Chapter Two

With my handheld, I bypassed the rudimentary security and ascended in the vertical transport. Fortunately, no residents were around to notice my bloody nose and bleeding arm. Once on the roof of the building, I leaped into my hovercraft and zoomed away.

Would she have followed through on her threat and killed me?

The weapon had been primitive, but effective. My arm throbbed. I hadn’t gotten a chance to look in the drawer, or I would have confiscated the firearm. I’d been about to search the bedroom when she’d come home. Unarmed, she’d done enough damage. My face hurt fiercely, and my eyes were tearing. I had a hunch she’d broken my nose.

Once inside my apartment, I strode to the mirrored cleansing room to examine my injuries. My nose was indeed broken. I peeled off my jacket and long-sleeved tunic. The arm wound was superficial. I’d gotten lucky there. The projectile had only grazed me.

Taking a deep breath, I manually pushed my nose back to the center. Blinding pain shot through my face. I gripped the edge of the sink until the discomfort receded enough to enable me to dig out a portable med device. I aimed the healing beam over the affected area.

Next, I used the scanner to mend the gash in my arm.

Now for a shower. Injury, pain, and blood didn’t faze me. Water? Different story. The icky sensation was bad enough when I had fur. After shaving my coat to enable me to pass for human, the wetness against my skin was more pronounced. Unfortunately, humans lacked the ionizing technology everyone else had. They relied on bathing for sanitation. It was like the entire planet had gone camping.

I limited myself to quick, efficient showers; I’d gotten the process down to thirty-six seconds. Today, it might take a little longer to wash off all the blood, since my fur had started to grow back and I was due for another shave.

With the sprayer, I rinsed away the blood, soaped, rinsed some more, and then patted dry with a towel. Forty-seven seconds. Bearable.

The projectile had ripped a hole in the sleeve of my jacket and shirt, but the garments were still serviceable—or would be after cleaning. It was hard to find Terran clothing with a hood large enough to cover my horns. Although smaller than average, the bony rack instantly marked me as an outsider.

I filled the basin and then, grimacing at the contact with the water, swished the garments around then tossed the shirt and jacket into the washer chute. This wasn’t my first experience cleaning blood out of my clothes. While I’d never been shot before, I had been stabbed with a variety of blades.

Back in the main room, I sank onto my sofa and hailed Jovi. Multiple antennas writhing like serpents on his head, he appeared on my handheld screen. “You get it?” he asked.

“I couldn’t find it.”

“Are you sure she had one?”

“I followed her home. She had one. She hid it somewhere in her apartment. She caught me inside.” There had been only two options: slip away unseen without the goods or confront her and try to scare her into giving it up. Unfortunately, it hadn’t worked out the way I’d hoped.

“Chyt! Did she realize who you are?”

“I don’t think so. She’ll assume I’m just a burglar.” Except a human wouldn’t demand a handheld. Would Jessie make the connection?

“You have to get that device.” All three eyes in the middle of his forehead narrowed.

Getting the device back was extremely important, but I wasn’t sure it was worth my life. “Well, there’s another little glitch. She’s armed.”

“Zigqat! She has one of our weapons, too?”

“No. She has a primitive Terran weapon. She shot me.”

I could hear the relief in his exhale. “Thank the stars she doesn’t have a blaster.” His antennas stopped moving. “Are you all right?”

“Yes. Thank you for asking.”

He looked chagrined. “Sorry.”

“The weapon left a gash in my arm, nothing the med scanner couldn’t fix, but she could have killed me.” She’d threatened to. Would she really have killed me? I couldn’t let go of that thought.

“How much do you think she remembers about the space cruise and the aftermath?”

“Enough to hide the handheld,” I answered grimly.

“She could ruin everything. She must be neutralized.”

I sighed. “I’ll take care of it.”