Harbinger, page 19
[They are currently in the Velothi’s quarters. I have had difficulty waking him.]
“They’re sleeping together?”
[At present, yes. After fornicating in one of the maintenance shafts for reasons I cannot fathom, they moved to her quarters and continued to—”
“He fucked her!?” Kaya practically shouted. “He actually fucked her?! Holy shit!”
She turned and sprinted out the door before the AI could elaborate. She reached her partner’s quarters in record time, and when the door hissed open, she couldn’t help but clamp her hands over her mouth in surprise. Dorian and Mysha were indeed lying together in bed, the Velothi’s long blue legs and tail curled possessively around him.
Most women in Kaya’s position probably would have been horrified. They would have cried or screamed in jealousy. Some might have even descended into a murderous rage and vented both of them into space.
Kaya, on the other hand, instantly became so hot that it took every scrap of willpower she possessed not to dive onto the bed, crawl in between them, and demand Dorian fuck both of them at the same time. The thought of cleaning his glorious mess off Mysha’s tits and stomach almost made her climax right then and there…
“Nnn…” she groaned, biting down on her lip and squeezing her legs together in a vain attempt to quench the fire in her quim. Dorian must have taken her advice to heart after all. “You were supposed to narrate this for me!”
[You fell asleep before they commenced fornication. I chose not to wake you. Was that an error in judgment?]
“Ask me when I’m not this horny,” Kaya managed.
[I can forcibly wake Master Dorian by stimulating his nervous system, if necessary,] the AI said. [However, I do not wish to take such extreme measures unless there is no other option. Perhaps you could wake him with conventional means?]
If I wake him right now, there’s no way his cock doesn’t end up in my mouth. And then my cunt. And then probably my ass.
“How much time do we have?” she asked, her breath shallow and uneven.
[We will arrive at our destination in forty-two minutes, thirteen seconds.]
Plenty of time for a tumble. Just get in there!
Kaya almost lunged forward, but instead grabbed the doorframe so hard her knuckles turned white. They were being chased by the Spiders, and they were less than an hour away from meeting with the only people in the galaxy who might be able to protect them…yet the only thing on her mind was how much she wanted to crawl into bed and beg Dorian to fuck her again.
Maybe she really was starting to feel a bit better about all of this insanity. That, or she was just happy to fall back on her favorite coping mechanism.
“Fuck,” she whispered, taking a step back and closing the door.
[I do not understand,] Ghost said. [Do you not wish to wake them?]
“If I go in there, I won’t be coming out for a while,” Kaya said. “Here’s what needs to happen: I’m going to get in the shower to cool off, and you’re going turn on the alarm on Mysha’s computer. Starting now.”
[If that is your preference,] Ghost said. [I assumed you would wish to wake them and make plans before our arrival.]
“I thought you were supposed to be the most advanced AI in the known galaxy?”
[I am.]
“And yet, after all this time with humans, you thought we’d behave rationally when sex is involved?” Kaya snorted. “Sounds like you still need some upgrades.”
She forced herself to jog back to her quarters, trying hard not to think about how good it would feel to hold Mysha down and lick her quim while Dorian pounded into her from behind. The only thing she hadn’t yet shared with her partner was a man…and by the Seraph, she was looking forward to it.
Assuming the Spiders didn’t catch and kill them first, of course.
Kaya set the shower to its coldest setting, and after five minutes of forcing herself to stand under the stream, her nipples were rock hard but her mind was crystal clear. She choked down a protein bar while she plucked another of her blue-gold outfits from her closet, and after strapping on her holster and pulse pistol, she went up to the cockpit to prepare for their imminent arrival.
Ghost reported that the others had finally gotten out of bed, and about ten minutes later, Mysha casually strolled onto the bridge. She was back in one of her skin-tight white jumpsuits, and despite her obvious efforts to appear nonchalant, her skin was practically glowing.
“There you are,” the Velothi said. “I stopped by your room—I was a little worried you’d be in a spice haze.”
“Nope, clean as a whistle,” Kaya said, swiveling her chair and opening her hands. “Dorian helped me get to sleep the natural way.”
Mysha’s face flushed ever so slightly. “I bet he did.”
Kaya crossed her arms over her chest, wondering how long her partner would try to keep up the charade. “I was a little surprised he wasn’t still there when I woke up.”
“He, uh…he came to help me fix up the…you know, stuff,” Mysha stammered as she slid into the pilot’s chair.
“Fixing stuff is important,” Kaya agreed sagely. “Was that before or after he fucked the hell out of you?”
Mysha hand froze in mid-air before it even reached the controls. “You know,” she breathed. “Of course you know…”
Giggling girlishly, Kaya vaulted out of her chair and practically dove onto the Velothi’s lap, straddling her. “Honey, this is amazing!” she said, taking the other woman’s face in both hands. “I’m so happy for you.”
She gave Mysha a long, deep kiss before finally pulling back. Mysha grinned sheepishly and brushed a white lock from her face.
“It’s not a big deal,” she insisted.
“What the hell are you talking about? It’s a huge deal! Fuck, just thinking about it is making me so hot…” Kaya forced herself to take a deep breath. “Well, how was it? I want details!”
“It was all right, I guess,” Mysha said, reaching around her waist to adjust the controls. “Nothing very memorable.”
“Oh, come on!” Kaya exclaimed with a derisive snort. “Don’t be such a bitch.”
“I learned from the best.” Smirking, Mysha finally leaned all the way back in her chair. “Okay, fine. It was amazing, all right? I still can’t believe how good it felt…”
Kaya threw back her head and cackled. “Stars, I wish you’d set up a camera for me.”
Mysha blanched. “That’s creepy!”
“No, it’s amazingly fucking hot,” Kaya said, grinding into her partner’s groin. If they’d had just ten more minutes, she would have already sprouted a cock and bent Mysha over one of the consoles. “Did you let him…?”
“No, he didn’t Imprint on me,” Mysha said, shaking her head. “Seraph knows he could have…a part of me really wanted him to.”
“You have a lot more willpower than I do. Shit, I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to have a longer hyperspace trip before…”
Kaya kissed her partner again, and she was half a heartbeat from ripping open Mysha’s pants when they heard Dorian’s boots approaching from the corridor. Swearing under her breath, Kaya rolled out of Mysha’s lap and back into the co-pilot’s chair. At this rate, she was going to need another cold shower…
Dorian stepped into the cockpit, his new duster finally back on his shoulders. The getup somehow made him look rakish and a little ridiculous all at once.
“What’s going on?” he asked, glancing between them.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Kaya assured him as she finally turned back to her controls. “Just a couple of girls definitely not gossiping about things that may or may not have happened.”
She snickered when Dorian flashed her a dry look, but the navigational controls started beeping before she could tease him—or get some juicy details.
“Thirty seconds,” Kaya warned. “Get the cloak ready. It’s probably best to fly in as quietly as possible just in case.”
Ghost’s orange holographic avatar materialized above the tac-holo. “We may wish to announce ourselves earlier rather than later. Union forces are likely on high alert, and we do not wish to give them the wrong impression.”
“We also don’t want to be a target if there’s a Convectorate fleet hanging around,” Kaya told him.
“Perhaps you have already forgotten, but the com logs I recovered suggested that the CDF was not aware of—”
“I know what the logs said,” she countered. “I’m just not sure I believe them.”
She could feel the flirty, playful mood in the cockpit drain away like oxygen being sucked out of an airlock. Mysha stiffened in her seat and clutched the piloting stick, and Dorian shuffled behind them and placed a hand on each chair. Kaya hated being a killjoy, but she didn’t have any other choice. The fun would just have to wait.
“Five seconds,” she said. “Four, three, two, one…”
The flickering walls of the hyperspace corridor melted, and the starry void of space once again sprawled out before them. A reddish star blazed outside the starboard viewport, and the tac-holo updated with tiny but detailed projections of the only planet within the star system. Ziphrades, their destination, was already rolling into view directly ahead of them.
“Pretty,” Dorian said, gazing at the planet. “If a little stark.”
Kaya nodded absently as she stared out at the shimmering teal orb. From here, Ziphrades could have easily passed for a Tier 1 world. The smear of white clouds over beautiful blue oceans made the planet look as bright and healthy as any colony in the Core—maybe even more so given the lack of sprawling industrial cityscapes. Ziphrades looked untouched. Virginal. It was the kind of world that the earliest interstellar pioneers had dreamed about when they first launched into the unknown. But as with any ocean world, its danger lurked beneath the waves.
“Type 6 atmosphere confirmed,” Ghost reported. “A high concentration of nitrogen and oxygen, though carbon dioxide and methane levels are both far above Type 1 tolerance levels.”
“With a decade or two of terraforming, this place could be a paradise,” Dorian said. “Assuming someone wanted to build a floating city for the non-Meldonians to live on.”
“No active satellites or buoys in orbit,” Mysha said, frowning as her hands danced across the console. “No com transmissions or low-level radio signals, either.”
“We’re still pretty far away, and this base was meant to be a secret,” Kaya said, though a faint warning tingle began dancing across the nape of her neck. Maybe she was being overly paranoid, but part of her refused to believe that this would be as easy as showing up and asking for help.
Or maybe it was just the fact that she was increasingly certain that she—or rather, a different Seven—had died here once.
“If anyone is here, they won’t see us coming as long as we’re in stealth mode,” Mysha said. “What’s the plan?”
Kaya took in a long, deep breath. “Take us closer and keep us quiet. Let’s try being patient.”
The Velothi nodded as she nudged the throttle and took them in closer. None of the planetary scans changed meaningfully by the time they reached low orbit, nor did they detect any recent engine emissions or com activity. The Prowler didn’t have the full capabilities of a dedicated science vessel, obviously, but Meesh had optimized their sensors just like she had everything else. If anyone was lurking nearby, they were pretty deep in the weeds.
“Still nothing,” Mysha said. “Do we go all the way to the base, or should we knock on the door first?”
“I reiterate my recommendation that we announce our presence as early as possible,” Ghost said. “Union forces secured this facility over four days ago. They will surely be entrenched and will likely have some defenses online by now. It would be best not to provoke them.”
“I suppose if they are going to shoot us, I’d rather have it happen now while we can still jump away,” Kaya said. She tapped the communications console and opened a channel. “Attention Seraphim Union forces, this is the independent starship Prowler. My crew and I are psionic refugees seeking asylum from the Convectorate, and we would like to arrange a meeting. Oh, and it may interest you to know that my name is Kaya…Kaya Trell.”
Dorian cocked a dark eyebrow at her. “That was…blunt.”
“We want to get their attention, right?” Kaya asked with a shrug. “Besides, if Spider Zero is with them, our cloak might not even matter. She could already know we’re here.”
“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse,” Mysha murmured. “No response yet.”
“We could transmit the codes they gave me for my rendezvous on Talinus,” Dorian suggested. “Unless you think it might scare them off.”
Kaya pressed her tongue into her cheek. “I name-dropped myself. I suppose we might as well name-drop the son of Samir Garr, too. Go ahead.”
Dorian leaned over the console and transmitted the codes. They all watched and waited as the tac-holo counted down the kilometers until they breached the outer atmosphere, but the com remained silent.
“Maybe they aren’t here,” Mysha said. “We could be too late.”
“The Spiders were convinced that the Union planned to erect an outpost here,” Ghost reminded them.
“They could have been wrong,” Dorian said gravely. “For all we know, their mission here might have been a simple smash-and-grab. If so, they’re long gone.”
“We have no other way to find them,” Mysha said before cursing softly under her breath. “What do we do?”
Kaya swallowed heavily and shared a concerned glance with Dorian. If they missed out on this opportunity, they might not get another. They would be all alone, and the Spiders would never stop hunting them. Even the farthest colony on the Rim wouldn’t be safe forever.
“We need to know what happened,” Kaya said. “Even if the Union is gone, they might have left clues behind…something we could use to contact them or maybe at least track them. And who knows what data we might find in the facility itself.”
“Agreed,” Dorian said. “We came all this way…might as well have a look around.”
Kaya nodded. This had always been a longshot, but the alternative was to tuck tail and run for good. She may have been a clone of a woman she had never met, but if there was one thing she knew definitively about herself, it was that she was a fighter.
“Take us down,” she said. “Let’s get this over with.”
8
Hunted
Nodding gravely, Mysha pushed the flight stick forward and angled the ship for atmospheric entry. As the minutes ticked by and flames engulfed the shields, Dorian watched and waited for a sign—any sign—that someone was out there listening.
“Still nothing,” Mysha said when she finally leveled their descent. As the flames engulfing the shields waned, a seemingly endless crystal blue ocean stretched out beneath them, broken only by the occasional cloud that still lay far below. The reflection of the sun on the surface would have been blinding without brightness filters.
“Now that we have breached the atmosphere, the ship’s sensors have become far more reliable,” Ghost said. “I am detecting a small installation above the water roughly a thousand kilometers from our current position. The location is consistent with the logs recovered from Cira Narn.”
“That’s it,” Kaya whispered as the projection on the tac-holo updated. “That’s definitely it.”
“Changing course,” Mysha said as she slowly rolled the stick. “Let’s hope there’s somewhere to land.”
There was. An interlocking series of six landing platforms came into view, all arranged around a central domed hub. The entire structure was held up by several dozen narrow support columns that speared down into the water and sank into a rocky ridge several hundred meters below the rolling swells. Massive, white-capped waves battered the supports almost constantly, though they never quite reached the pads themselves.
“Almost looks like Tavra Nos on Meldon,” Mysha commented. “Just about a thousandth the size.”
Kaya’s eyes narrowed. “Can we tell how long it’s been since anyone docked?”
“I do not possess sufficient data to make such a determination,” Ghost said. “However, all six pads appear to be functional, and I am detecting a faint power signature several kilometers beneath the surface. It is unlikely that the facility was destroyed.”
“So, someone could still be down there,” Dorian reasoned. “But only if they were anticipating a pick-up or got left behind.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky and discover that some Union soldier left behind their holopad and itinerary,” Kaya muttered.
“Or maybe they left a bomb,” Mysha said. “How good is Ghost at detecting explosives?”
“My ability to perceive the environment is contingent upon the external system I am inhabiting,” Ghost said. “Master Dorian’s implant is more advanced than yours, but its sensor suites are still limited. I suggest bringing along a hand-scanner. I should be able to boost its effective range significantly.”
Mysha nodded as she scrolled through the sensor reports. “The atmosphere inside reads as relatively normal, but we should take rebreathers just in case. And we probably don’t want to stand outside in the rain too long with real enviro-suits, either. It’s not exactly good for the skin.”
“We’ll be fine as long as we don’t loiter,” Dorian said. “Looks like we just enter the central hub and ride a lift down to the facility.”
“And hope the pressure shielding still works so we don’t all get crushed into paste,” Kaya said tightly. “In any event, one of us should stay behind and watch the ship just in case someone else shows up. And I think that someone needs to be you, Meesh.”
The Velothi frowned. “Are you crazy? You’re not going down there alone!”
“I won’t be alone—I’ll have Dorian and Ghost with me.” Kaya stood from her chair. “I obviously have to go, and Dorian’s powers could prove useful. But someone needs to guard the ship.”
“And be in a position to get us out of there if necessary,” Dorian agreed. “It’s the smart play.”
