Experiment (Hybrid Book 2) (20 page)

Assessing the situation quickly, she decided that for their own safety, the men would have to be on the floor, in the recovery position if they were going to be unconscious for a prolonged period.

As she explained what she wanted, Tenset asked if she could wake Dagus to help as he started to untie the first man.

Nodding, she moved over to him. Placing her hand on his forehead, she concentrated on re-awakening his mind. He started to move and mumble as his hands came up to rub his face.

“Chesara? A couple of them are injured. The Commander’s got that head wound, and that one’s arm is broken,” Tenset indicated another man.

Chesara hurried over, head wounds could be problematic. You never knew what damage was underneath. Lifting the Commander’s head, she saw the cut was quite deep, but it was only around an inch long. Touching the cut, she quickly checked to see if his skull was fractured. It wasn’t. The tissue underneath was a little bruised, which meant a slight concussion.

“Do you want me to heal these guys completely, or just make sure they make it through till they’re rescued?”

Tenset let go of the man he was dragging, considering.

“Leave the wounds intact,” came a groggy voice. They both turned round to see Dagus blinking blearily at them.

“Real kidnappers wouldn’t get their prize to heal all the injuries; they might get her to do something very obvious to prove her ability though.”

“How about a badly broken arm?” said Tenset.

“That’ll do. I’ll stay awake if you don’t mind, I’ll tell them that I woke up before them and put them in the recovery position.” He winced as he wiped a hand down his face.

“Fuck, my headache. My mouth feels like a bird nested in it.”

Chesara grinned and moved back to her friend, again placing her hand on his forehead and dampening down the headache and releasing some more moisture into his system by decreasing the efficiency of his kidneys.

“You are a fucking miracle worker,” and he pulled her into his lap for a kiss. His lips were warm, urgent and tasted a hell of a lot better than a bird’s nest. Remembering what they’d done earlier started a thrill in her belly and she felt something press against her thigh. Dear Dagus was up for a rematch, and she certainly wasn’t adverse to the idea.

“Oi, hands off flyboy,” Tenset sounded more amused than angry. “We’re on a tight schedule here. Give me a hand with the others while she makes this one’s arm good as new.”

Chesara gave Dagus an apologetic smile, as she hoped off his lap.

“See? It still works,” she whispered in his ear.

He blinked at her, then grinned. “You really should be careful whose conversations you listen in to, one day you might find out something you don’t want to.”

“And wouldn’t that make life boring,” she said as she gave him a cheeky grin.

It appeared that the default state for kalzirian men was flirtatious and cocky, and the news that he could still get aroused ‘post Dakaran’ seemed to have restored Dagus’ equilibrium. The return of his smile lightened her own mood.

Chesara knelt down in front of the slumped crewman, Tenset had indicated. The huge, bald headed looked as if he’d put up quite a fight. Apart from both his radius and ulna having displaced fractures, he had an impressive black eye, and a cut lip. The injuries were about two days old.

“I’m going need some help here,” she called, and both Dagus and Tenset appeared at her side.

“One of you brace his elbow, the other needs to pull gently on his wrist. Stop when I tell you to, ok?” Both men nodded and Tenset leaned over the seat, holding the man’s elbow in both hands. Dagus held his wrist, and Chesara placed her hands on the area over the fractures. At her nod, they both pulled firmly but gently until an audible crack could be heard.

“Stop,” she ordered, as eyes still closed, she concentrating on healing the broken bones now that they were back in place.

“All done,” she announced when she opened her eyes.

“What the hell did you do to him? He looks strong as an ox,” Dagus asked.

Tenset grinned. “I hit him with a cargo trolley, but he turned and caught it on his arm, instead of the back of the head which it what I was aiming for. It took a few more hits to lay him out though, he’s one tough bastard.”

Chesara turned her attention to the unconscious man’s quite spectacular black eye, then glanced at the two happily chatting Kalzirians.

“If you’re quite finished playing ‘who’s the toughest,’ I can put the others to sleep now.”

Tenset pulled her to her feet, briefly holding her to his chest before grinning down at her, as she started wiggling.

“Pair of zalupas,” she muttered as she moved to the first unconscious crewmen after he released her.

“What’s a ‘zalupa’?” asked Dagus.

“If I know our dear Chesara, it means ‘beloved handsome man’. Am I right Sweetcheeks?”

She couldn’t help grinning when he waggled his eyebrows at her.

It only took her only a moment to deepen the sleep of the men lying in a row on their sides. although she did feel a little tired as she stood up after leaning over the last man.

She turned to Dagus. “After three days, a loud noise will wake them up, but they’ll be really groggy.  Undisturbed, they might sleep for five.”

“How long d’you need?” Dagus asked his fellow Kalzirian. Tenset rubbed his stubbly chin as he considered.

“At least four days if possible, but the longer the better.”

Chesara noted that they didn’t mention seeing each other again, or where Tenset was headed. As the conversation died, she knew it was time.

Reached up, she wound her hands around Dagus’ neck. Pulling his head down, she passionately kissed him.

After a moment of surprised hesitation, he joined his tongue with hers as they fenced. His strong confident body, taking control of hers, had her desire spiralling up until she felt a hardness against her belly. She broke away.

Smiling down at her, he said, “that was quite a goodbye madam Envoy.”

“I’m sorry it couldn’t be longer. There will always be a part of my heart that belongs to you. Look after yourself Dagus, and give those human girls something to remember.”

Delivering a final quick peck on his lips, she turned and walked onto the Aries, remembering to wiggle her ass on the way. She wondered what it’d be like to have both the cocky Kalzirian men naked at the same time.

––––––––

T
enset and Dagus both stared as she disappeared from sight, before heaving a joint sigh.

“Got your work cut out there, my old friend. I don’t know whether to be profoundly jealous or frightened for your safety.”

Tenset rubbed the back of his neck as he considered Dagus’ words.

“Not sure either, but I’m sure life will be entertaining all the same.”

He turned and clasped the other man’s forearm just below the elbow before pulling him into a one armed hug. Both men clapped the other on the back a few times. Coughing to disguise the emotion he was feeling, Tenset pulled back.

“Let Melton know he’s really in charge now. Hopefully, I’ll be declared dead soon and he can officially take over the estates as ‘regent’ for his son. I had the paperwork set up for him to be my heir before the shit hit the fan. Tell him to look after that growing brood of his or I’ll be back to sort him out.”

“And I expect you to keep those high and mighty Federations on their toes, as well as spreading a little joy and happiness amongst the female population of the galaxy. Someone’s got to take over the mission now that I’ve got a ball and chain.”

The two shared a smile, both knowing that the banter disguised true affection for the other.

“How the hell did you get out here before us anyway? I only got the coordinates a couple of hours ago, and that black eye on the bald guy says you’ve been on board at least two days.”

Tenset gave him a self-satisfied grin. “You remember Roseanne right?”

“How could I forget my first threesome? I haven’t been able to go back to the inn since her accident.”

“I got Chesara to heal her, and she’s he’s up and around again.” Dagus’ broad smile said it all.

“Do you remember her cousin, Mary?”

“Short, blonde, big tits?”

“That’s the one. Well she remembers me rather fondly, and after Chesara helped her cousin, she passed me a little information about federation movements in our sector. She just happens to work at Star Base Three, in the logistics section.”

Dagus shook his head in admiration. “You really are still a sly old bugger. So you knew the Aries was heading this way and you just what?”

“Sat in a Federation escape pod and waited to be rescued.”

Dagus let out a bark of laughter at Tenset’s self-deprecating grin.

“I don’t think the universe is quite ready for you three to join forces and be let loose on it. Lord help us all.”

They walked towards the hatch, and Tenset stepped through, turning to look into the grinning face of his childhood friend for perhaps the last time.

“Bet you can’t make her squeal as loud as I did,” was the last thing Tenset heard before the hatch clanged shut.

Grinning, he shook his head muttering ‘son of a Kackbad,’ as he made his way back towards the crew quarters.

Glancing briefly through the open doors of the crew quarters, he saw that the four small twin bedded rooms were empty, although most were messy having held the tied up crew for the two days he’d been on board.

He didn’t know how Melton had coped with doing prisoner baby-sitting duty all those years. Taking them, one by one to the bathroom, watching them eat and drink had bored the hell out of him, let alone dealing the several attempted attacks.

Hopefully, Connor was ready to deal with the top priority, disabling those damn invasive tracking devices. The way people agreed to have something artificial implanted into their body was something he’d never get used to. He might be from a generally low-tech planet, but that was just freaky. The fact that both Connor and Chesara had alien technology floating around inside them made him shiver.

If the Federation implants remained active, they’d be found before they’d gone more than a couple of light years. His plan had stretched as far as getting the three of them away from the clutches of the Federation.

Although he was a damn good planetary pilot, thanks to his wealth and position providing access to spacecraft that normal Kalzirians could only dream of, he’d never been out of Kalzir’s orbit. Deep space navigation and knowledge of other planets and cultures was sadly lacking. Then again, he’d never expected to leave Kalzir either. Now, he couldn’t think of staying.

As he reached the Captain’s quarters at the back of the ship, he heard Connor and Chesara talking quietly. He’d been using the room himself while on board, but he hadn’t done a lot of sleeping. He hadn’t felt safe enough, what with an entire crew of angry Federation personnel just waiting for the opportunity to clobber the lone ‘pirate.’

The whole room was bland, lacking in any colour apart from Federation red and beige, which judging from his brief time with the Aries Commander certainly reflected his personality. There weren’t even any personal holograms in the quarters, unquestionably, he was a career officer.

The furnishings consisted of a small bed, with regulation bedding, although there was plenty room for a larger one. He put getting something suitable in the bed line on his ‘to do’ list with a small smile. The other furnishings consisted of a large metal desk, a ‘Federation’ red sofa and a comfortable chair, and several in-built cupboards. The walls and floor were the same sandy colour as the rest of the ship.

He’d already raided the Commander’s closet, and that of the other crewmen for clothing and footwear. Although the Commander had the same size feet as him, his taste in ‘off duty’ clothes was equally formal, so he’d taken some more casual clothes from the crewmen.

Chesara sat on the bed and Connor occupying the armchair. Connor stood when Tenset came in.

“All done?”

“Yep. Dagus is going to play ‘dead’ for a few days before activating the distress beacons. You ready to turn the trackers off?”

“Connor nodded and moved over to Chesara.

“I’ll explain as I go, so you can do me while Chesara recovers from the anaesthetic.”

“Hang on a minute,” Chesara said as Connor moved towards her, hypo in hand.

“Now come on Kittycat, you’ve done this several time before, you’re only out for a few moments.”

“It’s not that, I was just wondering if it would be better to remove these devices, rather than just turn them off.”

“They do identify you as Federation personnel, even when deactivated,” confirmed Tenset.

“I can’t perform that sort of surgery, I’ve only got field medic training,” Connor said.

“But I can do you, without a problem. No tell-tale scars or anything. I can also take that alien tech out.”

To Tenset’s surprise, Connor appeared quite crestfallen at her suggestion. He wouldn’t have hesitated to get some alien crap out of his body, but then again, he wouldn’t have let anyone implant him in the first place.

“Why would you want to do that? It means I can monitor you, even if we’re not together.”

Chesara rolled her eyes. “Because, oh bright one, only one human in the galaxy has one of those. One deep body scan, and its game over. I, on the other hand, will find it very difficult to hide anyway. But you can be whoever you like if you don’t have that tell-tale tech giving you away.”

Tenset decided it was time to step in. Connor’s face was set. Judging from his uncle’s lack of success in persuading the big man to co-operate, Connor had ‘stubborn’ down to a fine art.

“She’s right troll. Without that identification, you can interact with traders and Federation personnel without a problem.” Tenset turned to Chesara. “I don’t suppose you could change his appearance a little while you’re at it?”

Chesara grinned. “I can turn ugly here into a super model if I put my mind to it.”

“What about DNA testing? You can’t do anything about that.”

Chesara scowled as Connor put yet another barrier in the way. Her hands went to her hips as she glared at him.