VirtuallyYours (10 page)

Chapter Ten

Although he had fought in battle many times, Pete had never
experienced anything like the snarling blood lust of the hunt. With their claws
exposed, the Vashtar were a race of vicious predators. Their talons contained
some kind of venom that paralyzed their prey. A pile of stunned animals lay
wild-eyed and helpless, waiting to be transported back to the Pegasus.

After being dumped by Charley yesterday, he half wished that
the Vashtar would take a swipe at him. What the hell was going on with her? One
minute they were making out and the next she was saying that she didn’t want to
be with him. If she wanted to travel after her graduation, then they would
travel, but there was no way that he was letting her go. Pete heard a second
outburst from Kirez. Whatever was going on, he was seriously annoyed.

“Human, there is a problem on the ship. We must return.”

Pete tried his best to keep a blank expression on his face.
He had been watching the skies all morning, hoping to see the Pegasus take off.
The mutiny must have failed. He waited for Kirez to make a general announcement
that the hunt was over, but instead he pulled on his gloves and headed back
toward the ship. The wind was picking up again, moving the tall grasses wildly.
Pete looked at the mountain range in the distance. Charley had done a good job
of getting them down safely. As they passed through the meadow, Pete wondered
if he should take the opportunity to kill Kirez. This might be the only chance
he would get. But if he failed, who would protect Charley?

The ship loomed up ahead of them. Kirez led the way to
Liston’s office. It was empty. He opened the door to the service bay and the
sulfuric smell of coolant hit his nose immediately. There shouldn’t be a leak.
The tank had at least three backups and two independent alarm systems. It had
to be sabotage. Charley must have done it. Marc’s plan to keep her with him
hadn’t worked after all.

Kirez spoke into the com, summoning the guards. There was no
response. His tone grew rough as he tried again. If the guards weren’t dead,
they were in serious trouble. Pete suppressed a grin when he realized that
Charley and the tech crew had managed to take out the Vashtar guards. That just
left Kirez. His hand clenched into a fist, aching to strike.

“Please raise your hands and drop your weapon.”

Eric stood in the doorway. He looked so odd with a gun in
his hand that Pete was tempted to laugh out loud. Charley eased into the room,
her gaze flicking anxiously between Pete and Kirez.

“Which would you rather have me do first, Human?”

“I mean dr-r-rop your weapon,” Eric stammered.

Kirez unfastened his weapon belt slowly and tossed it onto
the floor. Pete breathed a sigh of relief. As Charley bent to pick up the
discarded weapon, a leather glove fell to the floor. Shit, after all he had
witnessed today, how could he have been so stupid. He should have known that
Kirez wouldn’t give up so easily.

Using every bit of strength he possessed, he shot forward,
pushing Charley out of the way. Pete felt the sting of the Vashtar claw against
his cheek. Icy arcs of pain radiated from the cut. His brain sent out frantic
messages telling his limbs to move, but it was too late. He tried to cry out,
but his tongue felt as if it belonged to someone else.

Kirez smiled down at him. “I’ve never tasted human before.
When I’ve finished with you, Alpha, I will enjoy your female.”

As the floor rose up to meet him, Pete heard the low thrum
of laser fire. Kirez’s body seemed to fall in slow motion. His shoulders jerked
and his head bounced against the hard floor. Dead eyes stared into his, but the
lieutenant’s mouth still held the semblance of a smile.

Regret washed over him. He would never have Charley now.
Even in death, Kirez had won. The weird thing was that he could still feel
everything. He was helpless, immobile, silent, but aware of every little
thing—the panic of the techies, Charley’s tender pleas as she stroked his face,
but he couldn’t even blink in response. Pete felt a warm rush of pleasure at
the sight of her tearstained face. She was crying for him. No matter what
Charley said, she did care for him. He could hear Eric shouting at her that
they had to get out of here before the others returned. With a final agonized
glance at him, she turned and ran toward the bridge.

Leaving Charley to fight against a seasoned mercenary crew
made him feel sick. She was just a cadet. Her only experience of battle was in
a simulated environment. That wasn’t going to prepare her for a real fight. He
should be with her, not lying here helpless.

Pete felt the techies’ arms under him as they tried to lift
him off the floor. With his titanium implants, he was a lot heavier than he
looked, and they grunted as they carried him along the corridors. All he could
see were the ceiling lights moving above him. It was like being in a movie set
in a medi-facility. He could feel the Vashtar toxin racing through him. His
breathing was becoming shallow and he couldn’t turn his head.

The elevator doors opened. They were heading for the stasis
pods. Clever Charley. If they could get him into one of the pods, Marc could
probably shut his tech systems down and keep him alive until they got help—if
they got off this planet and if Charley was able to fight the other Vashtar
ship and win. That was a hell of a lot of ifs, maybe too many. The stasis pod
visor came down over his face and he slipped into darkness.

She wouldn’t cry. Eric said that Pete had been paralyzed
with a Vashtar toxin. He would be okay once they gave him an antidote—except
they didn’t have one on board. Professor Liston was still lying on the other
com chair. He looked as if he was sleeping. Charley slid into the com seat and
pulled on the visor. It was time to get out of here. She never wanted to see
Baxar Nine again.

Marc joined her when the ship reached the upper atmosphere.
He was wearing a flight suit. “I’ll take over the flying now, Charley.”

She squeezed his hand. “Marc, I…if we don’t get out of this.
I mean, it’s been a pleasure to serve with you.”

Marc brought her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss
against her fingers. “Likewise, Charley.”

Charley closed her eyes and reached out for the weapons
systems, feeling them come under her control. She prayed that she wouldn’t have
to use them.

Her prayers weren’t answered.

“We’re being hailed, Charley. What do you wish to do?”

She hesitated for a moment. The Vashtar mercenaries had a
Delta Class transporter. They could outrun and outgun the Pegasus and the
Vashtar would be suspicious that Captain Tinar hadn’t contacted them to
announce their departure.

“Let’s play nice first,” she said. “Open a channel.”

A face appeared on the screen in front of her, the bony
ridges along his brow distended in anger. “Female, what are you doing? Where is
Lieutenant Kirez?”

She had never killed anyone in cold blood before. Maybe she
could just disable the other ship.
Coward,
a little voice inside her
head whispered.
They stole the
Pegasus
, kidnapped you and tried to
kill Pete. No more playing nice girl, you have a ship and a crew to bring home
.
Charley could feel the weapons systems responding to her thoughts.

Arming laser cannon.

“Lieutenant Kirez is indisposed, Sir,” she replied.

Selecting targets—ships engines and weapons array.

“But he sends his regards.”

Fire weapons
.

The Vashtar ship powered up their weapons, but it was too
late. Laser cannon fire hit the port side and a series of explosions began,
turning the ship into a fireball. She had killed them. She hadn’t wanted to,
but she had done it all the same. “Casualties?” she asked.

“Two,” Marc responded. “You did the right thing, Charley.”

“Scan the area for other Vashtar ships.”

“Affirmative”

Charley let out a deep breath. So this was what the
captain’s chair felt like. Making the hard decisions and living with the
consequences, knowing that everyone depended on you to do it. She never wanted
to sit here again.

“That’s a negative on other ships in the area. What are your
orders, Ma’am?”

“Set course for Earth, Marc. Take us home.”

* * * * *

She was dog-tired. Every hour that she wasn’t at the helm,
she stayed near the stasis pods, hoping that Pete would wake up. She knew she
was being silly. Marc was monitoring him and he would notify her immediately if
there was any change in his condition. Regret washed over her. She loved him.
She was hopelessly in love with the infuriating techie, but she might never get
the chance to tell him.

“Charley, report to the bridge, please.” The call came again
and she groaned as she pulled herself up off the hard floor of the deck. Marc
wouldn’t call her unless there was trouble. She almost fell into the com chair
and pulled her visor down.

The Fleet Command HQ office was gone and the beach house was
back. “What’s the problem?”

“You are, Charley. Your biometric data indicates that you
have not experienced an undisturbed sleep cycle in more than three days.”

“I know that, Marc, but I…” she could feel tears of
exhaustion welling up behind her eyes.

He held out his hand. “Come with me, Charley, there is
something I want you to see.”

She was too tired to argue. Charley took his hand and
followed him up the stairs and into the bedroom. Lying on the large wooden bed
was Pete. His face was moon pale and he was unconscious. She grasped Marc’s
arm. “How did you…”

“Pete is not here, Charley, any more than you are, but he
will feel real to you. Now perhaps you will sleep.”

Charley threw her arms around Marc, enveloping him in a hug.
How did he always know what she needed, even when he wasn’t inside her head?
“Has anyone ever told you how wonderful you are?”

His brown eyes shone with pleasure for a moment and then it
faded. “I don’t know, Charley. I can’t remember.” Marc released her and moved
toward the door. “I’ll leave you to rest.”

Charley had a sudden wrenching feeling in her heart. She
didn’t know if Pete would pull through this, but Marc had given her a precious
gift of time with him. She needed to give him something in return, some small
human pleasure that Marc could store away in his memories for when she was
gone.

“Stay,” the word came out in a whisper. Charley cleared her
throat and tried again. “I want you to stay, Marc. The bed is big enough for
all of us. Please.”

Without waiting for his answer, she climbed onto the bed,
dimmed the lights and curled up to Pete. She waited for the sound of the door
opening, announcing Marc’s departure, but it never came. The edge of the bed
dipped as Marc sat down. He pulled off his shoes, dropping them on the floor
one by one. He lay down, inched closer to her and finally curved up to her back
and dropped his arm around her waist. Although she knew that Marc could no
longer breathe, she was sure that she could feel his warm breath against her
neck. Charley cupped her hand over his and finally she slept.

She woke during the night to find that she was lying on her
back. Marc’s face was on the pillow next to hers. His warm hand was splayed
across her breast and there was a sizeable bulge pressing against her left hip.
Sensing that she was awake, Marc became alert almost immediately and rolled away
from her, fumbling for his shoes in the darkness.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Marc. It could happen to… I mean, I
liked sleeping with you.”

Marc dropped a quick kiss on her brow. “It appears that the
pleasure was all mine, Charley.”

She giggled at his words before falling asleep again.

When she woke from her sleep cycle, she was still in Marc’s
bed. Pete was gone and the ship’s chronometer told her that she had slept for
sixteen hours straight. She bounded out of bed. How could they have let her
sleep for that long? Back on the ship, everything was running smoothly. The
techies had almost finished the repairs to the coolant system and were taking
inventory of teething problems with the new ship. They had managed just fine
without her.

“Charley, come to the bridge, please. We are being hailed.”

“Is it the Vashtar?” Her heart thumped wildly.
Please say
no
.

“Negative. It’s a Fleet Command vessel. Their captain wishes
to communicate with you.”

The techies had relieved smiles pasted across their faces.
Charley slid into the com chair and pulled the visor down. “Give me a visual,
please, Marc.”

The bridge of the Fleet Command ship came into view.
“Captain Jake Svenson, Ma’am. I heard you were having a little trouble.”

Charley could hardly contain her smile. Their medi-facility
was bound to have an antidote for Pete. “Not anymore, Sir, but I have an
injured officer on board. Engineer Olafson is in stasis.”

A worried look flashed across the captain’s face. I’ll
dispatch a medi-team immediately. Do you wish to be relieved of duty, Ensign? I
can send a crew to assist you.”

Charley hesitated. A proper bunk and real food was sorely
tempting, but she couldn’t leave the Pegasus now. “Negative, Sir, this is my
ship. I’ll take her home.”

Up close and personal, Captain Svenson was one of the most
handsome men she had ever met. Misha would be drooling if she got within ten
feet of him. Charley waited anxiously while the medi-team ran tests on Pete.

The doctor re-appeared a short while later. “I’ve
administered the antidote and he’s stable for now, Sir, but we’ll have to take
him back to sickbay.”

Charley felt like crying as she watched them carry Pete’s
unconscious body down the corridor. This was it, they were taking Pete away and
she wouldn’t get to say goodbye to him. A tear slipped from her eye and rolled
down her cheek.