Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Reke

" T his is so fucking strange," Nina says. She is seated before a panel of controls in the cockpit, staring at the main monitor that acts as a window. Black dominates, the red and yellow lines are the only indications that the monitor is working. "Nobody's following us?" she asks for the third time.

"No." Vennkor's answer is clipped with tension. He is sitting in the only other chair, his attention also on the monitor. "Although they should be." And he rubs a hand over his face, the tips of his fingers an unnaturally pale blue, more like ice than flesh.

He stinks of chemicals and the Hov, and I watch closely, waiting for the moment when he might collapse, dead or exhausted, as I have seen him collapse before. There is a muscle jumping in his cheek, and the scar at the back of his throat is outlined in shadows by the bright overhead lights.

He is alive, although he looks half dead on his feet.

Guilt tastes sour in my mouth. To save him, I had to nearly kill him.

"So fucking strange," Nina repeats, and I step closer to her, relishing the bright, healthy flush of color in her face. She is now watching the smaller screen, which is set into the control panel and which is showing a squadron of Fighter spaceships departing the hangar, following our Freighter.

But when I look at the main monitor again, the space around our Freighter is empty, and we are clearly not under attack.

"What I do not understand," Vennkor says, "is why this ship was unlocked when all the others required a biometric key."

"Undoubtedly, it was a simple mistake," Ney says, pressing two of her hands to her hips. "Some Hov pilot forgot to reset the lock when he returned to the hangar."

"Maybe—" But Vennkor does not sound convinced.

"We did not have time to stop and ask such questions." Ney glares at him. "We found an unlocked ship, and we took it."

"Do you think they can track us?" asks Nina. "If we're still able to get their broadcast, then surely they're tracking us. What if the Hov change their minds and decide to come after us for real? Exactly how far away are we?"

"Not far enough," Ney snaps, as she double and triple checks the controls.

"I do not know these answers," I tell my Mate, stepping behind her and wrapping my arms around her waist. "I have never escaped before." And, just for good measure, I glare at Ney, watching the Female over Nina's shoulder.

Ney stiffens as if she can sense my attention on her. She clenches all four of her hands but does not look directly at me, evidently not wishing to bait me further.

"I will eat you," I decide. "If there is no other food on this ship."

"You cannot eat me." Ney still does not turn around to face me. "I saved your life."

"You did not," I lie. "I could easily have broken their hold on my throat."

"Pff," she scoffs derisively.

"I will eat you." I glare.

"You cannot fly this ship without me."

"I will learn."

"No, you scudding will not."

"I will—" But my Mate digs her elbow into my stomach, not hard enough to hurt, but unlike the rest of her soft and curved body, her elbow is sharp.

"Where exactly are we?" She points to the main monitor. "I still can't quite read what it says. Coordinates, maybe?" She squints at the words, her brow wrinkled in concentration.

"Here are our coordinates." Vennkor indicates the red text. "The yellow—" and he points to the sphere from which multiple lines extend— "is the compass, showing directions."

"And the blue?"

"That is our projected path, if we were to continue flying as we are."

"And the Arena isn't on that screen anymore?"

"We are here." He points to the center of the monitor with an unsteady hand. "Then the space station is somewhere down here," and he points to a spot below the monitor, showing it is now beyond our sight.

"In that case," Nina says. "I want to be all the way over here." She points to the ceiling, far above the top of the monitor. "Actually, all the way here." Now, she points behind us, to the back wall of the cockpit.

"Me too." I nod, letting one side of my head rub gently against Nina's hair. I have never been on a spaceship before, but it is disappointingly similar to the space station, with its white walls and smooth floors. The only point of interest is the control panel Ney is examining, with many buttons that are highlighted by colored lights, evidently indicating their purpose. I think green must be for all controls that activate the power, green being the Hov's color of choice. The uses of the other colored buttons are not so easily distinguishable, but I do not doubt I could learn. Mayhaps I will force Ney to teach me, just in case Nina changes her mind and lets me eat Ney.

"Seriously!" The word bursts from Nina's mouth as if she could not hold it inside any longer. "How can the Hov expect nobody to catch on? I mean, surely it's going to become obvious sooner rather than later that they doctored the feed. Even the patrons aren't that stupid." She motions to the smaller screen and the squadron of Fake Fighters, making chase after our Freighter. Another glance toward the main monitor shows that no such spaceships exist.

Nobody is following us.

Nobody is trying to stop us.

I am struck by the truth of my thoughts. I have never existed in a space I have not been sharing with the Hov, and I wrinkle my nose, because this is not how I would have predicted freedom to feel— something that should have only been joy but which sits uncomfortably inside my body. I shift restlessly from foot to foot.

"Can we go any faster?" asks Nina. "Turn on hyperspeed or whatever it's called?"

"What do you think I've been doing this whole time?" Ney gestures aggressively at the monitor where the words hyperspeed activated fill the bottom corner.

"We should search the rest of the ship," Vennkor struggles to stand. "We do not know what else is onboard?" he asks.

"You mean like more Hov?" Nina reaches for him, as if she is going to help hold him upright. I lock my hands together, trapping her in the safety of my arms.

"There are no Hov near," I tell her. "I would have smelled them if there were." Pressed close, my front to Nina's back, I can feel as well as hear her racing pulse.

"Good." She sighs. "You need to rest." And again she reaches for Venn, elbowing me as she does, as if that will cause me to loosen my hold of her.

I do not relent. I do not know what will happen next or where we will go, but I am not letting my Mate from my sight.

"I am well," Vennkor insists, a touch of anger in his voice.

"I'm sorry." Nina leans away from him.

"Nina—" Vennkor reaches for her.

"I will rut with you in celebration," I declare. The intriguing curve of her rounded ass is perfectly aligned to my slit, and the internal itchiness I have come to associate with the pleasure Nina brings has a shiver rolling down my spine. "That will prove to you that we are well and alive." And safe.

I avoid looking at Vennkor and the deep scar at his throat.

"Now?" The back of Nina's neck turns a delicious pink, but before I can taste it by licking my way along the length of her neck and up over the round of her ear, she ducks down, slipping out of my hold with a glance toward the ceiling.

A camera has caught Nina's attention.

"Surely they're not still watching?" And then she jumps, as the footage displayed on the screen changes. It is a live feed of the cockpit. Ney leaning over the controls. Nina, eyes wide, mouth open. Vennkor looking distinctly unwell. Me, watching myself on the screen, with my head tilted to one side.

Anger flares, hot and heavy. Before I fully know what I intend to do, I leap onto the control panel. I am at least careful enough to land on the screen so as not to accidentally press any of the buttons. I scratch at the camera with a claw, trying to mark the smooth surface of the semicircle. My claw just slides off it, leaving not a single mark.

I try again and again, but nothing happens, and then I finally slam my fist into the camera. Hairline cracks radiate out across the white surface of the ceiling, but when I withdraw my hand, it is immediately apparent the camera remains unbroken.

"Those things are indestructible," Nina laughs tightly, even as the scent of her fear spikes. She reaches up to me, and I let her help me jump down, merely for the excuse to touch her. "Come on, Reke. Let's take a look around the rest of the ship and see if we can find something to cover the cameras with. It won't completely stop the Hov from being able to spy on us, but at least they won't be able to see us anymore. Venn—" She steps close to him and presses a hand to his forehead.

This time, he does nothing to dissuade her. "I am sorry."

"I know. We're just tired and stressed." She kisses him. "I'm checking his temperature," she explains, when I poke her arm, trying to regain her attention. "You're still too cold, but not nearly as cold as before, which is a good sign. And, here, Reke, at his wrist I can count his pulse, to check his heart rate." She directs my fingers to the right place, and Vennkor's heartbeat thumps against my skin. "You need to press a little higher on Venn's wrist than on mine, but I'm getting the hang of it, considering how much practice I've had over the last few days." Her shoulders slump, and Vennkor settles her on his knee. Seated, her legs are not long enough for her feet to touch the ground, but she kisses him again, looking slightly more settled in her skin.

I watch them from the corner of my eye. I too have had my temperature and pulse checked countless times by the Hov—and many other things checked as well. But never like how Nina insists on doing it, with just her warm hand, her actions gentle yet confident, despite all her own fear and exhaustion. Her lips move slightly as she silently counts, and Vennkor's eyes slowly drift close.

"His heart beats slower than mine, which gave me a bit of a fright at first," she admits, lowering her voice slightly so as not to disturb Vennkor. "But yours and mine beat at a similar speed—when you're being quiet and still, that is."

Silence falls, and I listen to Nina's breathing, and Vennkor's even slower breaths. And under those sounds, I can hear the hum of the ship's engines. They are similar enough to the sound of the electric lights back at the Arena that when I close my eyes, I can imagine we are back there.

In fact, it is easier for me to pretend that everything which has happened in these last few hours did not happen than it is for me to believe we are truly free of the Hov.

" … need rest," Nina is saying.

Vennkor has his eyes open again but is shaking his head. "I am well enough."

"No, you're not," Nina insists ruthlessly. "You need rest and a lot of it. Maybe there's some sort of first aid kit onboard or a … a medic bay? Or a … " She shrugs. "Whatever you call it."

"I will not allow myself to be attached to another machine." He stands, lifting Nina and setting her on her feet before him. "And I am not yet ready to sleep." He cannot straighten to his full height, but even bent, the upper curves of his horns scrape the ceiling.

Nina stills. I think she is going to argue, but then she just nods. "No sleeping yet," she promises, wrapping her arms around Vennkor's waist and now kissing the highest bit of him she can reach when standing on her toes. It is at the base of his throat, where the fresh scars from my bite give the dark blue of his skin a ruddy undertone.

He bows his head even further, and they lean into their kiss this time, their arms around each other.

I step closer. I do not understand how they enjoy doing kissing. And three times in a row. I would much rather rut with Nina than for us to imitate rutting with our mouths. Mouths are for eating. Mouths are for— A memory of Nina and I hiding under my blankets in my berth back on the space station returns. Nina had licked my spent milt from my chest, cleaning me with her tongue.

Akh, mayhaps mouths are also for Nina.

But licking only.

Not kissing.

As they break apart, I step even closer, ensuring I am directly in my Mate's line of sight. She smiles when she sees me, and I curl a possessive tail around one thigh.

"Scudding fek," Ney swears. "At least cover the cameras before you all start copulating. I do not want to have to watch another of your sex tapes!"