Page 11 of Master (The Outlander Book Club… in Space! #3)
Tarook
Fuck!
The controls shimmied under my grip, but the ship responded with a blast of speed, the hit we’d taken on the back corner panel absorbed by the shields. Vaktaire shields were the best in the galaxy, but nothing could withstand repeated pounding from a laser cannon.
"Strap in and hold on," I barked at Clara, jerking the ship hard left. Her hands shook as she fiddled with the harness straps and her sweet scent spiked with the acridness of fear. I ached to comfort her but focused my attention back to the controls. I couldn’t comfort her if we were dead.
"What was that?" She gave a soft grunt, pulling the harness tight across her full chest.
“Someone’s shooting at us.” The grin I gave her wasn’t all that forced. I lived for shit like this.
“Someone’s shooting at us?” Her voice hitched an octave. "Who? Did Luarian send someone after me?"
We were sitting in open space, save for a small field of asteroids. None of the rocks looked big enough to hide behind, but it might make maneuvering difficult for our pursuers. I pointed the nose of the skiff at the largest asteroid and gunned it.
“Whoever is after us has battle capabilities. The Hartouk Lenaii doesn’t have a ship like that in its fleet. They mostly run transport. Besides, Luarian keeps insurance on her slaves. She’ll probably make more from your running away than you could have earned.”
Coming up on the asteroid, I jerked right, skirting the circumference of the floating rock.
As I hoped, our pursuers couldn’t make the sharp turn, yielding my first look at the other ship.
Unlike the sleek long triangular shape of my skiff, the vessel was bigger and broader, flattened on top with a larger underbelly that gave it an inverted saucer appearance.
“That’s a Kerzak ship.”
"Kerzak?" Clara squinted at the gray ship as it turned to face us. "You mean like that grizzly bear dude that wanted to buy me?”
"The Kerzak ambassador?" I mused, flipping the switches that would divert all auxiliary power to the shields. "I don’t think it's ‘ like him ’ I think it is him. There’s a government insignia on the craft.” I raised a finger to point at the slashes of red adorning the nose of the ship.
Clara swallowed hard. “How did he find us?”
The Kerzak ship's starboard laser cannon fired two pulses I easily dodged.
“I’m sure the presence of a Vaktaire on the Hartouk Lenaii didn't go unnoticed. When you disappeared, they put two and two together.” Despite knowing how much the communication meant to Clara, I couldn’t help but frown as I added.
"The Kerzak probably picked up on our communication with the Bardaga and used it to triangulate our location.”
Another two pulses of light went wide, shattering an asteroid. Clara gave a loud gasp, but didn’t scream. She had guts. I liked that.
I steadied the skiff, waiting for the Kerzak’s next move.
The gray ship was three times the size of mine and slower for it.
When it veered right, I did the same, waiting until the Kerzak increased speed, then spun left, feeling the shudder as a stream of laser cannon blasts skimmed our flank.
I banked the skiff right, sliding behind another small asteroid, but too much of my tail section remained exposed, and a blast slammed into us.
“Fuck!” Clara hissed, her grip on the chair turning her knuckles white.
A burst of speed and a sharp left turn gave me the advantage of coming up behind the Kerzak ship. Its laser cannon was on a pivot, but the controlling mechanism was slow, allowing me to get off half a dozen consecutive blasts into the upper mid-fuselage.
The Kerzak ship swung right. It was just what I’d hoped they’d do.
I spiraled, bringing us to a stop several hundred meters below the large ship.
Swinging the nose of the skiff upward, I brought my guns to bear on a small triangular panel resting on the underbelly just below the rudder and squeezed the trigger.
There was a loud, audible groan, metal screaming in pain, and the Kerzak ship exhaled a massive plume of gray smoke. The lights blinked on and off twice before remaining permanently dark.
“What just happened?” Clara blinked at me, still squeezing the armrests of her chair.
"The electrical panel for the Kerzak ship lies just below the back rudder. It's the weakest part of the ship,” I grinned at her.
Clara raised in her seat, peering at the disabled beast as though she expected it to return to life.
"The ship is dead. They won’t even have communication capabilities,” I assured her.
"Damn, you're like Maverick." Her relieved giggle was throaty.
I couldn't help but preen under her gaze, whether or not I should. "What’s a maverick?”
"It's from a movie." Clara's violet eyes centered on where my fingers flew over the control panel, assessing the status of the skiff. "Maverick is a soldier—a warrior like you but trained to fight using an aircraft.”
“I think I’d rather be Jamie Fraser.” I winked at her.
“Don’t get the big head,” Clara shot at me.
The only translation I deciphered from her words had me glancing at my crotch.
"Conceited," she blurted, her cheeks flushing. "Don't get conceited!"
“Ahh.” I stood and stretched, flexing my muscles a little more than necessary and giving her an ample view just in case she truly referred to the status of my cock. The way Clara rolled her eyes pulled a low chuckle from my lips.
“Is the ship okay?” Clara glanced back to the control panel at the small red pulsing light.
“I’m running a diagnostic now. It will take a few minutes to complete. Are you hungry?"
Violet eyes blinked at me. "We have food?"
"Not as good as what's on the Bardaga, but we won't starve." I motioned for her to follow and waited while she released the harness. "We have a standard nutrition dispenser on board."
“What’s that?” Her nose scrunched up rather adorably as she followed me to the ship's rear section.
"It's a machine that combines amino acids with other building blocks to concoct something that's hopefully palatable.”
“So, an alien vending machine," Clara teased, lips curving into a wicked grin. It was my favorite of all her expressions—playful, amused, and just the tiniest bit wicked.
The machine itself was unimpressive. A square gray box with a data pad to enter the quantity and peruse flavor selections.
I selected a dish I’d eaten a couple of times.
While the dispenser churned up the grub, I reached into an overhead cabinet, bringing out one of the few comforts I allowed myself while on a mission.
A bottle of valat, along with two metal cups.
There wasn’t a dining table, just a small square-topped surface between two chairs. Clara settled into one chair, watching as I uncorked the bottle and poured a generous serving of the thick burgundy liquid between the two cups.
“What is this?” She raised the cup to her nose, breathing deeply as I settled into the opposite chair.
"It's a wine from my home planet." I partook of the fruity aroma before taking a drink. Smacking my lips in appreciation, I uttered the only word that perfectly described the sweet, rich wine. "Delicious."
Clara gaped at me, eyes and lips wide. "Say that again."
I glanced at the cup in my hand. "Delicious?"
Her violet eyes went wider. "Oh, my God! I hadn't noticed, but... you... you’re actually speaking English.”
“You hadn’t noticed,” I snorted in amusement before taking another sip of wine.
"No." The thick blonde waves bounced as Clara shook her head.
"I made myself not pay attention aboard the other ship." Her face scrunched with distaste. It was as adorable as her other expressions. "It’s why I can’t watch dubbed movies. Words not matching lip movements drive me nuts. How did you learn English?”
“Everyone on the Bardaga speaks most of the 6493 Earth languages. My Chieftain felt strongly that if we were going to protect the Earth, we needed to study your language and customs,” I told her, enjoying the expression of pleasure as she took her first sip of valat.
“Where did you get the information? Is there like an Earth school or something?”
“Your radio and TV waves have been transmitting into space for a while.”
The fabricator gave a low ding. I stood, the spicy, savory scent making my stomach rumble. The two bowls steamed with simmering meat and vegetables.
“So, you learned about Earth from watching I Love Lucy and Who's the Boss ," Clara laughed as I set the bowl in front of her, as well as napkins and utensils.
"We were able to tap into your Earth internet as well." I settled back in my chair, watching the pleasure flicker across her face as she took in the savory aroma. "It is primitive, but gave us access to your libraries and schools of knowledge, plus more videos."
“So, what did you like watching best?" Clara scooped a generous helping of stew, blowing on it briefly before tasting. "Yum, this is good!"
“War videos.” I didn’t blow on my spoonful of stew, which lay hot and delicious on my tongue.
"Why did you like war videos?" Clara asked after we’d eaten in silence for a few minutes.
"Humans, for all their primitiveness, are brave and loyal."
“We can be,” Clara said thoughtfully as she scraped stew from the side of her bowl.
“You are loyal to your friends.” I reminded her.
“The book club." Clara's smile was soft. "We’ve been through a lot together. We’re more like sisters than friends.”
I met her violet gaze and held it. "My fellow Vaktaire will not fail in their rescue of your friends. I give you my word.”
"I believe you. Thanks." This time, the smile crinkled the corners of her eyes, making the violet color dark and stormy.
I leaned closer without conscious thought.
.. without conscious anything. What drew me toward her felt magnetic and powerful—like nothing I’d ever experienced.
My gaze melted with hers, and for the breath of a moment, we were there again, in that darkened room on the Hartouk Lenaii, linked as one in perfect bliss.