by CJ CADE
His gaze holding hers, he shook his head. "Listen—I've been through battles of many kinds, against all kinds of enemies. When I set out with my platoon, I have a plan. But things never go quite according to that plan. We still have to think on the fly. At times, it works out perfectly, but sometimes the whole plan goes to skrog shit. You think I've reacted well every time?" He snorted. "Hells, no. And I've learned not to expect it of myself, or of my warriors. So why a civilian like yourself would expect that of yourself, I don't get."
"But... I'm Tygean."
He smirked. "Which means you're supposed to be good at everything?"
She flushed. Okay, maybe that had sounded a tiny bit arrogant. "I suppose so. Also, I've spent my life trying to live up to my older brother."
"Yeah? Who's he?"
"Commander Tryon Jag, of Jag Navigations. He's quite famous in our part of the galaxy." When Arek shook his head, she went on. "LodeStar Corporation? The space cruise ship Orion?"
"LodeStar I've heard of," Arek said. "So your brother's a big deal, huh? Is that why you're in the Race, to show you're just as tough?"
"Partly," she admitted. "But mostly I just wanted to do something—to have an adventure all my own. And I thought, after learning all I could about the Race, that this would be my chance. Travel, have fun, play an outrageous game, make new friends..."
Their gazes met, and he nodded. "Didn't count on Octiron being willing to toss you under the tatt to keep their audience glued to the holovid, hmm?"
She shuddered, and took another drink of cider. "No. Goddess, I've never—never been so terrified in my whole life as I was facing that beast. And then you nearly fell... and I couldn't help you."
His brows lowered, and he gave her a look. "'Nearly fell'? Princess, at no time was I in danger of falling. I had a solid grip on that vine. And you saw me kick off the beast's head, and jump back onto the ledge." He shook his head. "'Nearly fell', my Gorglon granny."
Mia concentrated on the level of cider in her bottle, smiling despite herself. "Okay. Got it. You were in control at all times."
He nodded, and drained his ale, then crushed the bottle in his fist. "Right. And don't forget it... kitten."
"What did you just call me?" she slammed her own bottle down on the table, ignoring the drops of sweet cider that splashed over her hand. She glared across the table at the Aurelian, who regarded her with a bland look on his hard, handsome face, his green eyes narrowed.
Waiting for her to lose her temper again, so he could lord it over her again. She guessed their moment of empathy was over.
She shot out of her seat. "I have better things to do than argue with you... Commander Earknocky."
With a toss of her hair, she turned on her heel and marched away. Okay, it was only five steps to the cockpit and the nav station, but walking away from him was quite satisfying.
Until he followed her and dropped into the captain's chair. Arms akimbo, he clasped his hands behind his head and stretched his long legs over into her space. "Good choice of activities, kitten. Give me our coordinates, hmm?"
"Get them yourself, oh great warrior." But she wanted to know where they were too. Because there was something... something nudging at her awareness, like someone bumping her through the distance. Her nostrils twitched, her eyes narrowing.
She brought up the nav vid and examined the path ahead. And there they were.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing at a rough line of small objects ahead of them.
Mia's heart gave a hard thump. "That's an asteroid belt."
He sat up straight. "Can we go around it?"
With a few lightning moves, she examined their path and trajectory. "No," she said. "We can't. It's too big, and we're too close. We must go through the middle."
* * *
"Deuce!" Arek roared. "What the hells? You didn't think maybe it was important to warn us about an asteroid belt?"
"... did," the AI answered, his voice so faint they could hardly hear it. "You didn't respond."
"Merde," Mia mumbled, already reaching for the second set of controls. She was shaking, adrenaline flooding her veins. "His volume has fluctuated again. Arek, give me the controls. I'll have to take us through this on manual."
He already had his hands on his joystick. "You? I'm the experienced pilot."
She nearly drew back, deferring to him. Instead, she took a breath and nodded, setting her jaw. "Yes, me. Can you feel them?"
"Feel what?" he demanded.
"Can you feel the asteroids out there? Because I can. And thus, I can take us through them." At least, she was fairly certain she could. If she was wrong... they were space rubble.
"This is what your brother does," Arek said. His gaze flicked to the holovid of the asteroid belt, which was rapidly growing larger, and back to examine her face. Then he nodded abruptly, and took his hand from the joystick. "Very well. You have the controls."
Her heart stopped and then raced ahead. For a moment she froze, gazing unseeingly ahead at space outside, and the glimmer of dark shapes floating ahead in the blackness of space. What if she was wrong, what if she couldn't do this? What if she killed them both?
"You have the controls," Arek repeated, his voice sharp.
Mia straightened in her seat as if he'd prodded her. She nodded crisply. "Yes. I have the controls. I have this."
And she did, she discovered. They shot toward the outer rim of the belt, a huge asteroid looming in their path. It was silvery, with edges sharp as razors that glittered in the light of a nearby moon. It poked at her consciousness, a nearly painful press against her Tyger senses, warning her to stay away, or the cruiser and she and Arek would be torn to bits on its wicked spines.
Fear flooding her, Mia jerked the joystick, and the cruiser veered widely, nearly striking another chunk of sharp rock. Her senses were screaming at her to turn and flee. But she couldn't, it was too late.
And this time, Arek was depending on her to get them through this. They weren't facing a rampaging beast that he could outwit and outrun. They faced space itself, just as merciless in its silence.
But space was facing a Tygress—and this was what her people did best, better than even the most powerful, feared warrior in their galaxy, like Arek. She had this.
She loosened her grip on the joystick, and nudged it the other way. Just... enough, yes, there.
Mia dove the cruiser through the gap between the two chunks of asteroid, then under another, took them up over a small chunk, and found herself facing the biggest obstacle of all.
Two chunks floated together, a huge barrier to space beyond. They must have been the hard, molten core of the former star, for they were huge, and no time to go around, over or under.
The only way ahead was through. Which is where Mia took them. Sliding to one side, over a razor-sharp spine, then dropping and shooting through a narrow gap, into a tunnel no less suffocatingly tight because it was open above and below. She ducked them to the left to avoid one last spine, and they were through, sailing out into open space.
Slowly, she let go of the joystick, and then flopped back in her seat, her eyes closing. She was panting, she realized, as if she'd been running hard again. Merde, she was going to need another showerdry.
"I don't know whether to kiss you, or smack your ass for nearly killing us," her partner said, his deep voice a husky growl of sound. "Fuck. Me. That was intense as flying under enemy fire."
Her eyes jerked open. "You try smacking any part of me, Earknocky, and I'll claw your face. Then we'll see how handsome you are."
His eyes narrowed. Slowly, holding her gaze, he tapped the button to open his restraints. Then he rose, took one step and bent over her. His big hands on the arms of her seat, he leaned close. His eyes glittered in his hard face.
Mia looked up at Arek, her senses still flooded with relief, and something else... excitement at his nearness. She couldn't help the urge to sniff him, draw in his scent, and savor his warmth. He was like a heat unit, giving off enou
gh heat to warm the surrounding area. Of course he'd just completed a daring physical challenge, then run back to the ship. She was feeling quite flushed, herself.
Which had nothing to do with him looming over her, as if deciding whether to take a bite. More likely wanting to reprimand her again. She frowned at him. "What?"
He surveyed her for another moment, then slowly shook his head. "It will wait."
Straightening, he moved away, leaving Mia staring after him. No, she wasn't disappointed. He was just annoying, that was all. Riling her up and then just ignoring her.
With a toss of her head, she turned her attention back to the nav com. Space ahead was clear for a long way. Not a meteor shower, black hole or dead star to be found. Good, that was good. She'd focus on their current good fortune, then. And not on how they'd both nearly died twice today.
Because she may have pretended that piloting them through that asteroid belt had been easy because of her race—but the truth was, she'd also been very lucky. And she might not want to admit that to Arek, but only an absolute fool refused to admit the truth to oneself. And she hoped she wasn't an absolute fool... she was certainly some kind of fool.
She'd thought this race would be a light-hearted adventure, not the life-and-death contest it truly was. Right now, if she could go home—even to face the censure of her parents and brother—she'd do it
Except... she took a look around her. Taking in the nav com that she had worked hard to learn the skills to operate. Taking in the sleek cockpit, and the cabin behind her. Taking in the tall, irritating but handsome, and extremely skilled warrior who was her partner, who now crouched across the cabin, doing something with their body armor. And remembering that she and he had made it through the first, and surely the most dangerous of the three race challenges. That she'd now done something, experienced something that no one she knew had. Not her friends, her parents, or even her older brother, with all his experience in space travel.
A tiny smile curved up her lips. She sat up straighter in the nav chair, and straightened her shoulders.
"Deuce," she said. "What points did we receive for completing the first challenge?"
Arek did not look up from his task, but she saw a smile curve up the near side of his lean face. With a toss of her hair, Mia focused on the view of space outside their craft. Two could play at ignoring.
"Team Starry Night," Deuce announced, "Having accomplished Task One, without injury to yourselves or to your craft, you have achieved all points possible for the challenge."
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mia clenched her fists in victory. "Starry!"
"How are the other teams doing?" Arek asked, lifting his head.
"Hmm," the AI said. "I am not at liberty to divulge that information, sorry."
Mia's eyes met Arek's in mutual irritation.
"Also," Deuce said, "It is nearly time for your second interviews. Who would like to go first?"
Wait, holovid cameras, now? Mia shot out of her chair. "You can be first."
"Thanks," Arek said dryly.
"No problem." Mia hurried into her sleep cubby and shut the hatch behind her. She might have to wear this flight suit—black was so not her color—but she could at least apply some cosmetics and fix her hair a bit.
Arek faced the Egglantian reporter in the holovid, ignoring the tiny holocams hovering before him. They'd placed him in the captain's chair, with the controls and the windshield behind him. The reporter simpered at him from the holovid, batting her ridiculous lashes as if flirting with him in a bar. He gave her nothing in return, waiting expressionlessly.
"Greetings, Prince D'Arek," the Egg crooned. "Captain of Team Starry Night."
"Greetings," Arek returned.
"As all of our audience know, prince, you are waiting for the report of today's challenge, and how your competitors fared."
"Yes."
"Well...," the female said coyly. "It is a good thing you are a military man, and used to such tragic news. Today, the Race lost two more teams. Of course, that is less competition for you..."
"On the contrary," he said. "I am very sorry to hear of the loss of beings who assumed they were in a light-hearted civilian competition, and instead found themselves in a battle for their lives."
"Indeed," the reporter said, with a moue of sympathy as false as the cosmetics applied to her pale lavender visage. "Such tragedy. Which you and your teammate narrowly escaped yourselves, true? We all know of the rampaging beast you faced on Am-ghyr. As a commander of warriors, was it terrifying for you, or just another day on the battlefield?"
Arek gave her a look he usually reserved for enemies who dared to taunt him before battle. "When I lead my warriors into battle, I ascertain they are well-trained and armed to face any foe. It is difficult to draw a comparison between that and sending civilians against 'rampaging beasts' armed only with small lasers and faulty intel."
And the Octiron directors could do with that piece of honesty what they wished.
The Egglantian widened her beady eyes theatrically. "Why, Prince, it seems your... hostility has only deepened in the course of the Race. Tell us, does this have anything to do with your race teammate? In your first interview, you were not happy to be paired with a Tygean."
And here, on a platter was his chance to repair the damage he'd done in that first interview. Of course, he hadn't known then why he was really here, but now that he did...time to execute damage control.
"You're correct. I was initially unhappy with my assigned teammate," Arek said. "However, as a military man, I've learned that dangerous situations reveal a being's true character. In the first challenge, my teammate, although a civilian, showed courage and tenacity, far beyond what I expected. She has earned my deepest respect."
He looked to the hovering holocams. "I also wish to take this opportunity to extend my sincere apologies to the Tygean people for my thoughtless remarks about their character. One would think that as an Aurelian, I would be wary of judging a people by rumor. I won't do so again."
The reporter eyed him speculatively. "Hmm, it seems your teammate has indeed had an impact on you, Prince. Perhaps you'll share more about your new closeness? How did the two of you celebrate your miraculous win today?"
Arek raised his brows at her. "We had an ale together, to celebrate our safe return to our ship. Is that what you had in mind?"
Not that there was much to share, other than his strong wish to haul the little Tygress into his arms and kiss her until she purred... and let him do much, much more to her lithe, sweet body. But if this reporter thought he was going to share his private urges with her and the inter-galactic audience, she was rezzed.
Satisfied that she looked her best possible, Mia moved to open the cubby. The hatch did not budge. Mia tugged at the handles, alarm rising.
"Deuce," she said. "Deuce! I'm shut in here. Let me out."
"Sorry, Tygress, no can do. The interviews are confidential, you know."
With a sigh, she sank onto the edge of the narrow airbed. "Com, bring up current audiobook." But other than a crackle of white noise in her ear, nothing happened.
"Deuce!" her voice was frankly a whine, but she did not care. Whenever life came at her with claws out, Mia could always lose herself at least for a time in a good story. She had just begun a romantic suspense by her favorite author, and the hero had just become aware that he was being stalked by a female assassin—one he'd believed long dead. If she had to sit in this tiny cubby by herself, she should at least be able to enjoy a story.
"Sorry, Tygress," the AI said again. "Your com data feed has been pre-empted by Octiron."
"What?" Ice trailed down her neck. "They've preempted my data? That's..." that was illegal, she was fairly certain.
"Hmm. Do you wish me to take your remarks to the Race administration?"
"Yes, I do," she snapped. "And I'll have something to say to the authorities, as well."
Although which authorities that might be, she wasn't sure, not here in
Paragon Galaxy. She was certain, however, that a new fear had joined the one that Octiron clearly deemed appropriate a level of violence that Mia had not expected. Now it seemed they were isolating the Race contestants in every possible way.
Unless she could send a message during her Race interview. One that audiences back in her galaxy would see. And her parents, and Tryon.
Then she thought about her mother seeing such a message, and worrying about her daughter, millions of miles away and out of reach. Mia winced. No, she would wait and see what happened.
At the first chance, she would share with Arek that their own comlink feeds were blocked. She trusted him more than she did Octiron. After all, earlier today on Am-Ghyr, Octiron hadn't cared if she lived or died, but Arek had. He'd kept his head, and he'd saved both himself and her from death by trampling or a fall into that canyon.
In fact, she owed him more than the half-hearted words she'd given him earlier. She owed him a huge, heart-felt thanks. And she'd given him that, as soon as that idiot AI let her out of this sleep cubby.
Popping off the bed, she took the two steps to the hatch and pounded on it with her fist, several times.
The hatch flew open to reveal her partner facing her with a familiar look on his face. The one that said she had once again made him wonder about her mental acuity.
Mia flushed. "I was locked in."
He looked to the hatch, and back to her. "You sure?"
"Uh, yes, I'm sure. Ask Deuce."
"Captain, if you'll proceed to your cubby," the AI said as if on cue, "It is time for your team-mate's confidential interview."
"See? They'll lock you in too," she hissed.
Arek face hardened, and he gave Mia an indecipherable look. Then he sauntered toward her, slowly, passing so close he brushed against her. "Call if you need me. And stay cool, Tygress."
Mia looked after him as he disappeared into his sleep cubby. The hatch slid shut after him. What had he meant by his remark? What horrible news or questions were waiting for her? And further, how would he get out even if she did call for him? Unless he had some kind of psi powers he had not divulged. And she didn't think he was part Indigon—she always got a sort of feeling around the intuit-empathic beings with deep blue eyes. A part of her Tyger senses.
