Scorcher (4 page)

Chapter Seven

Running around as the human torch was trying. She had her monitors and sensors to lead her to the remains of plague victims and each one she found was cremated to ash as per her contract. Each and every day she woke up thinking of Athon and each day she had to put the silly meanderings aside and go to work. Six months into the contract she had cleared three out of five continents of plague victims. She had never had the power or speed to work that quickly before. Her experience on the slave world had changed her. She still didn’t know if it was a good or bad change. Sarah was on the fence about her personal alterations.

She was just finishing a hard day of torching people who had been huddling in their city centre when they died when a shuttle passed over her head and continued on to her home base. No one was supposed to be down here, not until she sent the all clear out to the remaining government of Danyo. What the hell were they playing at?

She gunned the engine on her skimmer as soon as she was sure that the sector she was working was clear. It wouldn’t do to miss any possible infectious tissue, even if there was an idiot who was risking their life waiting for her at home.

She parked up her skimmer and headed to her domicile. The strange shuttle was using the airlock so she had to hike around to her
back door.
“Access code Athon One. Beginning decontamination. Temperature rising.” She stood in the anteroom to her home and powered up. She wasn’t heading into her safe place until she was sure that she was germ and virus free.

The computer waited until she reached the temperature critical for destroying the bugs on this world and then it beeped sharply to get her attention. It kept a monitor on her temperature and, as soon as she passed the flash point for oxygen, it pumped the gas into the small chamber before she passed out.

When the pressure equalized, she moved into her home and straight to the com room where she heard voices. A flicker of shock went through her as she realized that she knew that voice.

Bella Roxik was talking to someone on the com about arriving at her destination and her willingness to take on the rest of the assignment.

“What assignment, Bella?”

“I will be completing your assignment, Sarah.” Bella’s midnight hair swung heavily down her back.

It always amazed Sarah that the pyros didn’t burn off all their body hair, but they didn’t. In fact, most of the pyros had the most luxuriant hair she had ever seen, herself included.
 
“Why?”

“It seems someone thinks you need a break. After looking at you, I would have to agree. Take my shuttle and meet the ship in orbit.” Bella gave her a brisk hug and a pat on the butt. “Go. Pack and go. You look like you saw a ghost.”

“No. An angel. Thanks Bella. I will be out in ten, my skimmer has the completed co-ordinates.” She packed the uniforms the Nyal had left her as well as her personal pyro suits. Bella would have her own. She was in the shuttle and off world in less than half an hour. The Nyal shuttle controls were slightly different, but no less intuitive and she got through the stratosphere in one piece.

“Shuttle Daca, please proceed to the aft cargo bay for decontamination.”

“Are you addressing me?”

“Yes, Scorcher Anders, we are addressing you.”

“And aft would be?” Her lips were twitching in amusement. Playing with air traffic control was one of her hobbies, that and she hated being called a scorcher.

“Follow the red beacons. They will lead you in.” The deep sigh of disgust on the other end of the com was enough to send her into giggles the instant that they disconnected.

It was another Nyal battle cruiser and it made her nostalgic for Athon. He would have been out of the tank months ago by her reckoning and was probably living a contented life somewhere in the Nyal Imperium.

She manoeuvred smoothly into the bay that was outlined by the flashing red lights and dropped the shuttle lightly on the landing site. Now it was time for the carwash.

Fire cleansed the outer hull until the temperature cycled the same way it did on the surface. You couldn’t interrupt the cycle. More than one pilot had panicked when engulfed by flame and tried to escape. Unsuccessfully. It was a messy way to die.

While the fire cycled on and off, scrubbing the plague traces from the exterior, Sarah looked down at her pyro suit. “Damn. I need new clothing.” It was time to shop so she was going to request that the Captain of this warship drop her somewhere that she could make it happen. Preferably somewhere near Alliance space.

A rough banging on the door startled her. She grabbed her bag and opened the hatch. She dropped to her knees in surprise. Hands reached inside to pull her out and she went without a word being spoken.

Audril hissed, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know until I was planetside. I was on assignment so I couldn’t leave until then.” She lost her footing on the decking, “Can you slow down? I am stumbling for two here.”

“My grandchild. How could you not know?” They were drawing the stares of passing crewmembers. Captain Lannick was not usually seen in such an agitated state.

“My species isn’t too quick with identification of pregnancy. It takes us a few months to figure it out, especially if we have experienced unusual stress.”

“Wasn’t the sex a clue?” The words came out in a snarl.

Sarah stopped and blinked, pulling the frenzied captain to a halt. She pitched her voice up hard and strong, more than loud enough to gain attention from passersby. “Do you want to do this here? Because frankly, if you had followed protocol and run me through any kind of medical testing when I got here, it would have showed up then. I had to figure it out alone on Danyo and then call it in to the Nyal satellite, which then passed it to the Alliance. They told me to continue on with my assignment. Every day I worried about what my talent was doing. Don’t you dare bring your temper near me or my baby!” Her hands cradled her belly and the kick that greeted her made her smile.

The little one agreed with her.

Audril noted the movement and her hand reached out to touch Sarah’s belly before she could stop herself.

Sarah sighed. She couldn’t hold onto her temper now. “Come on, little one. Meet your cranky Grandma.” She reached out to Audril and slapped the dhemon’s palm against her belly. The baby obliged with another series of healthy kicks that made its mommy groan.

The cranky grandma in question leaned forward and pressed both hands against the pumpkin curve of her belly. “I…it seems healthy.”

“Yes. It does.”

“Do you know the sex?”

“Well, I have a hunch it is either a boy or a girl.” She smiled at the face Audril pulled. “My species doesn’t have another option.”

Reluctantly it seemed, the Captain pulled herself away from her grandchild’s
 
mother. “Please come with me, Sarah. We are going to jump and I want you comfortable.”

“Jump? Oh hell. Where do you want me?” Jumping while pregnant was not going to be fun. Hell, jumping while normal wasn’t comfortable. It was a nightmare for the talented.

“This way. I have set the proper quarters aside.” Audril took her by the hand and carefully led her through the bustle of the ship preparing for the jump.

The proper quarters were a sensory cradle. A semi-reclined seat that was filled to put pressure on all of her limbs so that she could continue to feel the world around her as they jumped. It was very thoughtful of Audril and that was the last thought she had for a while, because as soon as she waved the Captain off and took her place in the cradle, the klaxon rang for the jump and she passed out. 

Chapter Eight

When she woke Sarah felt like she had been trampled by wild beasts, or at least some toddlers. She groaned and grunted as she fought free of the cradle, successfully gaining her feet with only moderate effort. A beeping from the communications console got her attention. “Yes?”

“Pyro Anders? Are you all right? I am Com Officer Veral.”

“I am. Why do you ask?”

“We have been out of jump for two hours and no one had heard from you. We are about to enter orbit around Nyal. The Captain has requested that you meet her at the shuttle bay.”

“How am I supposed to manage that?”

“Follow the red lights to the shuttle.”
 
There was a smile in his voice. “Just joking. Chief of  Security Kellan will be there in a moment to escort you.”

“Oh. You are one of those funny Com Officers.” She could almost see the grin on the other end of the line.

“Yes. It gets lonely on the aft side of the ship, no one can find me.”

Sarah was just about to give another snappy comeback when there was a knock on the door. Unsurprisingly there was an officer outside her door that resembled Athon a lot. The red eyes gleamed down at her with an assessing look, in a face that was all too familiar. His startled look at her belly almost made her laugh, “Chief Kellan?”

“I am.”

“Pyro Anders. You are escorting me to the shuttle bay?”

“I am.” He blinked slowly. “You are pregnant.”

“You are observant. Shall we go?”

He held out his arm.

She took it. It was a gesture common on Dhema, but not Nyal and she smirked as her supposition was confirmed. This was Athon’s father. Their walk through the ship was done in silence, the crew did not look at them and gave them a wide berth. Obviously, a human who had swallowed a basketball was a frightening thing. 

When they arrived at the shuttle, Captain Audril was waiting.

The two older persons simply loaded her onto the shuttle, stowed her bag and set the shuttle checks in place. They weren’t speaking to each other, but Audril and Chief of Security Kellan were obviously communicating. 

* * * *

Audril was busy tearing her mate a new one
. I can’t believe that you convinced Athon that he needed to start looking for a new mate.

She left him.
He was aggrieved
.

She had to. She was needed on Danyo.

I know that, now. But at the time I thought his moping was due to his being rejected by that creature.

She is not a creature. She is the woman who is carrying our first grandchild. You had best remember that or she will bolt.
Audril grabbed at the controls and set up the launch sequence that would take them from the ship.

What if he has found a mate in our absence?
Kathak was growling. He always did it when he was losing a battle with her, which was often.

He will know his true mate when he sees her, but I want to make a good impression on this Terran. She has the resources to take the child away and we would never see it.

He could keep her as concubine.

She flexed her hands on the controls to keep from slapping her mate.
She is a Pyro of the Citadel, a scorcher. She has more to offer the world than her cunt.

Kathak winced. If she was using blunt language outside the bedroom, he was in trouble.
She announced her title as a Pyro, but I wasn’t listening. Her belly is huge!

She still has two months to go according to the research I did on her species. They carry out front until the baby drops.

Are you planning to deliver it yourself?
He let a chuckle fill his mind.

If I have to. I am hoping that she chooses to stay. I have made arrangements for her if that is what she chooses.

Audril, what did you do?

Made a few offers to the right people. Trade with Dhema is restricted since the Alliance has refused Nyal entrance, I simply offered to grease some wheels, as it were.

I have known you for well over three decades and you have never offered to do that.

I want my grandchild nearby. Sarah gets whatever she wants to make that happen.
The set of her mouth was adamant. She wanted it near and she would make war on the Nyal Imperium to get it if she had to. 

* * * *

Yup. They were having a conversation. They had occasional glances and Audril huffed enough for an attacking bear. Whatever their silent discussion was about, it was ticking the dhemon off. Her husband was going to get it when they were alone. Sarah could tell.

She tried to look at the planet that they approached, but her mind kept drifting to one particular view, that of Athon leaning over her right before he thrust into her that last time. It was a good memory.

Sarah didn’t delude herself with the thought that he was still unattached after all this time. She could hope, but she wasn’t going to hang her future happiness on it. She would have their child and raise it using the considerable stipend that she had earned as a scorcher. She didn’t care where, she just wanted to spend her time with her baby. She wondered if he would have his father’s horns?