Rystani Warrior 04 - The Quest (5 page)

FREE OF THE webbing, Kirek leaned over the console, peered at the vidscreen, and rubbed tightness from the back of his neck. Although Angel’s cleverness at misdirecting the Kraj appeared to have worked, he sensed
…
danger. However, nothing menacing showed on the computer’s systems.

“What?” Angel spun and confronted him, one hand fisted on a slender cocked hip, her eyes cool and assessing.

Kirek usually preferred to remain silent about his hunches until he could back them with factual data. But with his neck twitching and the mission so important, he made an exception. “The Kraj—”

“The Kraj,” Petroy spoke at the same moment, “just exited hyperspace. Distance less than one light year and closing.”

“Evasive tactics. Prepare to hyperjump again.” Angel leveled a piercing stare at Kirek. “How in hell did you know the Kraj would return?”

“I didn’t
know.
”

His intuition came often and was abnormally accurate. In the near future, he might need for her to accept his ability on faith. Besides, he liked showing off. It had been a long time since a woman had appreciated him for his unique abilities.

She raised her brow. “You just happened to guess they’d reappear in this quadrant of the galaxy
…
on a hunch?”

“Recalibrating hyperdrive.” Petroy’s hands waved over the console. The Kraj ship bore down on them with tremendous speed. “Kraj are loading weapons.”

“Jump to sector seven,” she ordered.

Kirek shook his head. “We don’t have time to hide in the dust clouds.”

Angel ignored his comment, but she tightened her lips in clear annoyance that he would question her decision. “On my mark. Jump.”

The webbing dropped again, and the hyperdrive engine engaged. Normal space disappeared, and the sensitivity of hyperspace returned. Kirek watched Angel tamp down her annoyance before she faced him once more. “I won’t tolerate command interference. If you ever again question my orders, you cannot remain on my bridge.”

“I apologize, Captain.” Kirek threaded his fingers through his hair and didn’t point out he’d only been making a suggestion. Apparently, questioning her command was a touchy subject. “I don’t believe we can lose ourselves in the cloud dust and outwit the Kraj.”

“Another hunch?” She lifted her chin, as if daring him to admit it.

“Partial hunch. Partial estimate from known facts.”

“What facts?” she snapped, drawing her body so taut her breasts lifted. Round breasts that appeared the perfect size to fill his palms. He imagined them swelling into his touch, the skin soft and smooth. Kirek knew enough about women to hide his admiration of her curves. Right about now, he didn’t need one of his hunches to realize that a show of interest in her very delicious-looking body would irritate her so much that she probably wouldn’t listen to a word he said.

Damn, his response to her was totally inappropriate, the timing ridiculous. He should be thinking about escaping the Kraj, but he couldn’t help himself, and he wondered if, along with his damaged psi, his judgment had been impaired. Finally, he managed to put his fascination on hold and kept his gaze locked above her neck. Mostly above the neck.

“The Kraj have stated they want me—not your salvage,” he pointed out.

She frowned. “You believe they’re trying to stop your mission?”

She caught on fast, even if she was eyeing him as if he had three brains. He shrugged and kept his tone unconcerned. “They seemed quite determined. That’s why we can’t simply outwait them in the dust clouds.”

She drummed her fingers on the console and then, as if she realized what she was doing, she clenched her hands. “What do you suggest?”

He respected that she was willing to listen. During his vast travels he’d found those with that ability rare. “What if we continue on to Dakmar as you’d originally planned?”

She eyed him but spoke to Petroy. “Status?”

“Exiting hyperspace.” The engines slowed. The webbing raised. The stars that had been appearing in space as streaking ribbons changed to stationary pinpoints. They’d popped out of hyperspace in a completely different quadrant—one that appeared empty of other spacecraft. “We’ve lost them, for now. But they may again appear right on our tail when we exit the clouds.”

“Keep me informed.” She eyed Kirek, her eyes glinting with speculation. While he couldn’t read her well, he didn’t believe her interest was hostile as much as curious. He could work with curious—especially when encased in a package as attractive as Angel’s. She gestured for him to follow her. “We will be in my work room, having a private chat.”

“Understood.” Petroy didn’t look up or change facial expression, but Kirek noted a tension in his shoulders that hadn’t been there before. Petroy’d had plenty of time to research Kirek’s background. While many of his activities and abilities had been kept secret, enough had made it into the public databases to make Petroy uncomfortable.

Beings who didn’t understand Kirek often feared him. Long ago he’d decided he could do nothing to change the short-sighted perceptions of others. As a child, and then later—before the wormhole blast had weakened his psi—he’d often wondered if being normal and accepted would be worth giving up his rare gifts. But now that he could no longer astral extend, he realized just how valuable his differences had been.

The freedom of leaving behind his body to soar with his mind through the universe at the speed of thought had been exhilarating. Yet for much of the time that he’d been separated from his body, he’d feared he wouldn’t make it back. Or if he did return, that his body would have died and he’d have been left alone to roam forever—as a spirit.

But after he’d reintegrated his mind with his body, he missed the freedom of astral extension. How human that was—always wanting to be in a state that he couldn’t have.

Angel’s workroom was tiny, organized with a vidscreen along one entire wall and bulkheads of dull gray
bendar
everywhere else. He saw no holopics of family, but personal items were shoved into cubbyholes and attached to shelves along the walls. A case of expensive
frelle
perched in a corner. Assorted bottles of Terran and Dellarin wine hung on a rack beside a painting from Scartar of an exotic green-skinned woman. Iridescent aqua seashells of a shape he’d never seen shared shelf space with rare books in a language he couldn’t read.

When a scruffy orange-and-white-striped animal tipped over a casket of glittering beads and lunged straight at Angel, Kirek used his psi to activate his suit. Moving at the speed of thought, placing his body between her and the menacing creature, he shielded her, his protective instincts and Rystani reflexes on automatic.

The creature slammed into his chest, all claws and hissing, the fur on its back rising. If not for the protection of the shield in his suit, the animal might have shredded his flesh.

Unhurt, Kirek grabbed the animal by the scruff of its furry neck. The creature screeched and hissed in protest.

“Don’t hurt Lion.” Angel barreled around him and reached for the feline.

Kirek frowned at her in confusion. “You keep a lion aboard your ship?”

He’d heard of the Earth animals that could be man-killers, with a nickname King of the Beasts, but he’d thought lions were larger. However, not even zoologists could be familiar with every life form on every world, and its small size didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous. Many animals with high metabolisms could consume their own body weight a hundred times over in just a few hours. The way the creature had just attacked, Kirek suspected he was famished. Although this one didn’t seem large enough to consume a human, he was taking no chances with her life and lifted the spitting creature out of Angel’s reach.

“‘Lion’ is my
pet cat’s
name.”
She used null grav in her suit to float her to the beast and gently took him into her hands. The animal immediately settled into her arms, but the hair on its neck still stood straight up.

She had a pet. A living, breathing cat.

“I thought he was attacking you.”

“He was.” Angel grinned and cuddled the cat against her chest and under her chin. Clearly, she was in no danger. She threaded her fingers through the animal’s coat—his fur flattened, and he purred. If she’d held him against her chest and stroked him like that, Kirek would have purred, too.

Shoving aside his jealousy, he eyed the cat curiously. “You keep a pet on the ship?”

“I have his suit adjusted to automatic, and he likes it in space.” Her voice softened as she held Lion. “We’ve been together a long time. I rescued him from the streets about ten years ago. When I took off in the
Raven,
I tried to leave him behind with a friend, but the rascal stowed aboard.”

Her cat had a suit? He’d never heard of such a thing. “I’ve never had the luxury of owning a pet.”

“Cats aren’t a luxury. On Earth, you can pick one up for free at any animal center.”

“On Rystan, it was difficult enough to keep people fed. After my family moved to Mystique, I made one journey after another.”

He’d never had time to make friends with other children, but the lack of others his own age hadn’t bothered him since he’d had so little in common with them. He’d preferred the company of adults. However, a pet would have been a wonderful companion, and his heart lifted at the prospect of spending time with a domesticated animal. He broke into a wide smile of pleasure. “May I pet
…
”

“Lion?” She plucked the cat from her chest and let him look at Kirek. “He may not forget your rough treatment. He doesn’t like being held by the neck.” She spoke softly to her pet as if he was an intelligent being. “Lion, this is Kirek, a Rystani warrior who is on a mission to save the galaxy from the Zin.”

“You weren’t supposed to tell him that.” Kirek admonished, grin widening. “My mission’s a secret.”

“Lion can’t talk.”

“Sure he can.”

He let the animal sniff his hand then gently took the furry feline who gazed back at him, his yellow eyes wary, his back arched and stiff. He let out another sharp hiss.

Angel snorted but played along. “What’s he saying? That he doesn’t like you?”

Kirek stroked the soft fur, but the animal didn’t purr for him like it had for Angel. However, his fur finally lay down, and Kirek figured that was at least some progress. Lion’s stomach growled, and he wriggled to get down. Kirek wanted to hold him but wouldn’t force his will on a pet. “He says he’s hungry.”

“He’s always hungry.” She plucked a container out of a drawer and placed a handful of pellets into a fired clay bowl that was attached to an automatic watering device. “Cats are supposed to be picky. But Lion will eat anything.”

He expected the cat to gobble the food, but it ate daintily, chewing one piece thoroughly before going on to the next. The dry food didn’t look too appetizing, but as Angel had predicted, Lion didn’t mind.

Angel rested her hands on her hips, and her tone became guarded. “I suppose since you thought Lion was a threat and that you might be risking life and limb to protect me that I should thank you.”

He shrugged and tried to keep the sheepish expression from his face. “I’ve never seen a cat.”

Her eyes flashed with indignation. “Did you think I’d allow a dangerous creature on board?”

“You let
me
aboard.” He stepped closer and crowded her just a little. “And we are now alone. In my book, that’s a lot of trust.”