Page 15 of Atlas: Colony: Nyx #5(Intergalactic Dating Agency)

FIFTEEN

Atlas paused to wash up and grab a coffee from the mess hall, before following Peri to the main computer. Sure enough, she had a picture of a long, elliptical orbit on the screen. She was a quick learner, then. If only she didn't have such an effect on him...

"Why is it so dark, when it's daytime?" she asked. She jerked her head at the starry sky above.

Oh, by all the stars. It was solstice, wasn't it? And he had a full blown case of solstice fever when he least had time for it. "Must be solstice," he grumbled, shifting in his seat to better hide the evidence, as he leaned toward the screen. The orbit would take the comet quite close to New Hope, before it looped around Altan, followed by a second pass when he would hope to get some pictures of it with its tail, if it survived such a close encounter with the system's star. It all depended how long it spent in system. Atlas toggled the display to include time stamps. He blinked. "That can't be right. It's moving way too fast. If these times are correct, then it'll be overhead by tonight. That's not possible. It wasn't even inside the system this morning. The calculations must be wrong." Maybe she wasn't as fast a learner as she'd thought.

"Perhaps. Let me run the data again..." She leaned over his shoulder, delicate fingers reaching for the keyboard.

Stars, now his nose was right beside her throat. He sucked in a breath and...agony, as his cock tried to jump through his loincloth to get to her. He wanted to grab her, bend her over the desk, and fuck her until she screamed in ecstasy. And keep doing it until the red eye of Altan dawned, and solstice was over. "Stars-crossed solstice fever, trying to turn me into an animal," he growled. "Get away from me, woman."

She jumped back. "Did you say fever? You're sick, with some sort of space plague?"

Atlas coughed out a laugh. "Oh, if only it were so simple. No, silly Human, you can't catch solstice fever from my kind, but you can still fall victim to it, if you're not careful."

"Oh. In that case, let me just run the data again for you..."

Once again, she crowded in close, too close, her soft skin rubbing against his chest fur until he wanted to purr louder than the meowl.

"I said get away from me, woman. I'm a trained astronomer, while you've been on the job here for a day. I can work the computer just fine by myself!" This time, he had to push her away, gently but firmly.

Only to have her stroke his arm, like he was some sort of pet.

"It's fur. I thought you'd be as hard as a statue, but you're covered in fur. What are you?" she breathed.

Oh, he was hard as a comet-kissing asteroid for her, all right, but if he kept his legs under the desk, she might not notice that part.

"I'm a dikar. Something like what your people call a yeti, only from the polar regions of the planet. Dikars are cursed with solstice fever during the winter solstice, which makes it too hard for a man to concentrate when a female is around, filling the air with her pheromones and touching things she shouldn't!"

She was half his size, but she didn't seem to be the slightest bit afraid of him. She set her hands on her hips and said, "Well, you're definitely a dick, or whatever it was you said you were. Go ahead, check the data. Run it again. Maybe the computer will come up with an orbit more in line with your assumptions. But if there's one thing I know about dark comets, it's that they fly against all known scientific data on both asteroids and comets, and they're guaranteed to surprise you. That's the path based on the data I had a couple of hours ago. If there's an update, let me know when I get back." She turned on her heel and headed for the door to the outside.

"You can't go!" Atlas blurted out. He couldn't do this alone. He needed an assistant. Especially now he had solstice fever. He'd have preferred Hercules, but if she was all he had, he needed her. "I've locked down the whole mountain. No one gets in or out until we've documented this comet."

"But I need to go home to get..." She swallowed. "I need to pick up some clothes."

"There's cupboards of uniforms in the bunkroom! Enough for a full complement of staff to wear for a month!"

"Yes, but...I want my things. Things from home." She refused to meet his eyes.

"Well, you can't. Not until our business here is finished. If you leave, the deal is off. Hercules will still owe me a favour, he won't owe you one, and for reneging on our deal, I will personally make sure that Hera doesn't give you a black-hole blasted thing, no matter what you do." Atlas knew he was bluffing on that last part, but he was desperate. "If you stay, I'll let you help me name the comet." It wasn't like he'd picked a name for it, anyway. As long as he was listed as its discoverer, she could call it whatever she liked.

She gave him a long, calculating look. "Fine. But your food fabricator thingy better do a damn good approximation of chocolate, ice cream and...something sweet, with plenty of alcohol. Because I'm going to need a truckload of it before I'm through here."

"Go order yourself a feast of whatever you like. Then get some sleep. I'll call you when it's time for your next shift," Atlas said, praying she'd leave the room and take her pheromones with her.

"Dick," she muttered as she marched off.

Atlas took a deep breath. Of course the air smelled of her. He was going to need a long session in the shower with his hand, but first he had to work out how to map this comet's orbit. Checking to make sure she wasn't watching, he pulled out the manual and began the laborious task of following its instructions.