CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Mia and Arek arrived back on the Starry Night, and brought the ramp up. When the hatch locked behind them, Mia gave a sigh of relief.
"Weird," she said, rubbing carefully at her temple where one of the gesic patches was peeling. "This ship is starting to feel like our home away from home—if that even makes sense."
Arek gave her an encompassing look and frowned. "You're hurting. What kind of gesics will help?"
She smiled crookedly, because he was in full protective mode—for her. Reaching up, she patted his cheek. "I'm fine, unless you count the pain in my ass from Team Daybreak. Lying, sneaking cheaters!"
He shrugged, as if the two were ancient history. "They are gone. We're still here, that's what matters."
"And we're alive," she agreed, shoving away the memory of the mawwr bots for now. She was fairly certain she'd recall those razor-sharp claws in her nightmares for a while.
"Yes." His gaze turned warm. "We did well. Sometimes, survival is the best prize."
She smiled up at him. "We did do well, didn't we? And I think we deserve a treat for that."
He reached to unfasten her jacket, heat building again in his gaze. "I believe you're right. May I choose our reward, or will you?"
Mia shrugged out of the suit's shoulders and let it sag to the gleaming floor around her feet. "As long as we both get what we want, I don't care."
"Well said." He bent and brushed his lips over hers. Mia leaned into him with a purr of pleasure and need. Would her body and mind always ignite this way when they touched? She was certain the answer was yes.
They both froze as a familiar voice interrupted them. "Ah, you have returned," Deuce said.
"Yeah, try not to sound so thrilled about that," Mia mumbled.
"I am of course delighted," the AI stated. "Now I must give you the perameters of your next challenge."
Mia and Arek looked at each other.
"Is he joking right now?" she asked. "Can AIs joke? Because I am really not in the mood to hear about our next 'challenge' right now."
They'd just survived one, along with an attack by another team.
"I don't believe he is," Arek said. "But I can make him shut up, if you like."
She thought about it. Then she sighed. "I suppose we'd better listen."
Arek's lips twitched. "Probably best to be prepared. Deuce, you may speak."
"Wait, if he's giving us the third challenge, that means spybots." Mia thought back on the last few moments, and blushed.
Arek frankly grinned this time. "Yes."
"Indeed, you're already on holovid." Deuce sounded smug. "I have learned to place the bots subtly, since neither you, nor your associates, treat them with the courtesy they deserve."
Sure enough, Mia saw the lighted bots, ready to swoop in for close-ups at the most inopportune moments. Well, at least that meant she and Arek didn't have to repeat themselves.
But it also meant the kiss they'd just shared had been beamed around the known universe.
"Your next destination is... well, see for yourselves," Deuce invited.
Mia hurried to the nav controls. When the holovid representation of their destination filled the air before them, they both stared.
"What is the name of all seven hells is that?" Arek demanded. "A mountain that split off from a planet?"
Mia rotated the holovid of the structure, and then measured it. "It does have the appearance of one."
"And it's large all right," she added. "Over ten kilometers. Apparently it's just... free-floating. Not exactly connected to a planet, as usual."
Arek snorted at her humor. "Deuce, intel."
"Not yet, Captain. When we are within range, you will learn more."
"How long will it take us to get within range? And please God, don't let that mean firing range," he muttered to Mia.
"If we travel at optimal speed, just under one lunar day-night cycle."
Arek nodded. "Very well. I reckon we'd better take off, then."
He sent a com to T'Van to let the team know they were taking off, but would be in contact. Then he and Mia strapped into their seats, and he powered up the cruiser.
They took off into the dusk, and within moments, were in space again.
"Deuce, coordinates," Arek said.
"Certainly, Captain." The AI gave them the information.
"Locking destination now," Mia reported. "Optimal speed set. The way is clear."
"Good," Arek said, unfastening his restraints. "Now, where were we?"
She rose from her seat, smiling up at him.
"You should be planning for your final challenge," Deuce said.
"Hey, no stupid rhyme this time?" Mia asked.
"Don't encourage him," Arek said.
"No rhyme," Deuce said. "but if you like, I can ask for one to be—"
"No!" they said together.
And then he kissed her, and except for their murmurs of encouragement and pleasure, all was quiet.
Arek slept like a rock with Mia at his side. He woke rested and invigorated—so much so that he proved it by showing Mia a new position in their bed—which they had by now combined, to their mutual satisfaction.
They breakfasted on oat-protein bars, coffee and packaged gremel-fruit. Mia made a horrid face at the oat bars, but munched one down gamely. Arek ate two of them, knowing he'd need the strength for whatever ordeal Octiron had planned for them.
They were finished with their second coffees, all their tech ready by the time they neared the 'mountain'. Arek was pacing the length of the bridge, back and forth, back and forth, tossing one of the spybots—which he'd grown so irritated with he'd snatched it from mid-air and rapped against the bulkhead—from hand to hand, his mind on the challenge ahead.
His primary focus in this challenge was simple—keep Mia safe and alive. Secondary focus, present the 'new' face of Aurelians. The Race took a distant third.
"Do you think we'll meet other Racers?" Mia asked him, her brow furrowed.
"I do," he told her. "I have a strong hunch those of us remaining have been brought here together."
He did not add that he was fully prepared to battle those other Racers directly, if necessary. He would conquer whatever awaited Team Starry Night in that mountain, and if necessary, he would kill any being, contestant or not, who tried to stop him from getting Mia out safely. And of course, it went without saying that while winning the race was not absolutely necessary, an Aurelian must not come in last—that would be a humiliation long remembered.
Mia stood at the console, scanning visible space outside, and the readouts coming in constantly from the ship tech. She shifted her stance constantly, but in subtler ways than he. He watched her, nearly able to see her quick mind working behind those golden eyes. He also admired the way her trim flight-suit outlined her lush ass, and the way a loose curl had escaped her braid to curve against the delicate, yet stubborn angle of her jaw.
His own jaw set hard as cerametal. He would keep his fiery, feminine Tygress safe if it was the last thing he ever did.
"There it is," she said suddenly, pointing ahead. "Deuce, we have visual. Data readouts, please!"
Arek strode to her side to watch as the strange structure grew larger in their view screens. "It looks natural," he said slowly. "Except for the shape, which is unlike any meteorite I have seen."
"It's as black as a meteorite," Mia said. "Metallic. And the crevasses and protrusions do look natural. But if it is a meteorite, why would they use it as a challenge?"
"Unless they've manipulated it," they said at the same time, their gazes meeting. Arek saw his own suspicion reflected in her lovely eyes.
"There are other race craft incoming." He jerked his chin toward the 3-D holovid readout of the mountain. "Three of them."
"Oh, my goddess," she said. "Are four teams all that are left?"
He shook his head. " At least they're coming in on varying trajectories. We won't need to battle for an entry point. Deuce, data—now!"
"Yes, yes," the AI said. "Hmm. Slow to docking speed. Five degrees to your right is your docking bay. Upon arrival, airlock will engage, and a boarding ramp will open."
"Open lockers," Arek ordered as Mia brought them in closer to the Mountain. He could trust her to dock, his attention needed to be on getting them ready for whatever awaited them inside the structure.
The equipment lockers slid open, revealing nothing but familiar Race vests with life-support air-pacs. He checked the supply readout and found several hours worth of oxygen for each of them. That was good news, as it meant they weren't expected to spend much time in the mountain. Or bad news, if they became trapped in there.
Which they would not, if he had anything to say about it.
"What other intel can you give us, Deuce?" Arek pulled his spacesuit back up and fastened it. He donned his vest, ready to help Mia with hers. She brought them in so smoothly he barely registered the vibration as the craft docked.
"Not much of a docking bay," Mia said, her gaze on the coupling, all that hooked them to the mountain. It was an ebony bulwark on their port side, blotting out even the stars. She shivered in instinctive dread—here, they truly were in the shadow of the stars. "Deuce, can you hold us stable while we're inside the mountain?"
"Negative," the AI informed them.
Mia growled. "All right, then, you'll have to take the ship out, but stay in com range, got it?"
"Got it. And before you ask, Commander, yes, there are four other teams present. I am not at liberty to tell you more."
"Doesn't matter," Arek said. "We'll assume they are hostile, unless they prove otherwise. I recognized the nearest ship, Team Nebula."
"Armond and Vin," Mia said, smiling. "They're one of the teams I don't mind competing with directly, if need be."
"As far as we know," Arek said, holding her suit for her to step into. "But should we encounter them in close quarters—"
She smiled up at him, and allowed him to fasten her suit and double-check the fastenings. "I know, don't trust them."
He gave her a stern look. "And you'll be wary, right?"
She stood on tiptoe and gave him a last kiss. "Yes, Commander." She would, because any mistake on her part meant not only her safety, but his. He'd demonstrated vividly that he would fight to the death to protect her. She was not going to give him cause to do so again, not if she could help it.
Arek gave her a quick, hard kiss in return, then his pale gaze narrowed over her head. "Helmets on, Tygress. The airlock is opening."
Mia's heart gave a hard leap, and adrenaline flooded her system, leaving her feeling hyper-alert. "Helmet, on." She braced herself for the pinch and press of the protective surface molding around her head, and throat. At least the facial screen had a few millimeters of clearance.
Arek scanned her, checked the linkage of her vest, and raised his brows behind his own mask in query. Mia nodded. "Ready."
"Very well. Deuce, interior conditions, please?"
"Pressurized. Conditions are now suitable for passage, commander."
Arek grunted, and moved forward a few steps, until he stood in the mouth of the airlock. Then he nodded, and motioned Mia forward.
She followed him into the airlock, and the hatch slid shut behind them, locking them out of the of the Starry Night. Odd, Mia thought, that it had seemed such a flimsy, perilous shelter at first, and now it was their safe haven. She turned to watch as the sleek ship detached from the coupling and slipped away, growing smaller in the shadow of the mountain.
"Mia," Arek said. "I'm opening the interior hatch. Stay close."
She moved to his elbow. "Ready."
Mia wasn't sure what she'd expected—maybe that some horrid creature would leap out at them—but a dark, quiet passageway stretched ahead, lit only by some dim iridescence that emanated from pinholes in the walls. The floor was pure black, the walls shaded deep charcoal gray, while the ceiling was a muted silver. The surfaces appeared to be rough-hewn stone of some kind.
Arek put one foot on the stone, then his other, keeping one hand on the opening of the airlock. Then he nodded. "We have gravity."
"At least here," Mia muttered. Her feline senses felt stretched, as if her Tygress was fighting to be let out. Goddess, that was all she needed, to feel as if a shift was imminent. And human females thought their hormonal changes were bad. But she couldn't be about to shift, because she was nowhere near Bryght, thus her moons were far, far out of range.
Arek was scanning her again. "What?"
"I don't know, I just... this place makes me feel... strange," she said. "But never mind that. I'm fine, lead on."
He nodded, eying the sensors on his forearm. "We will be fine. Also, we have oxygen. They've pumped in air for us. No contamination noted, which means we can conserve our supply."
Mia was already giving the command for her helmet to open. She purred with relief as the tight helmet retracted, and reached up to pull her braid free of her suit collar. "Thank God for that, anyway. I just hope we don't get lost in here."
She was also thankful for the gripping soles on their boots as she followed Arek along the passageway. All surfaces were equally smooth and slick as glass. The place was eerily quiet, too, the only sound their quiet footsteps.
Arek paused, stopping her with a hand on her arm, and leaned down, his lips against her temple as if to press a kiss there. "Because, I brought in an extra piece of tech, so new no one has it yet. My father sent it."
She gasped quietly, and squeezed his hand. "Where is it?"
He lifted his forearm and peered at his tablet as if she'd asked him for data. "Oh, look." He pointed at a tiny area of his tablet screen. "Here are the temperature and oxygen levels."
Mia's eyes widened in excitement as two small golden dots moved slowly along a dark line away from a ragged line she recognized as the outside of the mountain. That wasn't air and temp readouts, it was them.
He winked slowly, and excitement and relief swelled inside her. No matter what else happened, they could get back to the Starry Night. They could also backtrack if they hit a dead end. At least they had that going for them.
But as they reached a bend in the passageway, Mia's nerves twanged as if someone had raked nails over the back of her neck. She hesitated, and then hissed in irritation at her own fear. She needed to behave like a Tygress, not a frightened kit.
Then Arek gave a startled grunt, and the floor fell out from underneath their feet.