Fighting Lory (English Edition) (Lords Of Arr'Carthian 2) (4 page)

“I’ll see what I can do. See you later.”

She left the suite and took the lift down to the third floor where the bar and restaurant were. It was still early in the evening, so there were just two men sitting at a table in the corner and the bar was completely empty. Lory took a seat and ordered a drink from the waitress, who looked like a member of the Simpson Family with her yellow skin and greenish-blue hair.

The cocktail, made from a type of rum with a shot of sweet liqueur and fruit juice, was quite strong. After just one glass she could fully feel the effect of the alcohol. That was, of course, the reason she was here. She wanted to ease her anxiety with alcohol. But she must take care. She had already gone through a time when she had drowned her sorrows in alcohol and she had actually given up drinking since then, but this waiting around without results was killing her. She was not made for a life of luxury and she found her role as a slave owner harder as each day passed. With Charly she had reached a sort of truce and they had almost become friends. Even though they were very different they got along amazingly well. But it was driving her mad the way she could just sit around idly with nothing bothering her. They had called on various pilots and no one seemed interested in flying the two women to earth. Only one had offered to, but on the condition that they shared his cabin with him during the flight. Lory and Charly had declined graciously. For both of them it was out of the question for them to use their bodies as a means of payment, and most definitely not to a man with a face like a pig and who was as hirsute as a gorilla. At that very thought Lory trembled again.

“So alone,” a pleasantly rough voice pulled her from her thoughts.

Lory turned and saw a tall, good-looking man with short, black hair and silver-grey eyes. He looked so human that, against her better judgement, she hoped he had come from earth as she had.
 

“You can keep me company,” she replied cheekily. Who knew? – perhaps he could be of assistance to her. It would not be wrong to flirt with him a little, and anyway, he was the first person that she had met on this damn planet who did not remind her, through his appearance, that she was light years away from home.

“How could I refuse such an invitation?” he said with his sexy, rough voice and he sat down on the stool next to her. “May I get you a drink?”

Lory turned the empty cocktail glass between her fingers and shrugged.

“As chance would have it my glass has just become empty, as you can see.”

“What can I get you? A sundown?”

“Yes, I’ll have another of those.”

The man ordered two sundowns and turned to Lory again. His silvery eyes looked at her calmly and a sensuous smile played at the corner of his mouth.

“My name is Ellyod. Ellyod Allegrass.”

“Lory. Lory Andersson.”

“What brings you here, Lory Andersson? Are you traveling alone?”

“I … umm, no, I have my frie… my slave with me. We’re waiting to get a passage to our planet. Until now we’ve had no success. I fear that our planet lies somewhat beyond the routes that are generally flown here.”

“And where exactly is that, my dear? Perhaps I can be of assistance to you. I have a ship and at the moment I’m available. I can fly you anywhere.”

“I have no idea what the coordinates of our planet are. We came here, so to speak, by mistake and I only know that it’s about a month’s journey away from here. I would recognize the solar system on a star chart. At least I hope so.”

“It would be an honor for me to take you to your destination. I have things to do here for a few days and could fly in four days’ time at the earliest. Would that be OK?”

“That would be really very helpful. Thank you. You’re a gift from Heaven.”

Ellyod laughed.

“No one has ever called me that.” He winked and Lory smiled at him.

“My companion and I will gladly accept your friendly offer. Name your price and I will arrange for you to receive the credits immediately.”

“Absolutely not. I cannot take credits from a lady in distress. It is my duty to help you. And I do it gladly. It’s a welcome change. You’re even doing me a favor. But unfortunately I must leave now. I have another engagement. I’ll see you soon, Lory Andersson.”

“Yes. And thank you for your kind offer.”

“You’re welcome. I wish you a pleasant night.”

Once the man had left the bar Lory knocked back her cocktail and was about to pay for her first drink when the waitress informed her that Mr Allegrass had already paid for everything. Shrugging, Lory turned and left the bar. She needed to tell Charly the great news. She would be amazed. Lory could hardly believe her luck. At last they would leave this place. With this prospect she could even enjoy the next few days at the spaceport.

Kanavirius System, Xevus3

On the streets of Betzlawk

30th day of the month of Jakus in the year 7067

Federation Time

“Damn it!“ groaned Kordan indignantly. “We’ve been wandering around here for two days and have no idea as to the whereabouts of the two women.”

“I cannot believe that no one has seen them in all these weeks,” replied his cousin Amano, just as frustrated.

“Let’s try here before returning to the hotel. We could have a drink here and question the waitress a little.”

“Yes, that sounds good. I could handle a drink. Or two.” Amano slapped Kordan on the shoulder. “Come on! What are we waiting for?”

They entered the bar and sat down at a table near the counter. A waitress came to their table with a cloth and washed the sticky tabletop half-heartedly.

“What can I bring you?”

“Bring us two double blacks and something to eat.”

“We have taki from the barbecue, mosule with bread or baked shanika.”

“I’ll have the taki,” said Amano.

“Me, too. Bring us two takis and some bread, as well.”

“Right away,” said the waitress, disappearing.

A little later she returned with the drinks and placed the glasses on the table in front of Kordan and Amano.

“May we ask you something? We’ll pay you well if you can help us out,” Kordan made a move before the waitress could disappear again.
 

“Ask away!”

We’re looking for two young women. One has long, dark hair and blue eyes, the other has red hair and green eyes. They’re both very pretty and look like women of my race, only maybe a little shorter. They don’t know this place particularly well. We’re here to help them.”

“There were two women here who could fit your description. Two or three weeks ago. They had a gold Tik-card and didn’t know how to use it. They also wanted me to falsify ID for them. I took them to a friend who does that sort of thing. Since then I haven’t seen them again. I only know that they wanted to get to the spaceport.”

Amano whistled.

“A gold Tik-card. I wonder how they got hold of that.”

The waitress shrugged her shoulders.

“Of no interest to me. I was paid well for my work. They gave me a thousand credits.”

“We’ll pay you equally well,” said Kordan, pulling out his wallet. He counted out a thousand credits onto the table that swiftly disappeared into the waitress’s pocket.
 

“I’ll bring you your food,” she said, and left.

“What do you think?” asked Amano, looking at Kordan.

“I tell you, it’s them. That’s why we haven’t found them here anywhere. There at the spaceport – the last place I’d have looked. These two women are sharper than I would have expected. A gold Tik-card. Respect! They’ll definitely be living a life of luxury with that, and I was worried that they’d be starving.”

Amano laughed.

“But I’m relieved. It’s better for them to be living in luxury than lying dead in a back yard here somewhere.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m glad, too. I only hope that they haven’t left Xevus3 yet, otherwise it’ll get complicated for us.”

***

“I can’t believe we’re going to leave this damn planet tomorrow morning,” said Lory, looking out of the window.

“Me, neither,” agreed Charly. “I don’t know what to do first when I get back home. I only hope I’ve still got my flat and everything. How long have we been away now?”

“More than two months, and by the time we get there another month, so we’ll have been away for more than a quarter of a year. I have no idea how we’re going to explain that to anyone, either. As far as what’s happened with my flat and my things – my job – no idea. We’ll see. We’ll think up something during the journey home.”

Someone started banging at the door. Lory and Charly looked at one another and shrugged.

“I’ll take a look,” said Charly, going to the door to look through the view hole.

“There are two huge guys outside the door. Both built like brick shit-houses and one of them has the icy-cold stare of a killer. I don’t think these are good guys. What shall we do?” whispered Charly.

Lory went to the door, too, and looked through the view hole. The two men really did look like natural-born Mafiosi, if you overlooked the fact that one of them was blond.

“Who is it?” asked Lory.

“We need to speak with you. We’ve come to fetch you.”

“To fetch us? But we’re not flying until tomorrow morning. Are you part of the crew?”

“Yes. We’re part of the crew,” confirmed the man at the door.

“And I’m supposed to believe that, sucker,” Lory murmured. “These men aren’t with Ellyod, I’d bet my return ticket on that. Go and hide somewhere. If I’m not able to deal with them, stay in your hiding place until morning. At least one of us must make it back to earth.”

“But I can’t abandon you,” Charly disagreed.

“Babe, these two are probably dangerous. You’ve told me your story and you don’t want something as bad as that to happen to you again. I’m tough. Either I’ll kill these men or I’ll die. That’s my job. But you won’t handle this. Believe me. No one wants you to play the heroine here, so go and hide well. Go!”

Charly hugged her briefly and firmly before running into the bedroom to hide. Lory walked slowly back into the lounge where there was a little open-plan kitchen. She put three knives into her belt and held one in her hand, ready for the fight. Because she was sure there was going to be one.

“But I don’t want to speak with you,” she called out to the men at the door. “Go away!”

“We’ll been sent to fetch you,” the other man called out.
 

“Yes, that much I believe. By these slave dealers, I bet,” she murmured. Out loud she said: “I don’t care whether you’ve been sent. I won’t go anywhere with you!”

“We want to help you.”

“Yes, and my uncle’s the emperor of China,” she called out derisively. “Get lost or you’ll regret it. I’ll kill you if you enter.”

“Open the door. We only want to talk. Open up!”

Lory did not react. It was not long before she heard a loud crash and the door flew into the room. The two men burst into the suite. Lory threw the first knife but the blond one that she had aimed at dodged it skillfully so the attempt came to nothing.

“Hey! Easy, little one,” he groaned. “Let’s talk like rational people, OK?”

“Kiss my ass, jerk-off! Take that!” she said, throwing a second knife. Although the two men now had advance warning she hit the man with the long black hair on his upper arm. The blade only grazed his triceps but he swore loudly and she regretted that she had not struck him better. Now she only had one knife left to defend herself.

“Go and look for the other one,” said the blond one to his companion, and the black-haired man disappeared into one of the rooms.

Lory hoped that Charly had hidden well.

“Don’t come too close to me,” Lory warned, standing ready to fight.
 

The blond man looked at her from his icy-blue eyes. His facial features gave away nothing about his thoughts or intentions. That was bad, because usually her opponents gave away their intentions, even if often hardly noticeably, through small changes in their expression. This man, however, was impossible to read. But she stayed focused whilst they circled one another. She knew that the way she was holding her blade and her posture made it very clear to him that she was trained in martial arts, but that was of no significance now anyway. She had long missed the element of surprise. Now it was a matter of fighting to the death.
 

The blond man made the first move, but Lory was fully concentrating and struck out with her blade so that he had to jump away to dodge the knife. She still caught him and slit open his shirt right across his broad chest. Blood showed her that she had injured him, but it was only a scratch that he probably did not even notice.
 

Although she had very probably impressed him his expression still gave nothing away. She swore quietly. Somehow he reminded her of someone but at the moment she could not think of who that was. Without warning the blond man removed the knife from her hand in one proficient movement. She turned to escape his clutches and, in turn, kicked out at his rib cage before landing on her hands and doing a backflip to create a little space for herself, so as to compose herself again. Now she realised who he reminded her of and she nearly laughed. He looked a little like the evil blond Russian in the old movie. What was the film called again? Rocky or something?

The blond man attacked again and they exchanged a few blows and kicks. To her satisfaction she heard bones crack when she hit him hard on the nose and blood poured out. In return she caught a blow on her chin and tasted blood. She registered the fact that the man was suppressing his strength, because with his stature he could have easily broken her jaw. She wondered why he was holding back like this.

A scream from the bedroom distracted her, so she did not see the next blow coming.

‘
Charly
,’ she thought. ‘
The bastard must have found her.
’

***

Kordan swore silently. None of this was going as he had planned. He was here to rescue two weak women in need and now it looked as if they did not want to be rescued, and they were not weak either - at least not this black-haired one who had just broken his nose. He was completely overwhelmed by the situation. How was he going to calm her down without hurting her too much? He was afraid of hitting too hard. But he had to do something. The woman fought liked a trained warrior. This sort of thing was new to him. Carthian women did not behave like this.