In Heat

by Leigh Wyndfield

  Jax came and stood in the doorway behind her. "What do you mean you don't think they were Eaters?"

  "They were saluting each other." She looked down at the interesting green button under a protective cap and wondered what it did. "And they seemed too well organized, their equipment too nice. Junkeaters are called that for a reason."

  "How many deals have you done with them?"

  "Probably thirty, maybe more. And I've never seen them have a transport as nice as this AlphaBird. This thing just came out in the last twelve lunar cycles and I hadn't heard of one of them on Sector 12 before." She looked at the green button again. It wasn't marked like all the others on the console.

  "So how did you get trained to fly one?"

  "I'm not." She tossed a grin over her shoulder. "You're coming along on my maiden voyage."

  "That's just fantastic, Waverly. Thanks for including me." He seemed angry. "Have you thought about the fact that they are going to come after us?"

  "Of course I did. Why do you think I chose the AlphaBird?" She thought about all the extra features this transport had. She only knew about them because Deek had spent a long, torturous night telling her in agonizing detail. She'd only half-listened but now she tried to recall what the green button could do.

  "They're probably lifting off now."

  "You're right. You should go back and strap in." She smiled sweetly over her shoulder. "To keep an eye on your prisoner."

  He gave her one last irritated look and turned around to leave. "Great, just great," she heard him say.

  She grinned. Fly one transport, and you've flown them all.

  Well, that wasn't exactly true. There were differences in thrusters, which made flying the variety with four opposing engines tricky. But she'd taken a course in flying the Mock125, which had four thrusters each attached to a foot peddle or hand wheel. That type of ship required hand-foot coordination to fly, since each of the engines could be adjusted to turn the transport in a different direction. Even though the technology was usually only found on fighters, the Mock125 had come out with it years ago. It was used to transport those people who were important, such as dignitaries, or those who could afford it and basically thought it was too cool to pass up.

  Waverly had always wanted to fly fighters, but the sexist bastards on Inter-world Council had declared a ban on women in the military, forcing a glut of female fighter pilots onto the job market. With little experience five years ago, she couldn't beat out those females picked up by planets with their own fighter forces.

  She looked at the green button. She felt drawn to it. Curiosity was one of her big weaknesses. She could almost feel the press of the button under her finger. Without thinking, she flipped up the cap.

  Two blips showed up on the radar screen and her hand dropped away to grab the steering bar. "Jax? It looks like we've got company. Are you strapped in?"

  "Wait, let me switch to the gunner position." She heard him moving behind her. "Okay, I'm in."

  Waverly pushed the throttle to maximum speed, feeling the automatic response of the AlphaBird under her hands. Satisfaction washed over her. After flying those heaps for Alexander, she could appreciate a new transport. She lowered herself into a passing ravine with a nifty little barrel roll and then had to correct for over-steering.

  "Whoa! Waverly!"

  "Oops, sorry," she yelled back.

  "Who in the hell do you have flying, Jax?" Sparticus screamed. "This is what you get for using a woman pilot."

  Waverly pushed down the need to retaliate, concentrating on the curvy, irregular canyon she flew in. Her radar wasn't picking up the two ships behind her, but that didn't mean theirs weren't picking up on the Bird. This deep in the ravine, she couldn't count on her sensors working correctly.

  She would have to lose them or they would simply follow her to Bazarat. The ravine curved tight to the left. She turned so sharply, she hung for a second, suspended sideways in her harness.

  "Waverly, what the hell are you doing?" Jax's voice came through the headphones in her helmet now.

  "Flying," she said, straightening out. Mountains rose up on the right. The ravine went in between them. This could be her chance. She shot through, still at max throttle, scaring herself once when the ravine became shallower than she had anticipated. The Bird lifted up and then back down as they flew over the bump.

  "Whoa," she heard Jax whisper through the headphones. Sitting out in the gunner turret, he had a bird's eye view of her flying. His voice shivered from her headset down to between her thighs. She tried to ignore the feeling.

  It had felt so graceful, he probably thought she'd done it on purpose. She grinned even as her stomach fluttered with nerves. She was glad both moons were up, lighting the way.

  They got to the other side of the mountains. She rose up above the ravine to see if radar picked up the other two ships. They were still behind her. Even in the slower transports, they had the advantage of flying above the canyon.

  "Damn, they're still there," she said to Jax.

  "I see them." The transport jumped in her hands as he began to fire. He was out of range but the guns would keep them a safe distance back.

  Waverly looked at the green button. She thought she knew what it was, if she could believe Deek. She made her decision. "Hold on, Jax," she said, flying out over a relatively flat section of the desert. "Okay?" she said, reaching for the button.

  "Okay."

  She pushed it. The afterburners came on and the transport jumped forward at super-speed.

  "Holy Shit!" Jax yelled. She could hear their prisoner crying out as well.

  Everything around them became a blur as the transport hurled forward. Waverly was forced to fly by watching the instrument panels alone.

  "Waaaahhooo!" she screamed, unable to contain the sheer joy she felt at this speed. She wanted to land and pull Jax on top of her. Kiss his amazing lips in celebration.

  At least they were going in the right direction to get to Bazarat. The ship rattled with the stress. She thanked whatever Higher Being looked after fools like her. If the Bird hadn't been brand new, she was sure too much of this would tear the ship apart.

  She corrected the transport level, then saw the power gage. She literally watched it dropping before her eyes. Another bar had appeared when she pushed the green button. It steadily fell too. She assumed this showed how long the afterburners would be on. The two bars were racing each other.

  "Umm, Jax," she said, trying to sound casual.

  "I think I'm going to be sick. The view from where I'm sitting is one big racing blur."

  "Sorry about that. We have a ... um ... mild problem."

  "What's that?"

  "Well, our fuel level is a wee tad bit low." She watched the competing gages, feeling the transport already begin to slow.

  "Cut the extra speed."

  "Well, thank you. That's something that hadn't occurred to me. I've spent my life flying so I would never have thought about that solution."

  "I take it there's a problem where you can't cut the speed." His voice was dry.

  "Yes, genius, there is."

  "What's the problem?"

  "I have no idea how to cut the afterburners."

  "Who's the genius now?" She heard him make a sound that was suspiciously like a chuckle.

  "Glad you find this amusing." The power gage seemed to be winning by a little, but she could be imagining it.

  He sighed over the mike. "Can you do the opposite of whatever you did to turn it on?"

  The fuel light came on with an accompanying ding. That was helpful, she thought. "If I could do that, I promise I would."

  "What are you proposing we do?"

  "Get ready to run out of fuel." She thought they would go to normal speed first. The fuel gage was definitely winning now. "This is all your fault," she added, to the green button.

  "What?"

  "I wasn't talking to you." Waverly looked at the computer screen plotting their progress to Bazarat. They mi
ght make it. She wished she had a better feel for energy consumption on these newer models.

  "Who were you talking to?"

  She sighed. "The green button."

  "Waverly," he said, his voice worried.

  "It made me push it. It had a cover over it." She knew he wouldn't understand, but how could she explain it? You were either a button pusher or you weren't.

  "Waverly."

  "Don't worry. I learned all about crash landings in flight school." She didn't add that flying for Alexander had given her practice too.

  "Great." He sounded resigned. "I need to get the hell out of the gun turret. I'd rather not have a front row seat for this."

  "Tell me when you're strapped in again."

  He cursed several times, but after a few moments he said, "I'm in."

  "Good. We should come off afterburners in the next few leagues."

  With a thunk, the transport suddenly dropped speed. If she hadn't been ready to slow, she wouldn't have caught the ship as it lost both velocity and altitude.

  When she knew she could talk normally, and not in a high squeak from nerves, she said, "I think we've got about ten more minutes of fuel left. That will put us close to Alexander's landing strip. I'm going to try to make it there."

  Tense silence filled the transport. A steady ding began to sound as the fuel level dropped to the last dregs. Alexander's strip came into view. She'd flown this low on fuel only twice before. She didn't think she'd ever stop loving the huge adrenalin rush she got from this kind of flying. It was the reason she'd stuck around with Alexander and Deek.

  She was almost to the strip. "Hold on. We're going to hit hard," she said into her headset, lowering the transport wheels.

  The console let out a distressed set of bongs, signaling that the fuel was gone. The ship got heavy in her hands. She braced her feet on the floor and pulled the nose up as hard as she could. Then they hit the strip with a hard jerk.

  She thought she was home free until the wheels gave out below them and they went into a spin. Waverly could only wait until the ship came to a stop in some brush. They came to a halt so fast, the harness bit into her skin, bruising her.

  "Jax! Are you okay?" she yelled into her headset, freeing herself from the harness.

  "Yeah," he said, his voice conveying his irritation.

  Looking through the front view, Waverly saw Deek drive out in a sandrail, as she threw off her helmet.

  She went back to the hold and found Jax looking at Sparticus.

  "Is he alive?"

  "Yes. He's lost quite a bit of blood, though."

  Waverly went to the door and lowered the steps manually. She lifted a hand in hello at Deek, who grinned back. He looked relieved. She didn't think he'd feel that way for long but she smiled harmlessly at him. She needed him up close to give him exactly what he deserved.

  "What do we do with him?" she asked, turning back to look at the unconscious man.

  "I'm not sure yet."

  "Well, you better figure out something. He'll die if we don't get him to a Healer soon." Waverly pulled some towels out of a bin and handed them to Jax, who formed a rough tourniquet.

  "That's the best I can do for him right now."

  She nodded and turned back to Deek as he walked up to the transport.

  "I figured it was you when the ship landed like that. You're hell on a transport." Deek whistled. "And an AlphaBird, too. I can't believe you damaged something this amazing."

  She walked down the steps to meet him. "You are so on my bad list." She kept her tone light.

  "I tried to talk him out of it," he said, raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

  Waverly stepped close to him. "I'm sure you did." Then she hit him, as hard as she could, with her fist.

  CHAPTER SIX DEEK FILLS THEM IN

  Deek's nose exploded in a shower of blood. Waverly didn't feel as good afterwards as she had thought she would, but she didn't feel bad either.

  Behind her, Jax jumped down the stairs and picked her up, dragging her backwards. "What in the hell are you doing?" he asked.

  "Yeah, Waverly! Why did you do that?"

  "Because you let him sell me, you twit."

  "I told him it was a bad idea."

  "Oh, well, that absolves you from responsibility." She didn't struggle against Jax. It felt great to be held by him after the adrenaline rush she'd gotten from flying. God, she was turned on.

  "Come on Waverly. I knew you could handle this. You're the master of getting yourself out of bad situations."

  "Where's Alexander?" Without meaning to, she rubbed her body slightly against the man holding her. Just a little movement--a small, full-bodied caress.

  "Waverly," Jax whispered in her ear, making her name into a moan. His arms tightened around her.

  "He's gone. He took off last night."

  "Where did he go?" She forced herself to concentrate on Deek.

  "I don't know. I'm leaving too. I'm just staying behind to sell the equipment."

  "Add the transport to the list. You'll need to get it out of sight quickly, though. We've got people looking for us."

  "I wish it wasn't damaged. I would love to fly it."

  "We've got someone with us who's been injured. We'll need to dump him off at a Healer's if we can."

  "Who is it?"

  "A Junkeater," Jax said, joining into the conversation for the first time. "His name is Sparticus."

  "I don't think he's a Junkeater," she added.

  "He's a Junkeater working for the Inter-world Council." Deek walked around them to climb the transport steps, still blotting at his nose.

  "You know him?"

  "Yeah." He peered into the transport. "Alexander sold him information on The Gunny." He turned to Jax. "I'm Deek, by the way." Wiping the blood off on his pants, he offered his hand. Jax reached around Waverly to shake it, but kept one arm around her waist, holding her tight against his growing erection.

  "I'm The Gunny," Jax said, letting go of his hand. "What did Alexander tell them?"

  "Where you live and that you were in the Jimlee mating ritual. They figured you could be picked up easily."

  "But why?" Waverly leaned slightly forward so she could run herself down and back across the bulge in Jax's pants.

  His arms pulled her tighter to him. "I'm wanted on gun running charges. There's a bounty on me."

  "Alexander thought you might come after him once you discovered the truth about Waverly, so he wanted you taken out. You couldn't track him if you were spending the rest of your life in Hell's Gate."

  "I'm not going to prison, I can assure you. We'll get off this planet and disappear for a while." His chin nuzzled the back of Waverly's head. She could feel the fires building in both of them.

  One of Sector 12's two moons began to set, making the bright evening suddenly into a normal planet's night.

  "I'm pretty surprised you two are a mated couple," Deek said.

  "What?" Waverly asked, unsure if she'd heard him correctly.

  Deek looked confused. "Well, Alexander said that Jimlee males can't function during the mating ritual if they aren't with their true mate. Their bodies don't allow them to stop fucking for twenty-four straight hours." Deek laughed. "It's kind of like they have continuous sex but no fulfillment, unless they are with their mate."

  Waverly felt sick. Her whole body tensed. "No," she said.

  "We don't know that he's got true information," Jax said from behind her, his arms tightening into bands of steel.

  "I do not choose you!" She tried to turn but he didn't let her.

  "Don't fight me Waverly. I'm not letting you go until you calm down."

  Waverly stomped on his instep but only succeeded in making him suck in his breath.

  Deek watched the exchange, still looking puzzled. "What's wrong Waverly? It takes both of you to make this work. You can't be mated unless you recognize each other."

  "Well, I don't recognize him."

  "You haven't been able to keep you
r hands off him since you broke my nose." Deek gingerly touched his face.

  "I'm going to break more than that," she promised, looking for an outlet for her frustration. She wasn't going to take a mate. She didn't want this forced on her.

  Jax tightened his grip. "Focus, Waverly!" Her body jumped at his sharp tone. "We have to take care of our problems before you can take care of Deek."

  "We don't have problems, Jax. You have problems. I'm not being hunted by the Inter-world Council."

  "Umm, actually, you might be." Waverly turned her attention back on Deek.

  "What?" She kicked Jax's shin when he wouldn't let her move forward to question him. He still didn't let her go.

  "Alexander sold them information on you too. He told them you led the last two Junkeater runs."

  "I was working for him!"

  "Yeah, well, he forgot to mention that part. I would get off Sector 12 as fast as you can."

  "Okay," Jax said, his tone commanding and in control, even as his erection pushed against her back. "Here's what we're going to do. Deek, get rid of the transport and take Sparticus to a Healer. Do you have anything you want from here before we leave?" he asked her.

  "Yes," she hissed. She hated that "I am in charge" thing he did.

  "Fine. Let's go pack your stuff. I've got a friend who owes me big. We'll catch a ride with him off planet if we can." Waverly felt him look at Deek. "Are you coming with us?"

  "No, I've got a ride."

  "Then this is goodbye?"

  "Looks like it."

  The two men shook hands again. Waverly rolled her eyes.

  "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I didn't stop Alexander," Deek told her with complete sincerity.

  She looked at Deek. He had been a good friend, even if he was a no-good, double-crossing jerk. "Goodbye Deek, and good luck."

  "You too."

  Jax let her go and she stepped forward to hug her friend goodbye. Her skin seemed to shrivel and crawl when she touched him. It was such a different reaction from what she had when she touched Jax. Shanks, what if they were a mated pair?