt that way. Eventually, he’d wake up sweating, panting, and shaking. But he would wake up.

  This time, something was different. He felt a tug on his mind and realized he wasn’t alone. Someone else was there. Two others. One of them was reaching down for him, sending calmness and reassurance at him in waves. He focused his entire being on that solid, tangible presence. Like being pulled out of quicksand. The nightmares wouldn’t give him up without trying to suck him back down with every passing second. Gradually, he came up until he was finally free, gasping a slicing breath as he surged upright.

  “Shh, Rian, it’s okay. You’re on the Medulla. You’re safe.” Ella’s low voice rolled over him, anchoring his jumbled mind. She was sitting on the edge of the couch near his hip, her hands holding his shoulders tightly.

  Despite the fact he’d come out of the nightmare, the darkness still had hold of him, leaving him shaking, feeling like he was coming apart all over again. How many times could he be shattered and scraped back together?

  “Rian,” Ella whispered, one of her hands sliding up to his neck. Her mossy-hazel eyes shimmered in the low light of the cabin. “Let me help you. Please.”

  Not letting himself think about it, he nodded, almost desperately. He was sick of trying to hold on by himself, losing his grip and falling over and over. Just for once, he wanted someone else to hang on for him.

  She released a long breath, almost sounding relieved. Leaning forward, she gently set her forehead against his.

  “Open your mind to me.”

  Even as she whispered the words, he could feel a gentle heat expanding from the place inside his mind that now belonged to her. It chased back the darkness, almost too easily. As her presence within him grew, his body relaxed beneath her touch.

  He dropped back against the couch cushions and she came down with him, keeping a light hold on him. Sighing, he let the lassitude wash through every limb, even as the glow started to wholly suffuse him. She wasn’t just blasting back the darkness, she was eclipsing the rage and pain and every single bad feeling the nightmare had revived within him.

  Almost of their own accord, his hands slid up and found her hips, closing convulsively on her slim waist. He dragged her across his lap until she was on top of him, the low gasp she made sending a shudder through him.

  The warmth flowing through him started changing, started rippling under his skin with sparks and fine tingles like nothing he’d ever felt before. Actually, he had felt this. Twice. Once, she’d used it against him when he’d been out of control and a danger to her and the crew. The other time—the first time—it’d been an accident and had sent him fleeing from her.

  This time, he let himself drown in it, not caring that he was getting hard underneath her. He needed some kind of release—the pressure had been building up for too long. A steady regime of violence and Violaine only released a fraction of the tempest raging within him a little at a time.

  He fully opened himself to the sensations surging through him like the roar of the ocean, rushing in on a tsunami of heated ambrosia, on a wild, Jasmynah-scented wind, exhilarating in its utter raw power.

  Though Ella only had her hands on his shoulder and neck, it was like she was touching him everywhere at once. Every single nerve ending alight and alive, setting his soul on fire. He couldn’t breathe any longer, his heartbeat was one long sustained stutter. But it didn’t matter because in that moment, he lived, he existed through her and nothing else, their very beings nothing but elemental burning.

  He came back to himself enough to recognize that he was tightening up all over. The physical pleasure of it all undulated through him in heightening waves, making his cock throb, leaving him with the realization of how this was all going to end.

  But he was way past caring. He threw himself headlong into the ecstasy, embracing it as it rushed upward from deep within him, from a place he’d forgotten even existed. He came hard, not bothering to hold back the guttural groan of unadulterated euphoria, her name a benediction on his lips.

  By the time the waves gently receded and the warm glow of her presence within him gradually drew back, he was boneless against the couch cushions. There was a quietness within him that he hadn’t experienced in a long, long time. It wouldn’t last. Any second now his mind would revive itself and he’d be back to his usual low simmer of rage and acrimony.

  He opened his eyes to stare up at Ella still perched on top of him. The hand on his shoulder was now twisted in the fabric of his shirt; a fine flush of color brushed her cheeks and her gorgeous eyes were darkened with desire.

  “That—that was not my intention.” Her voice came out husky, sending an echo of pleasure rolling through him.

  “Maybe not, but it happened.”

  And it had been completely mind-blowing. She’d gotten him off basically without touching him. A thought struck him. The idea made him flush hot and cold. Because Ella hadn’t planned this, it’d just happened but if he— If he followed through on his idea, it would be with complete knowledge of what they were both doing. But he wasn’t ready to return to reality just yet.

  “Do you think it works both ways?”

  Her brow creased, a hint of worry crossing her features. “What do you mean?”

  He slid his hands from where they’d still been clamped on her hips, trailing lightly up her ribs, skipping up to her shoulders until he could gently draw her down. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the space she took up in his mind, resting his lips against her forehead. With no idea what he was doing, he followed his instincts, going into her, finding her as bright and beautiful as a newborn star. Her breath hitched and she shifted restlessly on top of him.

  There was no need for conscious thought. His mind simply took over, intuitively flooding her with a kind of energy, as if it was feeding directly out of his soul into hers. But while Ella’s had been bright and warm, his was edged with a hint of darkness, all smoky and intense.

&
nbsp; She moaned and it was the most consuming, seductive sound he’d ever heard.

  He could feel everything of her, feel an echo of the pleasure as it built inside her, just as she’d done for him a few minutes ago. She surrounded him and once again they were inundated with each other, but this time he was the one in control. Luxuriating in the sensations coursing through her, that he had the power to make her feel this. Deeper than simple lust or physical release. It was something much more profound.

  Ella suddenly arched against him, and he had to throw an arm around her middle to stop both of them ending up on the floor. She gasped his name as he felt her come apart in his arms and in his mind.

  Jezus.

  Nothing had even been so pure as that moment.

  She slid sideways to drop onto the couch cushions next to him, looking sated and sleepy and so damned beautiful.

  “If you sleep now, I’ll make sure the nightmares don’t come back,” she told him in a husky whisper.

  Sleep without nightmares? He hadn’t been able to do that since before the Reidar had grabbed him all those years ago.

  He found her hand and clasped their palms together as he closed his eyes. He probably wouldn’t sleep, but maybe he would just rest in this rare moment, while his mind was amazingly quiet.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Qae had never been to Ballard, which probably wasn’t surprising. His home planet of Dalphin where he’d grown up was on the outer edge of the central systems, and given his profession, frequenting the planets that made up the shining pinnacle of the IPC empire hadn’t exactly featured high on his list of destinations.

  It was as pompous as he’d imagined it would be. All shiny buildings and fancy signs and clean streets and brand-new transports zipping through the city. Everywhere he looked were fancy business-looking or government-type people.

  He tugged at his own getup, not liking the way the shirt fastened all the way up to his neck. He, Jase, Cami, Tannin, and Zahli had all acquired clothes so they could move about and infiltrate Dieter Industries head office without attracting attention.

  The others all looked great—especially Cami. She had that buttoned down, hot office-chick-who-was-secretly-a-wicked-kick-in-bed thing going on. He’d spent way too much time since they’d left the Ebony Winter imagining all the fun he was going to have later getting her out of those clothes. Or maybe they could have fun while she was still wearing them—

  He cursed at himself then had to subtly adjust his pants, which were suddenly feeling a little too tight in certain areas.

  They’d stopped at a kind of café or coffeehouse across from the fancy Dieter Industries building. Tannin had his commpad out and was ready to launch his final assault. The hacker had spent the day slowly but steadily sending the company and its many subsidiaries into chaos. The final strike would come when Tannin froze the money then sent a general message to all employees stating they wouldn’t be getting paid in the foreseeable future and hinting they might as well go home.

  Once most of the building had cleared, they were going to head in. Tannin had hacked their security and had them added to the bio-sensors, so they shouldn’t set off any alarms when they entered the foyer. In the meantime, they were sitting at an outdoor table, sipping coffee all civilized-like, much the same as any number of business people surrounding them.

  “Look at these people living in mediocrement. It’s frecking depressing,” he commented. It was all so pedestrian, it made him antsy.

  “You know, Qae, most people are happy not living on the wrong side of the law and running for their lives every other day,” Zahli replied, shaking her head at him in exasperation.

  “Thank you for that unenlightening piece of information. They might be happy, but they don’t have a clue how close they are to losing their totally vanilla lives. Half these people probably work for shape-shifting aliens and don’t even realize it. I’d rather know the truth and live on the edge, than conform in ignorance and dress in some kind of weird formal bondage while I’m at it. I don’t mind adding the occasional round of bindings to the bedroom, but this is just uncomfortable in an extremely non-sexy way.” He tugged at the collar of his shirt, but then gave up and loosened the tie, flicking free the top two fastenings.

  Cami took him in, a smile flitting over her face. “Hot. And suits you much better.”

  He leaned over the table toward her. “Maybe you can show me later—”

  He went to kiss her but a hand appeared in front of his face and pushed him back again.

  “Do you mind?” Zahli complained. “We’re supposed to be on a mission and some of us are trying to eat.”

  “Oh, so it’s okay when you and Tannin are sucking face, but the rest of us—”

  “Are you guys twelve years old or what?” Jase cut in, though he sounded more amused than anything.

  “Qae definitely is,” Zahli muttered, except the way she crossed her arms and glared at him definitely wasn’t winning any points in the maturity tally.

  He was just trying to think of a comeback about being all man that didn’t sound cheesy or cliché when Tannin set down his commpad with a triumphant grin.

  “And now we get to enjoy the show. If this works how we planned, within a few minutes, people should start leaving the building.”

  “And if they don’t?” Jase asked.

  Tannin gave a nonchalant shrug. “Then we go in anyway. We don’t need the building empty to do this, it’ll just make it less likely anyone will ask us what we’re doing.”

  No one said anything else as Tannin slid his commpad into the protective satchel he stored it in. Jase went to get them a second round of coffees and they sat there, making nonversation—his version of pointless conversation—until a trickle of people started leaving the building across the street. Over the next half hour, the building continued to empty out, most employees looking confused, some annoyed, some apparently happy to have the rest of the day off.

  “That should just about do it,” Qae announced as he got to his feet, deciding he’d had enough waiting.

  There were no arguments as he left a few creds for the coffee then quickly made his way across to the Dieter Industries building, the rest of the team in tow. They passed a few people coming out, and as they crossed the large, airy foyer, he cased the obligatory guard’s station. It looked like even the security officers were debating whether or not to leave. And since Tannin had them added to be recognized by the bio-sensors, they didn’t trip any alarms as they passed through the checkpoint with the sign employees only beyond this point, so the guards didn’t pay them any mind.

  “This is almost too easy,” he stated in a bored voice as they got on the elevator to head down to the sub-level where the giant server room was located.

  Zahli sent him an incredulous look. “After all the trouble we’ve found the past few years, you’re going to complain when something actually goes according to plan?”

  “It’s boring,” he returned with a shrug.

  Jase patted his arm. “Don’t worry, Qae, we’ll find you something to shoot at later.”

  “You better.” He sent Jase a mock warning glare, leaving him laughing.

  “Here we are, people, sub-level four,” Tannin announced as the doors to the elevator opened.

  They stepped out to find another guard station. The single security officer was on some kind of internal comm, but ended the call when he saw them.

  “I’m sorry,” the guard started, sounding confused. “I don’t have any maintenance or upgrades scheduled for today, and I think the offices are being shut down for some reason—”

  “Oh look, you found me something to shoot,” Qae remarked as he pulled out his pulse pistol from a concealed holster, set to stun only.

  He squeezed off a round. The pulse blast passed through the security officer with no discernible effects.

  “Son of a shanked monkey’s ass.” Qae fumbled as he yanked out his razar, while the guard started advancing around the desk, features
twisted into an ugly mask of rage. Qae got off a shot with the razar, sending the guard stumbling back and morphing into its true form. The Reidar had barely straightened when it got pounded by nucleon gun fire from Jase. After a few long moments, the thing finally collapsed backward. Qae held out a hand and Jase tossed his gun to him wordlessly. He stalked over and put two rounds into the alien’s head, just to be sure, before casually throwing the gun back to Jase.

  “Happy now?” Zahli demanded in a pissed off voice.

  “Yep,” he replied with a wide grin, shoving his guns back in the concealed holsters. “Come on, this server isn’t going to jack itself.”

  He stepped over the body of the alien that was already grossly liquefying and entered the server room. It was one huge open space of blinking lights, orderly rows of crystal panes uniformly studded with plasma nano-chips. The most advanced operating system known to man.

  Tannin brushed past him, pulling his commpad out of the protective satchel and walking along the central aisle as if looking for something, even though they all appeared the same to him.

  “Here we go.” He stopped in front of a crystal pane and set the commpad against it, clicking into a kind of port. “It should only take me a few minutes to create an external link up, then the Ebony Winter can rip and store as much of this data as she can manage.” Tannin touched the comm attached to his shirt collar. “Lianna, ready on your end?”

  Qae didn’t have his comm switched on, so didn’t hear the response, but from the way Tannin started working, the answer must have been an affirmative. Qae left him to it and walked over to where Cami had taken up a defensive position, watching the elevator where they’d come out a few minutes ago. He leaned casually against the server just near her shoulder and crossed his arm, letting his gaze wander over the length of her neck and the curve of her jaw.

  “Stop that,” she told him without bothering to look at him.

  “Stop what?” He added a too-innocent tone to his words, working hard to hide his amusement.

  “You know exactly what you’re doing, and I’m trying to concentrate. If someone comes through those doors and I’m distracted, it could mean the difference between walking out of here or getting dragged.”