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K-LX

“Keep it quiet—we need to be long-gone before they realize we left,” Corinne whispered. She didn’t have to tell K -lx twice. He had even removed his boots, to be sure they wouldn’t clank against the metal floor.

It was the middle of the night and hopefully no one was up. They were making the trip to the lab on Old Earth after all—only without that asshole, Silas’s permission.

Corinne hadn’t told him much about why she was choosing to break the rules in this way but K -lx could feel her desperation and fear through their Link .

Something must have happened during her meeting with Silas …

but she refused to tell him what. She just said they had to get away and prove that he wasn’t a danger to anyone… which meant a trip to the lab.

K-lx wasn’t worried about finding it—he remembered the location. The Tollegs had wanted him to be able to find his way home in case of emergencies. He just hoped that the lab was still functional after all these years.

They got into the hopper with no problems and Corinne slid into the pilot’s chair and began examining the autopilot controls. After a moment, she let out a frustrated sigh.

“What is it?” K -lx bent over her shoulder to see what was wrong. There didn’t seem to be anything the matter with the ship’s navigational system so he wasn’t sure why she was upset.

“Oh, it’s just that the ship is physically connected to the station and it looks like the minute I fire the engines, an alert is going to go straight to Station Control .

It’s going to wake up the Chief Engineer and he’s going to want to know why one of the hoppers is being taken without permission.

” She ran a hand through her hair. “ So much for sneaking out of here—they’re going to come after us right away, I’m afraid. ”

“Why not just do a controlled drift?” K -lx asked reasonably.

“A controlled drift? What’s that?” She furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Just undock from the station and use some of the outside vents to release enough air to push us into space without starting the hopper,” K -lx explained. “ Once we get far enough from the station to not send a signal, you start the engines and we’re out of here, baby.”

“Oh, well…that sounds like a good idea, but I’m not sure exactly how to do it.” She looked up at him uncertainly. “ Are you?”

“Sure.” K -lx nodded. “ Can I take over? I’m a trained pilot,” he added.

“You are?” Her eyebrows shot up. “ But you’ve never flown a ship like the hopper, have you? I mean, you were in stasis for hundreds of years.”

“A hundred years or a thousand, doesn’t matter.” He shrugged. “ Kindred are good at three things—languages, machines, and women.”

“Yes, but you didn’t understand Standard until I Linked with you,” she pointed out.

“No, but I would have picked it up in a matter of hours,” K -lx assured her. “ We’re genetic traders—we go all over the universe.”

“Well…if you really think you can fly the hopper…”

“I can,” he assured her. “ The controls look extremely simple.”

“All right.” She slid out of the pilot’s chair and K -lix slid in—and then adjusted it for his much larger size and longer legs.

“There,” he grunted. “ We’re set to go. Strap in, Mistress and let’s get the fuck out of here.”

She strapped into the seat beside his and in no time K -lix had found the release lever which turned off the magnetic field holding the hopper to the station.

With a few jets of expelled air, he pushed the small ship away from the metal side of the main launch tower and they drifted silently into space.

Once they’d reached the minimum safe distance, he started the engines and input the coordinates for Earth .

They were on their way to the lab…but K -lx had no idea what they would find when they got there.