The Empress Capsule (Audacity Saga Book 1), page 23
Her hand slammed down on the button. The helmet retracted, like a towel falling and leaving her naked. She held her breath, raised the rifle toward the Teredark, and lunged sideways toward Kael.
Or, she tried to. She only succeeded in slumping against the wall behind her. She managed to turn her head.
He was sliding down the wall beside her too, eyes closed but fluttering as if he was trying to open them.
Her own eyelids slid shut. All that was left was black.
When Ellen came to, the first thing she felt was the cold metal floor against her face. When she opened her eyes, a blank metal plane stretched out before her, like in the sim chambers. Tiny blips of light slowly came to life—fighters, larger ships, cruisers. The three Enhancer destroyers and the Puritan battleship, all drifting slowly toward Hanguk. Toward home. Or what had once been home.
She would destroy them all before she’d let them take the SHR. She would—
The sound of a loud snort below her stopped her brain short. No, not below her. She wasn’t in a sim. She was lying on a cold metal floor. Grumbles reached her ears now, beside her, not behind her.
Kael.
Groggily, she pushed herself up, searching for him. She wavered dizzily for a moment, and then straightened more, her arm brushing against hair. Soft hair.
His head lay on her thigh. Still out like a light. She still had some neurocleaners installed near the empty chip slot in her neck. Maybe that was helping her. She doubted Theroki sprang for such things, if they didn’t care about knockout grenades.
“Kael,” she whispered, bending down toward his ear. “Wake up.”
He snorted and grumbled again, then wrapped his arm around her calf and hugged her closer to him, nestling deeper into her leg. She almost laughed. Probably would have if it weren’t for this predicament.
She glanced around. Yes. No sim chamber. No SHR. No Audacity. The pale shine of bluish force fields surrounded them on three sides, metal behind her. A panel of controls was the only oddity, to her left. Their armor was gone. Outside of the force fields, and about fifteen yards down the hall to her right, a human guard read at a desk. She sniffed at the air, feeling a little faint at the thought of what the hell could be in it even now, but she caught nothing but the scent of dusk and Teredark.
She tugged her leg away from Kael, but he hugged it even tighter. Romantic fool. It was interesting to see him like this, though. She doubted he’d appreciate looking like anything less than a fierce warrior, but right now he looked like a ten-year-old with a teddy bear.
If only his teddy weren’t her leg. And if only it weren’t falling asleep.
She poked his shoulder. Nothing. Then his kidney. Still nothing. “Hey. Theroki. Quit slacking.” Nothing.
They might not know he was a Theroki, so she should shut the hell up. There wasn’t exactly a label on the shitty armor, although she would have recognized it. Could they use that somehow to escape? He also seemed totally out. If she needed to check him for any identifying marks, now wouldn’t be a bad time.
She ran her hands over the short, messy scruff of hair that covered his neck, stirring him slightly. Enhancers often marked their “upgraded models” with tattooed codes on the neck, sometimes under the hairline; Levereaux had one. But no sign of that on him. His hair was damp with cold sweat from the mission’s exertion, but it still felt good under her hands. She glanced at his wrist, where as usual the slight nose of a snake peeked out beneath the sleeve. Reaching down, she pulled the sleeve up slowly, watching his features, until she could see more of his forearm. Yeah, gang tattoos, not that he’d suggested any differently. A crudely drawn snake curled around a blade that pointed up toward his elbow. Odd placement, like it was pointing at him rather than at his enemies.
Maybe it was.
She caught herself running a finger along the lines, feeling the wiry hair and smooth skin of his forearm. Before she could snatch her hand away, she risked turning his wrist so she could see the inside of his forearm. A more finely drawn wolf with detailed gray shading peeked out from underneath.
He stirred. She snatched her hand back, then pulled his sleeve hastily back down, then snatched her hand back again. He coughed, then his eyelids flickered.
She squirmed again. “Get off me, Sidassian,” she barked.
With another snort, his eyes finally opened. She scowled down at him, and he met her eyes with a sudden grin.
That faded into a groan when he sat straight up, though. He slumped back against the back wall. “My head.”
“I know,” she said. “My leg too.”
The grin returned. “Sorry.”
“You don’t sound sorry.”
He shrugged and dug his fingers into his temples.
She scooted closer to him, as close as her leg would allow, and leaned back against the metal. Their shoulders were touching, which was nice because it was damn cold in here without the armor. Was there none of that gas in here, if there was a guard? Where had their armor gone?
Kael’s breathing, relaxed a moment before, suddenly sped up. Her gaze darted to him. “What is it?”
“The oath programming is running,” he said softly.
“Why?”
“I’m blocked from my objective. Hell. The force fields mean I can’t act yet, but it’s searching for options.”
“And if it finds something?”
“I’ll have to do it. Even if it’s stupid. Or gets me killed.”
She frowned. “And… how smart is it?”
“Not very.” His jaw was clenched, teeth gritted now.
Shit, this was not good.
He pointed slowly to a door, ajar, outside the force field area. She hadn’t noticed it before. “It’s in there,” he said softly. “Our armor.”
“How do you know?”
“Locator implant. Mildly useful.” He sighed deeply. “Didn’t want to die a Theroki. Definitely didn’t think it’d go down like this.”
“We’re not dying here.”
“Maybe you’re not.” He shifted. His eyes darted around unnaturally, like something was hijacking them. Looking for options to escape? Good luck. She was fairly sure there weren’t any. “Keep my mind busy. What’s one thing you wanted to do before you died?”
“Want to do. We’re not dying here. We’ll still do it.”
“Maybe you will. C’mon, what’s one thing?”
She sighed. What was one thing? “Catch up with that bitch,” she muttered. “Get some justice.”
He snickered. “Nothing other than that?”
“Maybe. Let me think. What about you?”
“You know, of all the places I’ve been, I’ve never seen the ocean.”
She snorted. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I mean, from space I’ve seen it. But not up close. The beach. Seems nice. I’ve never had time in my life for nice.”
Before, she would have thought he meant he’d been ambitious. But not now. She had a sense that it wasn’t that he’d chosen not to have the time, but that he’d never had the choice.
Without warning, he jumped to his feet and lunged at the force field. Colliding with it, the thing shivered waves of light in all directions, some of them into Kael, who staggered back, groaning.
He had to be as woozy as she was, and she wasn’t surprised when he staggered back to the wall and sank down beside her again, gasping for breath.
“What are you doing?” she said.
“Not my idea,” he groaned. “And it’s going to happen again when I’m strong enough to get back up.”
“Damn it.” She glanced around. Repeated collisions with that thing could knock him out. It was a stupid damn program. She shouldn’t be surprised with Theroki. And after he was out, then what? Not to mention that it’d draw the attention of the guards, wondering what the hell he was doing. What could she distract him with? Or could she somehow hold him back, or…
She still had her arm network port. And he probably had something similar, standard equipment for any cybernetic upgrades. She lowered her voice. “You got a port, don’t you?”
“What?” He frowned over at her, not entirely coherent yet.
She glanced around again, checking for the guard one more time. Still at the desk. “I… think I have a plan to get us out of here,” she whispered. “You got a port, right?”
He raised his eyebrows in question. She took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn’t regret this. If she could get close to him, she could connect the ports and communicate without the guards hearing what they were saying. But she needed some way to distract the guards—something outrageous, and if that something proved him not a Theroki, that’d be good too. Something like Zhia would be prone to try.
Then there was a chance he could use those powers of his to get the passkey from the guard. Or switch off the force field. Or any number of things, if he wasn’t trying to run headlong into an energy wall until it knocked him out. If they suspected he was a Theroki, they’d never lower the force fields casually, and they’d probably have just killed him already. Why hadn’t they, unless they didn’t know what he was? Sans armor, he looked rough, but no more so than any of the types commonly in an outsystem outlaw bar.
She lifted her left arm and pressed on the hidden panel release. A square of skin in the center inside of her forearm lifted, revealing a two-pronged plug. She tried to keep her face blank, although it always felt a little icky. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
He squeezed at his right wrist. A fold of skin slid away like a ramp retracting on a ship, revealing a similar plug, though lower on his arm. Well. That was fancy. But on hers, she could pull the cable out.
The ports were as far apart as they could possibly be, though, hers to the far left and his the far right. And he seemed to be recovering his strength. Was this worth it? Was she going to regret this?
The imprisoned boys flashed before her. She and Kael had to get out of here. Those boys needed them to, so they could get out of here too.
Before she could chicken out or drag her feet any longer, she rose up to her knees and looked at him, planning her attack. He looked utterly mystified. His one leg dropped from bent to straight. Hmm, yes, that was helpful. Almost as if his body knew what she was planning even if his mind didn’t.
She tentatively put her hand on his other knee and pushed that leg toward the floor too, until it was straight.
This was insane. What was she thinking?
“Commander?” He frowned at her, but he didn’t look alarmed. More… amused. She shifted closer to him on her knees, trying her best imitation of someone looking sultry. Frag. How did people do this? Damn her inexperience. It had been a long time.
She got both knees up against his hip and then took a deep breath.
“Are you all right?” he said softly, reaching a hand toward her arm. “You look a bit… queasy? Take care not to vomit in ports; it’s not the ideal care and feeding for them.”
She flung one leg over him and straddled him, settling down on top of him. The expression on his face was priceless—shocked, and yet… delighted. Not alarmed in the slightest.
She bent closer and pressed her mouth against his with utter abandon. She prayed he’d go along. Kissing Kael Sidassian when she felt fairly certain that he would like it was a low price to pay for freeing themselves and those boys. A trifle, really. Nothing at all.
He played along, all right, and did not hesitate, his lips parting under her and his tongue searching for hers as his left hand reached up for the back of her neck. He kissed her back with astonishing hunger.
In spite of her desire for cool detachment, heat washed through her. His hands seized her hips now, pulling her harder against him. Oh, my, yes. This was not something he minded, she could feel that for certain. It sent her heart beating faster.
No. No. This was a distraction. A decoy. Careful strategic planning, not making out because you might die in this Teredark prison cell and by God you don’t want to die a virgin. Or at all.
Distraction. Her left hand and his right hand were in close conjunction now, while the guards had a lot more to look at than what they were doing with their hands. And hopefully it’d hold him in place a little longer before the oath activated.
She broke away from the kiss for a moment and bent toward his ear, but he trailed his mouth along her neck in a wave of beautiful fire. “Distraction,” she whispered, her lips brushing his ear lobe. “Okay if I connect?”
“Do it.” His voice was a growl, his port-free hand sliding down her back, her hip, her thigh.
She reached down to her port and pulled out the tiny cap piece. There was a cable too, but this detachable piece was probably safer, a slower but more hidden wireless linkup. But no. Maybe they were monitoring for those transmissions. Old-school and hard to intercept was best. She pushed the detachable piece back in and pulled out the cable, thin and almost transparent, like fishing line. She hoped his affections were enough as she tucked her head against his neck and looked for the port on his arm. She needed it closer, so her body blocked their view.
She grabbed his right wrist and brought his hand against her neck, sliding her fingers playfully along the delicate inside of his forearm, catching a glimpse of that beautiful wolf again, kissing his palm. He shuddered in pleasure under her, and she found a self-satisfied smile was creeping onto her face. There—she found the port and plugged in.
She hoped she wouldn’t regret this.
Kael?
Ellen. What are you doing? Have you lost it? Happy to oblige, but—
I’m trying to stop you from frying yourself on that barrier by literally sitting on you.
He laughed softly. I can throw you off pretty easily you know.
No, you can’t. I’m your ride to Desori, and unless you do what I want right now, I won’t take you.
He grinned at her, eyes crinkled with amusement. You are a smart woman. The oath program is pausing, waiting for your instructions, ma’am.
Thank you. And good. And also I don’t want them to realize you’re a Theroki. You still have some telekinesis, right?
All of it, as far as I know. Why?
I thought you might be able to lower the barrier. That’s a basic keycard lock system—I’m willing to bet it’s in the desk. You could potentially get us out. But only if they don’t realize what you are.
You think they haven’t yet? Even that crazy telepath? Which is something else we’ll have to deal with.
I think they were paying attention to me. Her certainty came from the feeling that their captors would have—should have—killed him if they’d known. Just like she should have, but she was the idiot that had taken him on as a passenger instead.
Well, that’s a cheery thought, thanks for that. That would have been awfully rude of you to kill me just for walking on your ship. Or, wait…
A wave of fear shot through her. She stilled her thoughts and kissed him again.
Why this again? Raging hells, you’re distracting…
Therokis would have no interest in this, she pointed out quickly, keeping her thoughts carefully trained on him.
Oh. Yeah. Right. Except my damaged ass.
Neither you nor your ass seem terribly damaged at the moment. Ack. She hadn’t quite intended anything that admiring to slip out. She felt more than heard his reaction, a shifting kaleidoscope of emotion from annoyance, to shame, into curiosity to… Was that hope? And maybe it will capture the guard’s attention.
He recaptured her mouth with his, harder now, and his tongue pushed its way in and found hers, sending a skittering of goose bumps down her spine and up her arms. She didn’t need words to feel the assertion of ownership, of possession, one she certainly had no intention of granting, and yet—it felt inexplicably, instinctively good. He wanted her for himself and had no intention of sharing. Which, of course, neither did she; it was just a ploy. His unconnected hand stroked her hair softly. His hips shifted beneath her, the growing pressure there sending a fresh wave of molten heat through her body.
Wow, that’s… Have you done this before? he blurted, possibly unintentionally.
What, kissed someone? Of course I have. She tried not to sound indignant. I’m that bad, huh? Knew I couldn’t be a child genius at everything.
I meant with that port connected.
Oh… no, never tried that.
This is fantastic. Kael shifted again beneath her, and her hand tightened around his of its own accord. See?
See what?
You like that. I can feel it like it’s me that likes it.
Focus, Kael. This is just a distraction.
I am well and thoroughly distracted.
For the guard. So they don’t notice the port. We have to focus on getting out.
If he was going to invade her body’s senses, she had to wonder what was going through his head too. She wouldn’t have this chance to peek in again. She should be gathering intelligence or something. She reached out and found him quickly, just like she had in those days when she’d still had her chip.
His body was on fire. His mind too. But what was most surprising was the powerful tension, the immense restraint. He had not seemed at all restrained, but now she could feel it. She would have never realized the amount of effort he was putting in to simply sit there and kiss her and rest his hands against her hips and not… Oh, my. The flashes reached her now, what instincts were telling him to do, and she saw a flurry of wild union, of joyful consummation, all of it tinged with an emotion she didn’t want to acknowledge or believe.
Her own body buzzed hotly in response. Holy hell, the push he fought back was startlingly strong. And here she was, inviting him up to the edge. Urges long held back for eleven years now, eleven years until Vala had stabbed her icepick of words into his skull and broken his—
A flash of a gorgeous blond woman, also straddling him, an ugly smirk on her face. Steel cable cut into his wrists behind him just as Ellen’s fingers circled his wrist right now. The chair he was tied to bit into his shoulders where more cables were bound. The woman had perfect pink lips, lips that he’d adored, thought maybe he’d loved. Too perfect, clearly Enhanced to exacting specification, in spite of her Puritan claims. He should have seen it all along. She took her perfect lips and bent and kissed him on the mouth, brutally mocking in the faux sweetness of it, in spite of everything she’d done. And everything she’d taken—
