Farthest Space: The Wrath of Jan (8 page)

She stumbled up next to Steven and gazed intently at the cat, which stared back.

“Go,” she said.
 

Steven felt his jaw drop open as the cat turned and glided away through the purple grass.

Within moments the cat had disappeared.
 
Steven turned and looked at Vaish.
 
“What the hell?”

She gave him a faint smile and turned, limping back toward the lifepod.

“Excuse me,” Steven said.
 
“What did you just do?”

She lifted her eyebrows.
 
“I didn’t do anything, Captain.”

“You did so.
 
That was definitely something.”

“That was nothing, Captain.”

“Look, I know what nothing looks like, and that wasn’t it.”

“There is no way you can know what nothing looks like, when by definition nothing is not visible.”

“Okay.
 
Maybe it wasn’t nothing.
 
But it sure as hell was something.”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about, Captain.
 
I assure you, I did nothing.”

“But—“
 
Steven sighed.
 
“Oh, the hell with it.
 
Never mind.”

When they got back to the lifepod, Steven insisted on examining Vaish’s leg to make sure it wasn’t broken.
 
She leaned back and tried to ignore his big hands sliding up and down her leg.

It wasn’t easy to ignore.
 
Especially when his fingers pressed against her swollen ankle.
 
She groaned.

Steven shot her his cockiest grin.
 
“I tend to have that effect on women.”

“That was not a sound of pleasure, you idiot.”

“You shouldn’t refer to me as an idiot, you know.
 
I’m your captain.”

She lifted an eyebrow and quoted his earlier words.
 
“News flash,
Captain
.
 
Your job description just changed.”

“So you’re telling me you’re free to insult me?”

“I don’t see any good reason to restrain myself.
 
I’ve been restraining myself for five years.
 
It feels good to let it all out.”

“If we ever get back to civilization, I’m going to court-martial you.”

“I’m willing to take that chance.”

Steven chuckled, not at all annoyed by her mouthiness.
 
He was glad she felt up to being mouthy.
 
“It’s not broken,” he said, “but it looks like a sprain.”

“Fred already said that,” Vaish pointed out.

“Yes, well.
 
Technology is all very well and good, but it’s best to verify.”

“Who are you calling technology?” Fred’s voice said.

Vaish snorted.
 
“Ignore him, Fred.
 
He just wanted an opportunity to put his hands all over my leg.”

Steven grinned wryly as he began bandaging her swollen ankle.
 
“Hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but right now this isn’t the most gorgeous leg I’ve ever seen.
 
It looks a bit like a watermelon.”

“A what?”

“A large ovoid fruit.”

Vaish almost growled with indignation, then glanced down at her ankle and decided to keep her growl to herself.
 
She had to admit her leg did look pretty bad.

“What are we going to do now?”

Steven lifted an eyebrow.
 
“I’m going to bandage your ankle.”

“I don’t mean right now.
 
I mean, how are we going to explore the planet?”

“Obviously you’re going to stay right here, and I’m going to do the exploring.”

“You can’t do that.
 
You don’t have a prayer of fighting off one of those felines by yourself.”
 
She still remembered the awful panic she’d felt when Steven had dumped her on the ground and raced away to fight the huge creature, armed only with a metal pipe.
 
The man might be as dumb as a rock, but she couldn’t fault his courage.

She was surprised to realize how terrified she’d been.
 
Obviously Steven meant more to her than she had previously let herself admit.
 

Steven nodded, looking grim.
 
“I think I would have been kitty chow today if you hadn’t done… whatever it was you did.
 
Come on, Vaish, level with me.
 
Do you have psychic powers?”

Vaish shrugged.
 
“The truth is, my people have very limited psi powers.
 
We can control simple minds.
 
At least we can control the native fauna on our own planet.
 
I wasn’t at all certain it would work on an alien species.”

“Good thing for us it did.”
 
Steven narrowed his eyes at her.
 
“You can’t influence humans, can you?”

Vaish smiled serenely.
 
“That depends on how simple the mind is.
 
In your case, I should think you are quite simple enough.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I was joking, Captain.
 
We cannot influence a sentient mind.”

“You know, your jokes aren’t very funny.”

“I’m an exobiologist, not a standup comedian.”
 
Vaish frowned.
 
“The point is, Captain—“

“Call me Steven.
 
You pointed out I’m not really a captain any more.
 
We’re both retired from the Patrol until further notice.”

“Very well… Steven.
 
The point is, we can’t risk you.
 
It isn’t safe to try to find those caves.”

“Probably safer than staying here long-term.”

“There is no definitive proof that anyone else actually resides on this planet.
 
To risk your life in such a gamble seems reckless.”

“Reckless is what I do.”
 
Steven got to his feet and looked down at her, his jaw set like granite.
 
“Risk is my business, Vaish.
 
I’m not dooming us both to a lifetime of being stranded on this planet if I can possibly help it.”
 
He looked out the pod door, which showed the sun high in the greenish sky.
 
“But it’s too late in the day for me to make it to those caves and back.
 
I’ll take off first thing tomorrow.”

*****

The rest of the afternoon was quiet.
 
A pleasantly warm breeze blew through the open door of the lifepod, and the eerie cries of alien birds filled the air.
 
Steven amused himself by playing solitaire on the lifepod’s small readout.
 
Vaish sat on the floor, her ankle stretched out, and read from a handheld reader.
 
At last she rose painfully to her feet and headed for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Steven demanded.

She shrugged, looking slightly embarrassed.
 
“I need to use the head.”

And of course there wasn’t a head in the lifepod.
 
Steven was coming up with all sorts of improvements for lifepod design, if he ever got back to Patrol space.
 
“Fred, are there any lifeforms around the pod?”

“There are numerous insects.
 
Do you want a precise count?”

Steven sighed, both amused and exasperated at Fred’s literal-mindedness.
 
“No thanks.
 
I was referring to dangerous animals.”

“There don’t appear to be any.”

Steven nodded toward the door.
 
“Go ahead, Vaish.
 
Do you need help?”

A violet flush appeared on her cheekbones.
 
“Uh, no.
 
I can make it that far.”

She hobbled out and disappeared out of view of the door.
 
Steven went back to playing solitaire but kept one eye on the door.

Suddenly there was a scream from outside.
 
At the same moment, the lifepod door slammed closed.

“What the fuck—“
 
Steven jumped to his feet.
 
“Fred!
 
What happened?”

“A large feline suddenly materialized,” Fred informed him.

“
What
?
 
You mean like out of thin air?”

“Yes.
 
That is precisely what I mean.
 
Some sort of rematerialization device must have been—“

Never lower your shields.
 
Damn it.
 
He’d fucked up again, and good, by allowing Vaish to leave the lifepod unprotected, while he sat on his ass and played solitaire.

A vision of Vaish being torn apart by a cat’s saber teeth flashed through Steven’s mind.
 
She’d been able to fend off one of the animals—but suppose she couldn’t do it again?
 
She was in pain, and it was entirely possible she wouldn’t be able to focus her mind enough to control the beast this time.
 
“Open the goddamn door!”

“I’m afraid that’s against regulations, Steven.
 
Regulations clearly state that when a captain is in danger, he must be—“

“Fuck regulations!
 
Let me outside!”

“I cannot allow you to risk your life in an effort to rescue a junior offi—“

“Open the pod door, Fred!”

“I’m sorry, Steven.
 
I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Cursing lividly, Steven lunged for the control panel.
 
He hit the button that activated the outside microphone and heard a low growling.

At least Vaish wasn’t screaming any more.
 
But that might be because she’d been eaten.

Suddenly the pod door exploded inward.
 
Steven spun toward the door, expecting to see the cat’s enormous head.
 
Instead what he saw was a lovely blue woman with four arms.
 
A Noo’dis’t, but not the one who’d taken over his ship.

This woman he recognized.
 
Because he’d slept with her three years before.

And then marooned her.

The blue-skinned woman smiled tightly as she studied Steven.
 
“Well, well.
 
Look what the cat dragged in.”

Steven saw Vaish behind her, held tightly by another woman, a crude-looking particle weapon pressed to her temple.
 
He was relieved she was alive, but all things considered, he’d rather take his chances with a saber-toothed cat than with Jan Zteglet.
 
He felt his mouth compress.
 

“Fabulous,” he said to Fred.
 
“Of all the planets in all the galaxies in all the universe, she walks into mine.”