Voyages of the Solar Wind 1: A Fire in Heaven (7 page)

When we finally got called in, Jeka jumped up with a squeal and ran to hug us. Jeka is one of the few Selarians that I trust enough to leave my collar unbuttoned, and I had to admit I enjoyed hugging her. She hugged both of us, then stepped back and grinned wolfishly. "I see you two FINALLY got together!"

My eyes went wide, until I remembered how Selarian vision was. She'd explained it to me that they saw auras around people, and could tell almost everything about someone just from his or her aura.

"Last night, Jeka!" Rilar announced proudly. She hugged our blood sucking friend again.

"Yeah, I finally got undensed enough to notice." I grinned.

"After ten years of sleeping naked together, you should have noticed a looooooooonnnnngggg time ago, Dex!" Jeka chided me.

"I knooooowwww, Jeka. But seriously, I have all the intel about the incident on this drive for your review." I handed her the thumb drive.

She nodded, all business now, and sat back behind her desk. She popped the thumb drive in and reviewed both the Boarding demand and the subsequent pirate action by a Confederate Battleship.

She nodded, made copies of the files, then handed my drive back. "Dex, this is serious. I've already permanently reinstated your permits, so you're off the hook there. This investigation will take time, though. We'll have to go through CFC on this one. You won't be able to take any contracts while this is ongoing."

I nodded. "We can hang out here for a bit with you and Rick."

She smiled warmly at that. They'd served together on the CSS Zhao Yun during the war, much as Rilar and I did on the Lu Bu. They'd stayed platonic back then, but now she'd taken a liking to our mutual friend, even in his cyborg state. I still had mixed feelings about him hooking up with a vampire, but hey. To each their own. I trusted Jeka enough that I knew she wouldn't bleed him dry. And I was off the hook for flirting with her. Bonus!

"We have enough to live on comfortably for a few years, if we have to." Rilar said, stroking my cheek. I smiled and stroked hers back.

"Ok, now that business is done, time to spill. How'd Densenut here finally figure it out?" Jeka was giggling as she addressed Ri.

"After the fight when I went down with the blast to my arm, Dex patched me up and stroked my face. He didn't know what it meant, but I explained it to him. One thing led to another, and..." Rilar grinned and blushed as I kissed her cheek.

"Dex, I love you like a brother. But I swear if you hurt her, I will bleed you dryer than the Selarak Desert!" Jeka was smiling as she said it, and her wolf's fangs were showing down past her lips.

"Don't worry, Dracula. I might be dense, but I'm not THAT stupid. It took me ten years to figure out who the love of my life was, but now that I have, I'm not going anywhere." I smiled. Jeka's threats didn't bother me. She knew I knew she was cool. She laughed at my old nickname for her.

When I'd first met Jeka, Selara had just become a member state in the Confderacy, and she was in flight training alongside me, Rick, and Rilar. We were the Four Musketeers back then, even though I kept my collar well closed around Jeka, which all three of them found hilarious. I'd started calling her Lieutenant Dracula, and the name had stuck throughout the war. She even got her hands on some of the ancient Earth movies starring her namesake, and had laughed at the bad interpretation of her people. I'd had to point out to her that when the movies were made, Humanity hadn't even discovered Selara yet. Her eyes had gone wide at that. Those were good times back then.

"Good! Dex, you have to be denser than tungsten sometimes!" Jeka said.

I shrugged. "When it comes to women, I think all guys are a bit dense."

"Dex, honey, you are WAY more than a 'bit' dense!" Jeka said, and both ladies had a good long laugh at my expense. I chuckled too, since I couldn't argue with them.

It was Close of Business at the FTAA office, since they were on Alpha Centauri IV Time Zone, we all took a stroll to The Jolly Roger pub in our sector. Rick walked in, and I had to grin. He had no more limp, and no more robotic stiffness. He saw us and headed our way. He took the seat beside Jeka and kissed her lips softly. She returned his kiss and smiled as they broke it. Rilar was grinning, and I had to smile.

They told the tale of how they'd gotten together. After being war buddies like Rilar and me, they'd gone their separate ways after the war was over. After he got his legs shattered and amputated, she'd gone to visit him in the hospital here, and he'd confessed to her everything from his criminal career to his love for her. She felt the same, and they'd been dating for nearly eleven months now.

"Rick, you have yourself a good woman there. She'll keep you honest or else!" Rilar said with a laugh.

"Yeah, she threatened to bleed me dry if I went on another pirate rampage." He grinned and kissed her again.

Not to be outdone, Rilar grabbed my face and shoved her tongue down my throat, much to my pleasant surprise. I returned her kiss just as ardently, then heard gasps from our friends. We finally pulled apart and looked at them. Jeka was grinning, and Rick's jaw was hanging open.

"When the fuck did YOU TWO get together?" He demanded with a grin.

"Last night, Rick." I told him with an answering grin. We recounted what had happened after Jen's unsuccessful boarding attempt.

"Well, it's about damn time! Jeka and I had a pool going among the fleet as to when you would get together. Now I have to call Bysan and tell him he won!" Rick grinned. He told us how they'd set up an account that had accumulated fifty thousand credits from people taking bets on how long it would take me and Rilar to get it on.

Bysan, a Chali Blade, had said 'ten years' when asked if he wanted in. The Chali are a semi-albino species with a strict caste system. The Blades are their warrior cadre, working in the military and law enforcement. They also had an uncanny knack for knowing when things would happen. They look Human, until you notice that they only have three fingers and one thumb on each hand, plus only four toes on each foot.

"I picked two weeks, so I know I lost." Jeka laughed.

"Hell, I picked three months. I don't think ANYONE picked over a year except for Bysan." Rick chuckled.

"So Dex Relway, Romeo of the Spaceways, is finally taken? Too bad." A sultry female voice said at my elbow. I looked up, and up.

"Hey, Harrana." I grinned. The Amazona woman stood 6'4" and had the body of a warrior goddess. She was also one of the pirates to openly frequent The Jolly Roger. She looked like a perfectly proportioned Human woman, except for her green hair and her eyes with the black irises and red pupils.

She sat on a spare seat, and was now a bit more on eye level. Rick was staring at her huge tits until Jeka smacked him. I knew better. While I like Harrana, I wouldn't even think about it again. We'd spent an... eventful night together two years before when Rilar and I had pulled her gorgeous ass out of a firefight. That night had left me with six cracked ribs and a hamstring pull. Don't ask. We'd decided after that night that I was too fragile for her, but we've remained friends with light flirting ever since. She's loyal to her friends and crew, but a bloodthirsty pirate all the same. She has a reputation for not taking prisoners during her raids, unless they can be ransomed back to their families. Rilar and I made sure to stay on her good side.

"Hi, Harrana!" Rilar grinned at our friend, who raised her mug to us.

"Dex, if you hurt her.." She started.

"You'll rip my head off and shit down my neck." I finished for her, grinning. She laughed.

"Good man, Dex! Glad you stopped being so fucking dense!" Harrana chided.

"Ok, did EVERYONE here besides me know that Rilar was in love with me already?" I asked, exasperated.

There were nods all around, even from some people seated at the nearby bar, so I planted my forehead on the table top with an audible thump.

I felt Rilar tap me on the neck and looked up. Oh shit. I would recognize Humanity Prime assholes anywhere. Harrana was glaring at them, as were Jeka and Ri. Rick was studiously ignoring the specist shitheads. They were wearing white and red robes with masks on, and were looking around the pub. All five of them were armed with Pulsar Nano Charged Heat pistols, so this could get ugly fast. Ri had already popped the widow strap on her holster, and was getting ready for a fast draw if needed. I did the same on mine, and got ready to skin it.

Harrana knew we would kill or die to protect our friends, and that was one reason she declared the Solar Wind off limits to her pirate brothers and sisters. She looked at the rifle I'd placed by the chair, and nodded towards it. I nodded back, and she said "Thanks" as she pulled it over to her chair.

They noticed us finally and started over to our table. The leader, who was wearing the most decoration on his robe, spoke first.

"Brothers! Why waste time with these animals when there are real women to be had?" He asked in a smarmy, yet threatening tone. I smiled.

"First of all, I'm not your fuckin' brother. Second of all, because these three women each have more love and honor in their hearts than Captain Jendrene Cardwell." I said with a grin. I tightened my grip and prepared to draw my pistol.

Before I could, Rick stood up and snapped the nearest one's neck as the offending dickhead tried to draw his pistol, and it was on. Harrana blazed one before he could draw with her borrowed rifle, Ri and I blasted holes through two more, and Jeka gave in to her bloodlust and ripped the leader's throat out. She spat his windpipe onto the floor.

The whole thing was over, from Rick standing up to Jeka spitting the throat out, in just over two seconds.

"Good kills." Harrana nodded. There are some evils in the galaxy that made even bloodthirsty pirates look noble of spirit. Humanity Prime is one of them.

Cheers broke out among the patrons, and when station security came in, nobody saw nothin'. They hauled the bodies out and tried to get statements. All of us were seated again, weapons holstered, and Jeka had wiped her mouth of blood already. They asked me and Rick specifically, and we denied any knowledge. As far as we were concerned, they'd turned on each other in a fit of insanity.

I almost felt sorry for the cops. Almost. Port Royal station security are some of the most under-appreciated men and women in the entire universe. They're underpaid and undermanned. They also have a really bad 'cases open to solved' ratio. That's not all their fault. They have crappy facilities, outdated weapons, and nobody ever sees nothin'. Still, they did their jobs as best they could, and at least half the force was on the take. Oh well. They left us alone and finished hauling the bodies out. The bartender, a Shivos, sent over another round for us, and said our tabs were comped for a week. We raised our bottles and glasses to him and nodded our thanks.

Harrana returned my rifle and nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Dex."

"Keep it, Harrana. I was going to turn it in as evidence against Jen if needed, but the footage spoke for itself. It's yours. But uhh, I hear that Humanity Prime has some nice rich coffers ready for plunder." I would unleash hell upon them in the form of Harrana Bloodskull.

Jeka stood and brought Rick to his feet with her. "As an official law enforcement officer of the Free Trade Alliance Authority, we cannot be present for this conversation. Unofficially, however, give them hell, Harrana! Dex. Ri. Come by my office in the morning and we'll contact Confed Fleet Command together." She then turned to Rick. "Come on, baby. Momma needs some." He grinned in reply, and she dragged him out of the bar.

Once they were gone, Harrana, having no filter from thoughts to mouth, said: "I hope he doesn't let her give him blowjobs."

Ri squeezed my hand at that. When I turned to look, she grinned and licked her lips. I grinned back and whispered to her. "I would love a blowjob from you, kitten."

She purred and jumped from her chair into my lap. "Then I'll give you one when we get back to the ship, baby." She whispered back.

I turned back to our buddy the pirate. "Their main HQ is on Mars, Harrana."

She nodded. "Anything I should know?"

I'd been to Humanity Prime's HQ a few times for delivery jobs. I didn't like them, but they paid. I refused weapons jobs, but medicine was ok. I only shipped weapons for friends or one hundred percent legit dealers and manufacturers.

"It's heavily guarded, but only outside. Once you breach, the security room is right inside the front entrance. You take that, and it's done." I replied as my sex kitten partner and lovemate sucked on my neck and nipped me with her fangs. I was getting harder than ferrocrete fast.

"Thanks, Dex! What would you recommend?" She asked.

I was having a little trouble concentrating, but managed eventually. "Covert entry. Have you and the bulk of your force in a supply truck, then once you're through the sally port, the security control room is to your right. You'll be below most of the turrets' tracking by then, and you won't have to worry about their outside defenses." I paused as she nodded her understanding. "Oh, and Harrana?" I grinned.

"Yes, Dexypoo?" She grinned back. It was an old joke from back when she said she had the hots for me.

"Take no prisoners, sweetycakes." I winked and she chuckled at that. I was probably the only man in the galaxy who could get away with calling Harrana Bloodskull 'sweetycakes'.

Rilar finally took a break from sucking my neck to laugh. I looked at her and kissed her passionately. "Kitten, since we're grounded for now, wanna go back to the ship and have a little fun?"

"I never thought you'd ask, sek'natha!" She replied and kissed me again, purring loudly.

We said our goodbyes to Harrana and headed back to the hangar bay. As we walked hand in hand, She whispered "piggyback ride?" to me hopefully.

I grinned at her and she jumped on my back. I hooked my arms beneath her legs and jogged back to the bay with her bouncing behind me. She was laughing like she used to when we'd do this in flight training and when we'd visit her family on Gurhin.

We got to the bay and I set her down. She jumped into my arms and wrapped her legs around me as she kissed me lovingly. I returned her sweet kiss, stroking her cheek as I turned to carry her up the boarding ramp.