So she watched and waited. Another round of gunfire sounded from the trees and her intruder grunted, his body jerking a bit as he took a hit. The rest pinged off the hull.
Stop shooting my ship!
She managed to keep her mouth shut and inwardly, she cringed, feeling a little guilty for worrying about her ship when a man was just shot.
He returned fire, then silence prevailed. They both waited, still as statues as the seconds dragged into minutes. When her intruder finally stood, she did too, following him across the yard, keeping herself in the wake of his body in case the real enemy lay in wait.
Her feet crunched on greenery, kicking up a scent she didn’t recognize, though it seemed characteristic of this place. Within a few more moments, he stopped. Ellie chewed her lip, waiting behind her protector, but he knelt down, revealing a body that he proceeded to search.
“What the hell is that?” She’d encountered quite a few species, both through her business and as the daughter of diplomats, but she’d never seen this species before. Most of its body was covered in body armor, but the exposed skin was red. It had a short, stout body with four arms that ended in sharp claws with three “fingers.”
“I don’t know,” he said, continuing his investigation. “I’ve never seen them before they attacked my unit earlier today.”
“Your unit? Where’s you unit?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
His face cleared of all emotion as he ignored her question and returned to the creature on the ground. “Body structure indicates a planet with relatively high gravitational force.” He stopped examining the body, moving on to the various devices he’d pulled from the other being’s pockets. “Hacht,” he said under his breath, shaking his head. “Of course, it’s in their native tongue.”
Ellie frowned, squatting down next to him. “Maybe Angus could make sense of it. The ship is grounded for the time being, which leaves his processors underused. He might be able to run a database search for the characters.” She was almost hesitant, at first, to offer help, but this red bastard had shot at her too. She didn’t know what species it was, and maybe it was just after her intruder, but she didn’t know that, and nothing was more dangerous than ignorance.
And he saved your life…
She couldn’t forget that. Actions spoke louder than words, and without thinking, he’d told her to take cover and returned fire. There was no reason for him to say anything. He could have run or fired without trying to protect her. There was no reason for him to do so, which bought him a little clemency in her book.
He turned to her, holding up the message in his hand. “You don’t know what this is. Why would your databases contain any information on it?”
She paused, trying to read his face, figure out what he was thinking. Why did he save her? Why did he try to take her ship at gunpoint? It didn’t make any sense, the two realities discordant in her brain. Hesitantly, she said, “I’m not saying they would, but Cass programmed the TAT to access remote databases. Angus can access almost any unsecured network. All he needs is time to run through the data.”
His jaw stuck out, clearly hesitant to go along with her idea, but then he stood, bowing his head. Was that a yes?
“Come on,” she said, waving him back toward the ship, though a part of her screamed to not let him onboard. She sort of trusted him, though. They had a common goal, but that didn’t stop her gut from churning a little, worrying that he wouldn’t leave when asked.
My God, I’m actually inviting him onto my ship.
And to think, just a short while ago, she couldn’t get him off the Independence fast enough…
“How long will this take?” Zee said, fists planted on his hips as he stood near the door of the control room. He had been waiting impatiently while the ship’s owner started the database search they hoped would discover something about their attacker.
“How should I know?” she said, glaring at him over her shoulder.
She had every reason to glare. He didn’t even know her name, he’d tried to commandeer her ship, and he’d brought trouble to her door. “I am Zee.” He stood tall, hands at his sides, the most respectful stance of his kind.
“Ellie,” she said, her tone of voice showing a distinct lack of appreciation.
“It is an honor to meet you, Ellie.”
“Right.” She stood up to leave the control room.
“Where are you going?”
Ellie turned back. “To fix this ship, which has even more holes in it now. Thanks for that. Why the hell do you think it was parked in the first place?” She waved her hand at the viewscreen. “This isn’t exactly a trading hub.”
He opened his mouth to offer to help, but wasn’t sure she would accept. Again, he couldn’t blame her. He kept his mouth shut, and she walked away.
Zee looked out at the world. Beyond the screen, the world erupted in foliage with mountains in the distance. Not a single trace of any civilization had touched this planet until recently. Why was that? It was close to one of their colonies. It would have been easy enough to settle. Sure, it was a bit bright for his species, but it looked like it could have its uses, so why had they never come here?
He couldn’t help thinking it couldn’t be a good thing, that there was a good reason no one had ever claimed this planet. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be here long enough to find out.
Zee looked behind him to where Ellie had disappeared down the stark hallway, then turned back to the room. “Angus?”
“Yes, Zee?” Angus’s voice seemed surprisingly agreeable for once. After so many instances of obstinance and antagonism, Zee had expected an attitude from the AI and was relieved to not get one.
“How long will your search take?”
“That depends.”
He frowned, bracing for a return of the less amenable Angus. “On what?” he asked cautiously.
“On how far I have to search.”
His nerves ticked, annoyed with the AI as all the tension returned to his body. Zee was a soldier, accustomed to solving his problems with force, of letting out his frustrations on target dummies and sparring sessions. Angus pushed the limits of his control. The AI was a problem he couldn’t solve with force, though he desperately wanted to.
He looked out at the dense foliage outside and tried to forget about the AI, but with nothing else to think about, his mind strayed to his unit. His fingers automatically drifted to the status check button, pressing it once more. It clicked quietly under his gentle fingertip, but he didn’t expect a response.
What if they’re dead?
He shuddered and ruthlessly ripped the thought from his mind, turning back to the task at hand.
I don’t have a task at hand.
“Hacht.”
It was going to be a long day.
Ellie grumbled under her breath as she suited up. The heat resistant and fire proof suit covered her from the neck down with a helmet to protect her head. The helmet had a heads-up display. “Power on,” she said, and the display lit up, a message in the middle of the screen.
No Devices Connected.
She hefted the plasma torch off the counter. Loading the power source on her back, she pulled out the tool, feeling a lot like a Ghostbuster gearing up. Humming a few bars of the theme song, she walked out to the ramp, once again annoyed at the new holes in her ship.
With a sigh, she flipped the switch, the power supply on her back humming to life as her display changed.
Plasma Torch Connected.
One Moment, Please.
She tapped her foot, but it only took a second. In the corner, the vital stats popped up.
Power Level: 99%.
Current Run Time: 00:01
Remaining Run Time: 02:59
As she aimed the tool, she surveyed the damage. The edges had closed together some already, but the dead alien had practically used a cannon on the ship.
She froze.
Didn’t the alien, Zee
, get hit? She chewed her lip. Was he hurt? She supposed he could be wearing armor that protected him, but then she looked at the holes in the hull. Her ship was designed to take one hell of a beating. She’d flown through asteroid belts at tens of thousands of miles per hour. She’d flown into atmosphere where entry temperatures could melt most metals.
That weapon had turned her ship to Swiss cheese. How could any armor, no matter how advanced, hold up to that?
Don’t think about it.
Ellie focused on the repairs. Her lip grew raw from chewing on it as she lifted the tool again and welded the first of many holes. After a few minutes, she holstered the tool and moved on, grabbing a recessed ladder that allowed her easy access to the top of the ship. The weight of her pack dragged her backward, making each advance upward feel twice as hard. At least, it distracted her from her worries. She pushed up hard with each rung, using momentum to her advantage. Her weight swung wildly from side to side, her grip challenged with each advance.
A little bit farther.
Above her, the horizon made by the ship’s lines receded, revealing more and more sky. A couple more rungs, and she hoisted herself up, using the suit’s magnetics to keep solid footing.
“Wow,” she said as she stood straight. This planet really was stunning. This high up, she could look down on the palms. “I didn’t know they were so small.” Of course, they were at least three times her own height, but that was still shorter than her ship. The green canopy stretched out toward the horizon, abutting mountains in the distance to her left and continuing to infinity after an interruption she suspected was a river straight ahead. She smiled. “I love nature.”
Why the hell’d I choose to be a spaceship captain?
With a sigh, she moved on, looking for the right spot. “There,” she said, spotting the little robot Angus had been using to inspect the hull. A half-dozen steps brought her toe to appendage with the little thing, and she knelt down, pulling out the tool one last time.
She kicked it on and heat flared even through the safety suit. Sparks jumped off the hull while a bright beam of blue, almost purple, light nailed down to the ship. “Done,” she said a few moments later. Like always, the patch job looked ugly, like a puckered scar, but she wasn’t exactly a master welder.
Relieved that her ship was space-worthy again, she climbed down, the going much easier than up. Near the bottom, she jumped down, the dry dirt puffing up around her feet. She hummed to herself as she reached the ramp, but her mood soured as her gaze latched onto her less than stellar repair of the bullet holes.
That’s right. Her alien, Zee, might be hurt. And if he was anything like human males, he would sooner bleed to death than admit it. She dumped the suit and plasma torch haphazardly in the machine room and jogged to the cockpit, but Angus interrupted her halfway there. “You have a call from Cass.”
She sighed. “I’ll take it in my room.”
Angus grunted, and Ellie shook her head, changing direction. The call connected the moment she stepped through her door.
Cass’s face popped up. “Okay, who’s the hunk?”
“What?!” She stepped forward, letting the door close behind her. “What are you talking about?”
“Um, the tall, dark, and…” Cass cleared her throat appreciatively, “yummy hanging out in your cockpit?”
“None of your business,” Ellie said, heat blooming up from her neck as she crossed her arms defensively. I’m not a prude. I’m not a prude, she thought. But try telling her face that. Her face had superheated like a star ready to explode.
“Oh, Ellie,” Cass leaned back in her seat, propping her legs on the console in front of her. “I’ve got eyes everywhere.” She shook her head with a smirk. “It’s all my business.”
Ellie glared. She loved Cass, but the woman needed to learn the concept of privacy.
“Can I have him?” Cass said as she leaned forward, playing with something on her console. “He looks like he could use someone to burn off some of that restless energy. Mmm.” She bit her lip. “I bet he’s got miles and miles of muscle under all that black armor.”
“Enough, Cass. Is this why you called, to prove you’re a bigger horn dog than most men?”
Cass rolled her eyes. “God, no. That was decided long ago. Besides,” she said, holding her hand up, “I’m pretty sure I hold the title.”
Ellie slumped in her seat. She’d known Cass for years, had suffered through many of her antics, and she had to admit, if there was a title for biggest horn dog, Cass won it every year… by a landslide.
Zee couldn’t take it any longer. He had to do something. Usually, this sort of intelligence gathering was completed long before he arrived on the scene. He didn’t have the patience for it. “Is there a gym on this ship?” he blurted out, the words popping forth before he’d even really thought them.
“Aye, third door on the left when you leave the cockpit,” Angus said.
Zee stormed off, his legs eating the distance in moments. When he entered the gym, he stalled. The room was brighter than he would like, an open layout with mirrors lining the walls and unfamiliar machines taking up space. Clear cabinets sat locked under a mirror on his right, showcasing what looked like free weights, but that was the extent of what he recognized.
Why would you expect to recognize this stuff?
He scowled, but entered, looking over everything as he went. All moving parts were locked down, so he didn’t bother to unlock the machines or the cases that contained the handheld weights. Like almost every surface he’d encountered on the ship thus far, the weights were mostly gray, sprinkled with black on the machines and racks.
Zee gravitated to the center of the room where the floor was slightly padded, a dark gray mat underfoot. He started removing armor and nonessential clothing, tossing them carefully out of the way. Down to his pants, he worked out kinks in his muscles. It took no time to warm up, then he started moving through battle poses, though he wished he had a sparring partner.
He froze, his mind filling with the faces of the men in his unit. How many of them yet lived? Why couldn’t he find them? He stood still and tall, blanking out his mind, relaxing his body, pushing those thoughts from his head.
But the tension didn’t ease. Something still bothered him. But what? Avoiding obvious triggers, he ran through the recent events. Fighting Ellie, trying to take over the ship, chasing Ellie, the enemy finding him. The tension ramped up each time she popped into his head.
Really? Her? Of all things, why would she be bothering him? She was weird looking and so far had caused him nothing but trouble. He froze, body contorted in an awkward pose. Why did he even think about her appearance? What did that have to do with his tension, his frustrations? Unless…
But no, he couldn’t possibly find her attractive. She was pasty with that almost white skin. What was that for, anyway? She couldn’t possibly camouflage with it. It would serve as a beacon in practically any environment. What type of planet was she from that such paleness evolved? His mind drew a blank.
Besides, any environment where her skin could blend would surely have her hair sticking out like some bright red sign saying, “Come eat me! I’m right here!”
No, it wasn’t attraction. His muscles started protesting holding the same position, so he shook off the odd mood and moved on, his body gliding through the motions.
Ellie finished up her call in a foul mood. She shook her head. Cass had a tendency of doing that to her. She loved her, but it was like family. Sometimes, they drove you nuts.
Determined to continue where she’d left off, she walked back to the cockpit. Stepping through the door, she froze. Zee wasn’t there. “Angus?”
“Aye, Ellie?”
“Where’s Zee?” Suspicion crept into her voice, though she couldn’t have said what she suspected. Mischief? Mayhem? Was he trying to steal her ship again?
“The gym.”
She nodded and turned on her heel. Moments later, she walked through the doorway, a
nd what she saw there transfixed her. Her mouth dropped open. She couldn’t make a sound, the view fascinating her. She hadn’t seen him without all his body armor yet. Usually, it covered him from his chin down, but he’d removed all but a pair of pants and suddenly she understood Cass’s fascination with men.
I bet he’s got miles and miles of muscle under all that black armor. Those had been Cass’s exact words and yes, yes he did. Unlike a human, he didn’t look shiny from sweat. Ellie resisted the urge to move closer. His skin was pitch black but interrupted with the barest of charcoal-colored striations that made her want to touch.
What were they? Did they have a texture? Taking a step back, she shook herself out of her trance, forcing her focus elsewhere. She stopped on his face. She hadn’t really paid much attention to his face before, but it was different too, a bit flat in comparison to a human’s. And yet, it still held strong definition that gave him a very masculine air.
“Maybe Cass had the right idea,” she mumbled under her breath.
Zee stopped and turned, holding her in place with his penetrating stare.
Oh shit, does he know?
Stupid thoughts popped into her head. How good was his sense of smell? In alien romance novels, the men always seemed to smell the woman’s arousal and, damn it, she was aroused. She resisted the urge to squirm, to draw attention to her inappropriate reaction.
Could he hear her heart racing in her chest? How her breath hitched when he looked at her? Could he see how big her pupils probably were?
A part of her recognized she could probably control this reaction. She was a shifter, after all. She had unparalleled control of her body, but the thought was fleeting and faint, quickly forgotten.
Did he feel this too? God, she couldn’t read him at all. Did he feel any of the same tension? Was she alone in this? What should she do?
Maybe I should walk away.
But she couldn’t. Her legs were locked in place. He was so dark, so monochrome. Even his eyes gave nothing away, big and dark with almost no whites. What was he thinking? How could she ever possibly know?
Shifting Cargo (A Shift in Space Book 1) Page 4
