Star Fire (11 page)

Behind him, he could hear Sasha. Her cries faded as the world distorted and the drugs began to wear off. He slid down to one knee, then that one crumpled. Soft hands caught him and lowered him down. Sasha’s red halo of hair and her pale, tear-tracked face filled his vision.

“No, no, no. Oh, God. What have you done?” She began to tear at the suit fastenings, then at her pack. “Oh, fuck.”

Kiev held a hand over hers and tried to smile. “Did you stop the machine?”

Sasha started tumbling items from the pack. “Yes. It was… It’s okay. I’ll explain later.” Her gaze hardened as he started to struggle for breath.

Kiev-Dirrel had died so many times, he knew the signs. It wasn’t as bad as falling down a cliff or being chewed and digested by the draco-lizard. But
damn
, he
hated
to die by gutting.

She leant down, fresh tears brightening her ocean eyes to stars. “Don’t you die on me. Fuck you. Don’t you dare die on me.”

“Searched for my heart for an aeon of night. A flame at twilight, my Star Fire.” He breathed the words. “Twined in life, part…” Pain consumed his vision.

“Damn you, Dirrellen. Bad poetry is not going to get you out of marrying me.” Whatever she was doing burned at his wounds.

“Dirrellen loved NaTashamarilla. He—I searched. No other woman would do.” He blinked, taking slow breaths. He tried to touch her face and brushed against her shoulder instead. Kiev didn’t have the strength to try again. “Life would have been an adventure with you, Sasha-Tasha.” The familiar darkness swept over him, parting him from her again.

Chapter Six

Julian Horoscope, day forty-four—

Sometimes opportunity is right under your nose.

Dying for someone is easy. Living is so much harder.

The door whooshed open and she pointed the laser gun she’d confiscated at the buck-toothed pirate, she now knew as Beaches. Immediately, he held up his free hand and tried to give her an amicable smile. She narrowed her eyes.
As if.

Sasha eyed Hobbs’ partner warily. He was still dressed in his disreputable oversized jacket, ratty shirt—open to show sparse chest hair—heavy-duty pants, and combat boots. He obviously preferred his role of bum pirate sleaze to Allied uniform.

She would have wanted to be the one at the controls of
Fortune
, but for the tectonic deharmoniser core at her feet and Kiev’s still form on the med-lab bed.

“Captain Tran, the authorities have arrived. The pirate Taddius is in custody.” Acting as if women drew guns at him every day, he came in closer and set the tray on the bedside table. In that awful outfit, women probably did shoot first and forget about the questions later. “I brought you lunch. My superiors want to know if”—his eyes sought out the bag holding the core and memory components, then moved to Kiev—“the device survived the explosion. They also would like to know the status of your companion.” Hobbs and Beaches had orchestrated a massive demolition of the machine while she’d done everything in her power to keep Kiev alive.

“By authorities, you mean Hobbs.” She made the query a statement. The food on the tray smelt good, but her stomach rebelled. There was no way any government would be getting their hands on the deharmoniser.

“Lieutenant Hobbs is one of my superiors, yes. He asked me to look in on you while he wraps things up. And his shoulder and knee are practically healed, thanks to the state of the art med-lab you have here on
Fortune
,” Beaches said, the good-natured smile fading at the edges. Real emotion peeked out as he straightened, making himself seem a little more military.

“We are sorry about how the whole operation went down. Once Taddius and other undesirables found out about the machine, it was only a matter of time before someone made a bid for it. None of the Allied governments wanted that. The idea was just to get you and the other civilians out of the way. No one wanted you or any of the locals hurt.”

“Tell that to the massacred locals in that village.” Frankly, she didn’t care that Hobbs didn’t have the balls to face her. She’d had precious little to say to him on Atmos, even after he’d produced his badge and called for Beaches to bring the ship and medical reinforcement. Having
Fortune
back was a hollow victory. All that mattered was Kiev’s survival.

Beaches had the grace to glance away, shamefaced. “Hales was the one who killed the natives. He’d been undercover too long, become one of the bad guys for real. When Hobbs told him to clear them out—” The dreadlocks swayed as he shook his head. Disgust turned his mouth down. “No one expected that. The cat-guy was one of Taddius’.”

Sasha didn’t answer. She wanted to scream. All of this was over goddamned spy games. Beaches must have thought she was really about to shoot him because he offered another sheepish, buck-toothed smile. “At least you have
Fortune
back, Captain Tran. And the higher-ups will send in a commendation. You’ll probably get promoted to one of the bigger trade lines.” Brightening to his own line of thinking, Beaches leaned in close, but was still wary of the gun. “You might even be able to strike out on your own with the reward the Allied Council would give you for that machine.”

Sasha wasn’t impressed. She let the emotion fill her expression until Beaches moved a few steps away. Finally, she set the gun down. She wasn’t going to shoot him and they both knew it. They both knew she wouldn’t be handing anything over, either.

He cleared his throat and pointed at Kiev. “I’d like to check his stats now.” With the same forced cheerfulness he’d had when he’d helped her carry Kiev to the ship, he peeled up Kiev’s eyelids, then checked the blood pressure readings before meeting her eyes. She had to give him credit—the man sure could fake happy. “Whatever that drug cocktail was in his system, it’s finally run its course. The coma side-effect will wear off soon.”

Sasha didn’t answer. Her heart leapt in her chest as Kiev’s fingers twitched. She got up and took his hand. Kiev’s fingers twitched again, and his breath hitched. Leaning in, she watched his eyelids move.

Beaches grinned, his two front teeth shining. “That suit is something else. I’d love to get it to some of my lab geeks and find out how it stabilised him. Whatever the tech in his suit did to keep him alive has gone dormant. But just in case, I still don’t want to take it off him. The nano-bots we set to work on his internal injuries are still active.”

Kiev’s hand shot up, fastening around Beaches’ throat. The operative gurgled, eyes bugging and rolling in Sasha’s direction as Kiev sat up with a snarl. The lights on the med-lab unit showed he was in the clear, and the nano-bots were shutting down so the body could finish healing on its own.

Sasha wanted to throw her arms around his neck. She slapped his shoulder. His head swung in her direction as she switched to the ancient Arosan language. “Don’t ever do that to me again, you idiot.”

“My Star Fire.” More tears threatened to overwhelm her as his face softened, then clouded with confusion. “I died. What happened?”

“Grrrgh.” Beaches prised at Kiev’s hand.

“No. You nearly died. But dying was your brilliant plan all along, wasn’t it?” She pointed a finger at his nose, her fear channelling into anger. “And I’m pissed about that.”

“I had to make sure you survived to disable the device.” He touched her face. She swore she wouldn’t give in to the absolute adoration shining in his face. Sasha slapped at his fingers, not giving him an opening to crack through her armour. “I would have waited to find you again,” Kiev said.

Beaches wheezed, his face turning blue as he slapped at the bed.

“Waited for me? Waited?” Righteous fury burned in her chest. “So if it doesn’t work out this time around, you’ll see if the next version is better? Or were you going with the whole romantic tragedy theory where I live my whole fucking life without you, only to be reunited in the next life?” Her voice rose in pitch as the idea of living without her big, nerdy warrior hit her again. “Because that plan fucking sucks, you jerk. What about
my
plans?”

Kiev let go and reached for Sasha. Beaches gurgled again, falling to the floor to gasp for air. Kiev grasped her cheeks between his palms and pulled her lips to his. With his thumb, he wiped at her tear tracks. “You are right. It was a terrible plan. Yours was better.” When she blinked at him, he kissed her again, lips tracing the outlining edges of her mouth. “The one where I was supposed to marry you. I’ll come with you this time.” Kiev’s smile looked a little strained. “We can do whatever it is your position as Captain requires.”

”I’ll just leave you two alone,” Beaches gasped and stumbled out of the door. It slid shut behind him, leaving Kiev to pull Sasha onto the table with him.

“You’re still not listening,” Sasha huffed. “I don’t want all that. Not anymore.”

He brushed his hands over her hair. Sasha’s heart caught in her chest at the naked emotion in his eyes. For some stupid reason, she couldn’t stop the tears.

“Are you turning me down again?”

She couldn’t answer either. When she shook her head, he frowned. Pressing her fingers against his lips, she found the words. “Tasha was a fool. I love you.”

“Good. For a moment, I thought Lala might have misinterpreted…” He shook his head, as if clearing random thoughts. “Then what do you object to? I am not allowing you to travel through space alone. You need me. I’ve seen the substandard survival equipment your people use. My people may not be as advanced, but with the right materials, I can—”

Sasha traced a path on his cheek. “You can do a lot for your people. We both can.” Letting him take her hand, she wiggled, trying to find a comfortable spot on the edge of the bed, then finally slipped off it to pace the room as she thought.

“My place isn’t with the Northern Star Trading Company anymore.” Flinging her hands out, Sasha encompassed the room. Excitement made her talk faster. “Aros is on the edge of the Galactic Interdependence frontier. Our people need to accept that change is coming.” She stopped and met his eyes, not quite understanding his solemn expression. She really wanted him to understand. “We need to be prepared. We need more hosts to teach everyone about the past. Then they don’t have to be afraid of the future—of technology. Aros won’t be alone for much longer. Atmos, too.”

Alarm silenced Sasha as Kiev struggled to sit up on the side of the bed. She let him pull her close.

He pressed a hard kiss to her mouth. “I agree,” he said. “Does this mean you will be my ‘chick’? That we will have a house full of babies?” Kiev touched his forehead to hers. “I want all of that with you, Sasha. To grow old with you, in this lifetime. And the next. You are my everything.”

“Happy late Lovers Day, my happily ever after.” She grinned and danced away to dig her day-planner out of the survival pack. She stared at the calendar and laughed. “Forget Abassan. Aros is my planet of love.”

Kiev didn’t say anything and Sasha realised he’d stopped questioning her references. He sat on the edge of the bed, a bit unsteady as she waved her day-planner. Kiev raised one eyebrow, waiting.

“It’s an old Earth holiday. The Day of Lovers. It was the day I died. Then later, when we made love, I fell for you. Again.” She settled beside him on the bed, not in a hurry. Plans and details spun in her head. She had so much to do.

They’d have to talk to the GI authorities and she’d have to send in her resignation to the head offices at Northern Star. The core and memory components would be destroyed on Aros. Then there was her mom. Sasha really wanted Kiev to meet her mother. Something told her that Lala and her mom would get along wonderfully.

For now, she was content to be drawn under his arm. “I still think your code being that particular day is weird.”

“The code is the day of my birth.” He leaned in to kiss her. “Two days ago.”

She pulled away. “Kiev’s or Dirrel’s?”

He gave her a smug smile. “Both. Lala always told me dates of birth and death have great importance. And now, that date, the date of your death and rebirth. We are entwined.” When Sasha’s jaw dropped, he pressed a finger to her chin, gently closing her mouth. “Don’t you know, Star Fire? Our fate was written in the stars.”

Also available from Total-E-Bound Publishing:

Conjuring Cal

Buffi BeCraft

Excerpt

Chapter One

“Hey, Gennie? Why couldn’t the knights get the sword out of the stone?” Sixty-two, with balding grey hair and sagging cheeks, Stevie bounced on his toes, an aging, but sweet six year old. Smudged, thick-lensed glasses slipped unnoticed down his nose. He clasped his favourite book tight against his chest, his moss green gaze following her every movement as she turned to put the lid back on the pot of sauce.

To Gennie Pendragon, the residents of Camelot House were not mentally defunct. Her charges depended on her to keep the order that they needed to lead productive lives. Gennie planned meals, oversaw medication, and kept the peace. Her guys were way more than a pay cheque every week. They were the children she’d never have. Smiling, she held out a hand for book number two of
The Round Table Children’s Readers, The Boy Who Would Be King.

A few Christmases ago, her grandfather, Merle gifted the guys with the entire series. The gift was another blatant play on her guilt for abandoning her studies. Oh, Merle could play hardball with the best of them, but she appreciated the gesture on her guys’ part. Stevie loved King Arthur’s story best. After that, he claimed to love Gennie most. She had little doubt that by having his hero’s surname went a long way in keeping the peace on her shift. Gennie had been dubbed official house mascot years ago. With Merle’s bag of magic tricks and big heart, the guys adopted her grandfather as their own.

“Gen-nie.”

She stifled a laugh at Stevie’s persistence. A stranger would never guess that she answered the same question every afternoon. “You know, Stevie. You could just read it for yourself.”