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Authors: Tracey H. Kitts

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BOOK: Three Days of Night
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“So, you teleported him down to pay the toll? Where exactly are we now?”

“If I open the shutters, the sun would kill you,” Ash said, sounding somewhat irritated. “We are still waiting in line to make port.”

I put my hands on my hips and looked at the men who surrounded me.

“What is it that you guys know that I don’t, because this is really starting to piss me off?”

“You’re beautiful when you’re angry,” Morgan teased.

“Death should have been back by now. Once he paid the toll,
they
should have shuttled him back aboard or he should have placed a call to let us know it was taken care of.”

“How long has he been gone? I thought this just happened. I couldn’t have been in the theatre for more than—”

“He’s been gone since yesterday,” Morgan interrupted.

I was livid. Dr. Death has no understanding of emotions. For all his advancements he relies heavily on me to keep him out of trouble. Things like sarcasm and charm are completely lost on him. He doesn’t know how to take a joke or a snide remark. There’s no telling what trouble he could have gotten into on a planet like Tarnak.

“And you just now thought to say something to me?”

Ash seemed uncomfortable underneath the weight of my stare.

“I think it’s my fault,” Dark Dream said.

I rounded on him and the specter took a step back.

“What did you do?”

“I think it’s how I worded something, actually. Ash had given him the currency, he was waiting for me to teleport him down.”

“And?”

“And I told him not to worry, to just give them what they wanted and everything would be fine.”

“Since we haven’t heard from him yet, I’d say they wanted his body,” Morgan said.

Chapter Three

 

“That’s it, I’m going down.”

Since it was still mid-day on Tarnak, my uv-suit would be necessary. It was a marvelous invention, but I hated having to wear it. I felt like I was going to freak out from lack of air, not that I needed it. Still, I hadn’t completely broken the habit of thinking I did. Have you ever wondered what would happen if you forgot to breathe? Well, I did as a kid. Of course this was long before I was old enough to realize such things are controlled by the subconscious mind and not by thought. I remember trying to think of every breath. It didn’t take long before it slipped my mind.

Since becoming a vampire, it’s sort of the opposite. Now I’ll realize I’m not breathing and start thinking of every breath again. Only it doesn’t matter. Naturally, that’s why some vamps back in the day used to stay in coffins. It kept out the light, but it also kept out the air. Claustrophobia does not work in favor of the undead.

Bob said, “I got all the sand out of your suit” at the same time that Ash said, “It’s not safe.”

But I was already on my way to my room. If they wanted to talk to me, they’d have to follow. I heard the door slide open behind me and knew they were all standing there. I didn’t care. There was no time for subtlety. I turned my back, unzipped my bodysuit and let it fall to the floor.

Ash cleared his throat nervously and it made me smile. I glanced over my shoulder.

“Something wrong?”

“No, um, I just haven’t seen any of that in a while.”

He was laughing right up until Morgan said, “I’ll go with you.”

I could tell Ash was pissed off by the comment, but even I was surprised when he said, “The hell you will.”

Morgan, who is four inches taller and not used to being refused, glowered down at him.

“No one is going down to that planet right now,” Ash said. “Dark Dream can’t teleport anyone past the shields and Icarus isn’t ready.”

Bob stepped forward to help me into the uv-suit. As I zipped the front I answered, “I’ll jump.”

Ash took me by the arm and pulled me aside, speaking for my ears only.

“Have you gone completely mad? Is it something I’ve done? Something I haven’t done? And what the hell is going on between you and Morgan? I saw you leave the bar together that night, but did you actually—?”

I kissed him. Nothing deep or vulgar, just a soft smack right on the lips. It was the only way to ever shut him up completely. And right now I needed the silence.

Ash started down at me, obviously confused.

“You remember me telling you what I thought D was, right?”

“Yes.” His voice was a little shaky. Wow. Didn’t realize my kisses could do that. At least, not just a little peck.

“If he gets into the wrong hands, I can’t even begin to imagine all the things that could happen. And if there ever was a place full of wrong hands, it’s Tarnak. Let me go take care of this.” I glanced over my shoulder at Morgan. “Let me take Morgan with me. If he’s crazy enough to jump too, then I could use the help. Besides, I don’t want to have to wear the jet pack. His suit is better equipped for something like this.”

His expression was grave. “The suit is designed to withstand the heat, but you’ll need a parachute. What about the shields?”

“They aren’t designed to keep out anything as small as a person. We’ll be fine.”

“They’re probably getting ready to auction off his dick to the highest bidder,” Morgan said. “We should hurry.”

I turned to face him, pulling back my long hair at the same time. “I’m waiting on you.”

My hair nearly reached to my butt, so it wasn’t easy to secure. But, with Bob’s help, I got the job done. The android and I went to the back of the ship and waited for Morgan. All I had left to do was put on the hood. I hated that part. I was already close to hyperventilating. Stupid, I know, since vampires don’t even need to breathe. The fact is I was claustrophobic before I became a vampire and that phobia didn’t disappear with my death. You know how people think that becoming a vampire will make them all-powerful and sexy and they’ll never be afraid of anything again? Well, that’s bullshit. You’re still you, just re-vamped for lack of a better term.

“It’s all right, darling, you’re not going to die,” Bob said softly. He was standing in front of me, ready to pull down the hood at my signal.

Bob was such a comfort to me most of the time. I’d had him commissioned as a companion, not necessarily a romantic one, though he had been that in the past too. I just needed someone to keep me company, someone who wouldn’t die on me. He could calculate my statistics, understand my words and know the meaning of them. But he could never truly understand how I feel.

“All right,” I said, trying to calm down. “Just do it.”

“There is a translator in your left pocket, in case you are still on planet after dark. Until then as you know, there is one inside this hood. It’s programmed with every language that might be spoken on—”

“Just do it.” My voice was harsher than I’d intended. “Sorry.” I put my hand flat against his chest. I felt a strange sadness and a kinship of sorts when I didn’t feel a heartbeat.

“Here goes.”

He pulled the hood down over my head and I fought the urge to gasp for air. There were slots for my eyes and mouth and two tiny holes for my nose which were covered over with mesh. Anything more would allow in sunlight. My eyes would be covered with goggles and my mouth would be covered by a small device that could, if necessary, disguise my voice. Mostly the mouthpiece was there so that people could hear me when I spoke, but I also used it to take deep breaths so I wouldn’t faint. Yes, vampires can faint. It’s purely psychological, but it can happen.

“Ready?”

Morgan came walking through the door looking completely unfazed by the whole thing. He was wearing full body armor this time. The tight leather suit underneath was fitted with a second layer, also black, that would withstand not only entering the planet’s atmosphere, but just about anything else. He was wearing his usual mask that covered just his eyes and he had a helmet tucked underneath his arm.

He smiled at me and I forgot all about being afraid. What was happening to me? Mortal men were a big no-no. I had already learned that the hard way. Wizard ancestry might make him live longer than most, but someday Morgan Jefferies would die. He would pass on, and unless someone put a stake through my heart and cut off my head at the same time, I would remain. Best to shake loose from any emotional attachment now, before I really got hurt.

That was definitely what I should be doing. But when I looked at him, I just wanted to brush that stray hair back from his forehead. I could remember vividly the soft, warm press of his lips against mine. I had wanted sex, but Morgan made love to me and I’d be damned if I could figure out why.

“If you want seconds,” he said softly, “all you’ve got to do is ask.”

Morgan laughed when my only response was to pull down my goggles.

There was no one around to hear his comment except us and Bob. Obviously, he didn’t care if the android knew. Then again, he probably figured I’d told him by now. He was right.

“Ready for me to open the hatch?” Morgan asked.

I checked again to make sure every inch of me was covered by the tight-fitting suit.

“Ready.”

Bob stepped back a few paces and grabbed onto a handle on the wall. Ashton and Dark Dream, who needed oxygen, were on the other side of a glass wall across the room. They waved to us and I turned back to Morgan as he pulled down his helmet and pressed the button.

He took my hand at the last moment and we were sucked out into space, just above Tarnak. The planetary shields, which were constantly rotating, gave it an orange sort of glow.

Morgan pulled me against him and activated the rocket boosters on the bottoms of his boots. It had been a long time since I’d jumped from a spaceship. I should have been afraid. But Morgan’s nearness forced me to focus on him. There wasn’t much room for anything else, including fear.

“I’ll turn off the rockets once we get past the shields. After that, the planet’s gravity should bring us in.” His voice seemed more intimate within the tight confines of my suit. I couldn’t see his face through the shiny helmet, but I knew he was looking at me. I could even imagine the smile he wore.

“I’m surprised you came,” I said. “Especially, since your last visit to Tarnak went so well.”

The last leader of the people of Tarnak was female and she had
such
a thing for Morgan. I think she was the one female he truly had no interest in. After all, she was a Korinian slug. Anyway, she harassed him until he sent her flowers. They were deadly poisonous. We had yet to meet the new leader.

“It’s not my fault she didn’t like the flowers.” I could hear the laughter in his voice as he squeezed me tighter. Even though I knew it was because we had to hold onto one another, I also felt warmed by the gesture. I felt like he wanted me close and not simply out of necessity.

“You killed her,” I halfheartedly accused.

“She was stalking me.”

“I can relate to that. Nix managed to get through to my personal communicator. That’s why I wanted to talk to D. He’s really good at resetting things like that.”

“You never said why Nix was after you. Did you two have a thing years ago?”

“No.” I laughed. “I’ll tell you about it later, but I definitely wasn’t involved with Nix.”

“What was up with that little goodbye kiss you gave Ash? Are you guys back together?”

That really caught me off guard. Was that jealousy I detected?

“No. That was just the only way to shut him up. Works every time.”

I expected him to laugh. He didn’t. After that, I wasn’t sure what to say. Obviously it mattered to him that I had kissed Ashton. But what did that mean? Did he have feelings for me? I never would have thought of using feelings and Morgan Jefferies in the same sentence. Normally he would have cracked a few jokes about cyborgs on our way to a planet mostly run by them. But this strange silence had become my companion instead.

“Aren’t you going to tell me a joke?” I asked softly. “After all, your name is Jester.”

He laughed then. “What do you want a cyborg joke?”

“I thought it would be fitting.”

He cleared his throat. “All right. Since I know you don’t like Velkans, I’ve got the perfect one. A cyborg goes into a bar. On the bar is a jar full of money. Beside it is a sign that says if you can make the Velkan who works there laugh, you get the money. The cyborg says, ‘I can do that.’ He walks into the back room where the Velkan is, then walks back out. He tells the bartender, ‘He’s laughing, go look.’ Sure enough, the Velkan is cracking up. He goes to the same bar a week later. The jar is refilled with money and has a new sign beside it. This one says that if you can make the Velkan cry you get the money. The cyborg gives it another go and has the Velkan in tears. Finally, the bartender asks, ‘What did you do?’ The cyborg says, ‘We’ve all heard the rumors about Velkans having big dicks. Well, last week I told him that mine was bigger. Today, I proved it.’”

I laughed so hard I almost lost my grip on his shoulders. Good thing he was holding me tight, because my suit didn’t have rockets. Normally I didn’t laugh so hard at his jokes. Even without seeing his face I could tell he was surprised. His laughter sounded nervous.

“That’s probably the best Velkan joke I’ve heard in a long time. How did you end up being called Jester anyway? I mean, it’s obvious since I know you, but how did it start?”

He shrugged. “Humor is my way of coping with stress. This is a very stressful job. Guess when I started cracking jokes to people I was interrogating it seemed kind of strange.”

This made me laugh too.

“You know, Viv, it’s good to hear you laugh. You should do it more often.”

His voice was soft and warm. It floated inside my hood like a caress. The darkness of space added to the intimacy of the moment. Ever since I had given in to my desires, I found it harder and harder to control myself when in his presence. Just when I was about to suggest something lewd, we started to enter the planet’s atmosphere. Our suits made a sizzling sort of sound as we passed the shields.

“Gravity should pull us in. I’ll let you go once we get past the cloud cover,” he said.

I held tight and closed my eyes as we shot through the atmosphere. I could feel the heat through my suit, almost reaching the point of pain.

“All right, sweetheart, it’s freefalling from here. See you on the ground.”

I flailed about for a moment, trying to get my bearings when Morgan let go. I pressed the control panel on my wrist, switching to the Harsh Reality’s frequency. I held my arms close at my sides and listened to the sound of Ash’s voice, calling out the speed of my descent. Actually, he was calling out Morgan’s speed and distance, because he was ahead of me. He was traveling a lot faster since he weighs so much more.

I do not like to fall. Correction, I
hate
falling. I focused on the sound of Ash’s voice and the sound of the wind rushing past outside. I could hear Morgan saying things like “Woohoo” and “What a rush.” My thoughts were closer to “Holy shit” and “Even if I shatter when I hit the ground, I still won’t die.”

BOOK: Three Days of Night
13.65Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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