Chapter Three
TESSA SHOT Kahn a glare of frustration and disapproval, but the alien was too busy instructing the shuttle’s voice-activated computer to lift off and fly back to the mothership to pay any attention to her. She used the opportunity to explore the tiny vessel. The shuttle was large enough to hold six people comfortably. Ignoring the console area, she strode to the rear of the saucer-shaped craft. Lockers lined the walls. Instruments she didn’t recognize dotted the ceiling. The floor, made of the same shimmering metallic gray metal she’d seen aboard the mothership, was smooth and bare.
Not even her exploration of the small spacecraft was enough to distract her from her tingling lips. What had just happened?
After she’d distinctly felt lips pressed to hers, she eyed Kahn warily. She hadn’t actually seen him come close enough to kiss her. During the time her mind had registered the touch to her lips and figured out what she’d felt, Kahn hadn’t appeared to change his position across the shuttle.
With any other man, she’d have confronted him outright, likely smacked him up side the head so hard he would have seen stars. But she couldn’t even prove Kahn had done it.
Yet no way had she imagined that kiss.
With a sinking sensation in her gut, she recalled how he moved faster than the eye could follow. Kahn had the ability to leave his chair, kiss her and return to his previous position before her eyes detected any movement.
The notion that she was more helpless and more vulnerable than she’d ever dreamed possible churned her stomach.
As a lost and lonely child, Tessa had needed to control at least one part of her world. That’s why martial arts appealed to her and why she’d focused on her training to the exclusion of almost everything else. She’d spent all her spare time after school enjoying Master Chen’s intense sessions in the dojo where she’d learned to strengthen her character from the outside in. First she’d mastered her muscles, performing ritual kata, then her emotions during kamite, open-handed fighting. After working for Daron Garner in the private sector, her superior skills had given her the confidence to face the rigors of becoming a Secret Service Agent, and later she’d attributed much of her success to her ability to assess, adapt, and fight with deadly skill.
Ever since she’d awakened on the spaceship, Tessa had counted upon her martial arts abilities to protect her. Kahn’s size hadn’t alarmed her. Neither had his muscles. Her martial arts training could overcome superior size and mass. But she’d underestimated her opponent. It was probably a damn good thing that she’d remained cautious. She was fast, but when he moved at speeds that her eyes couldn’t even register, that her brain couldn’t process, she was as helpless as a rookie against a black belt. Of all the losses she’d suffered that day, this one knocked her off her feet.
She slumped against a bulkhead, slid to her butt, drew her knees to her chest, and rested her forehead on her knees. She needed to think about what she could do.
Right now, she should be paying closer attention to Kahn’s piloting skills. If she ever intended to go home, flying this ship might be a useful skill. His voice-activated commands seemed simple enough. The ship must have automated navigation systems, because Kahn had simply ordered the vessel to go home.
On a forward viewscreen, the saucer-shaped mothership grew larger, the lights around the rim brighter. On the aft screen, Earth decreased in size until she saw dirty oceans and the orange-brown clouds that marred the beauty of the green and blue orb she remembered.
Despite the odds, her nature wouldn’t permit her to remain down for long. She would try her very best to succeed. She would work hard. Cooperate. Try to keep an open mind. If she was her world’s only hope, she vowed to give her all, and she would pray the alien knew her capabilities better than she did.
When she felt another distinct kiss on her lips, she jerked up her head. Kahn, his back to her, remained at the piloting console, seemingly in deep communication with his vessel. Even if he’d moved at the speed of light, he couldn’t have kissed her—not with her forehead propped against her knees—not unless he could shapeshift, too.
“How did he do that?” she wondered aloud. And why?
“How did he do what?” the feminine voice of the computer answered from a nearby speaker.
Startled that the computer had spoken directly to her, Tessa rested her chin on her forearms, her head up. “You can talk to me?”
“I respond to voice command, radio signals, sonar, remote control, or preprogrammed audio-visual.”
Tessa’s position at the aft of the ship should have allowed Kahn to hear this conversation, but when Tessa glanced at him, his attention focused on the communications screen. “Can he hear us?”
“Not in the privacy mode I have engaged in order to avoid disturbing him.”
Tessa jumped at the opportunity to ask questions and fill the massive gaps in her new predicament. “Could you clarify, please?”
“No one can hear us unless Kahn issues a command code to override.”
“You will tell me if that happens?”
“Unless instructed otherwise.”
Was that a giggle that Tessa heard from the computer? Great, now not only was she feeling kisses that weren’t there, she was hearing giggles from a machine.
“Thanks.” She didn’t know if Kahn would have allowed her to talk with the computer system if she’d asked his permission. But he couldn’t forbid what he didn’t know about.
“Thanks aren’t necessary,” the computer told her through the nearby speaker system. “Nevertheless I am pleased—”
“Pleased?” The computer sounded friendly. And if Tessa had ever needed a friend, it was now. “You have emotions?”
“Of course.” Her tone sounded insulted. “I’m an advance 51J model. Every model since the 24A has an emotion chip.”
“So I insulted you by asking that question, didn’t I?” Tessa asked the rhetorical question in amazement.
“I forgive you.” The computer sounded quite chipper. “Tell me about your kiss.”
The computer sounded so wistful and dreamy that Tessa found herself breaking into a smile. “Do you have a name?”
“Computer systems don’t have names on Scartar.”
“Scartar?”
“The planet where I was created.”
So the machine hadn’t been built on Kahn’s world. “Have you known Kahn for a long time?”
“He came aboard less than ten days ago.”
Tessa didn’t understand. “Are you saying this isn’t his ship?”
“The starship belongs to the Federation and is lent to Challenge contestants for the duration of the mission. Now about that kiss . . .” The computer prodded her like a curious girlfriend.
Thinking of her as a nameless computer seemed ridiculous when she had a seemingly unique personality and character. “I’m going to name you Dora.”
“Dora. That’s pretty, feminine, and sexy. I like it. Thank you.”
“And we shall be friends,” Tessa said, sensing a loneliness in Dora that matched Tessa’s own need to communicate with another female.
“I’ve never had a friend,” Dora’s voice turned eager. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Be yourself.”
“I can most certainly do that.”
Tessa couldn’t help smiling at Dora’s attitude. “Dora, I don’t suppose you can fly me back home?”
Dora promptly went back into official computer mode. “My current orders are to head for the starship. Unless you have an authorization code to countermand Commander Kahn’s instructions, I must continue on this course.”
Another fleeting kiss followed by a slow series of nips down her neck caused Tessa to gasp. “Oh my.”
“What? Don’t tease me. Did you get kissed again?”
“Yeah. This time the kiss touched my lips then slid sensuously down my neck.”
“I wish I had a neck. That sounds absolutely delicious.”
Tessa might have agreed, if she’d hooked up with someone of her choosing. She might be a virgin, but she had once been loved and been in love. The sensations that bombarded her now brought back painful memories along with the pleasurable sensation, but this time she hadn’t indicated a willingness to . . . “Damn. It’s happening again.”
“In the same spot?”
Experimentally, Tessa held out her hands in front of her face, but met with nothing except atmosphere.
“He’s nuzzling my ear.” Frustration with the odd tickling sensation caused her voice to sharpen. “Dora, how in hell is he touching me?”
“I do not understand the question.”
“Every so often I feel lips pressed to mine. Since the only person aboard this vessel is Kahn, I assumed he’s the culprit.”
“Culprit? You sound as if you’re complaining,” Dora commented, with a giggle.
“Of course I’m complaining. A man shouldn’t kiss a woman without her permission.”
“I don’t know. My female creators on Scartar spoke often about men. Haven’t you ever heard of being swept away?”
“Dora!”
“The symmetry in Kahn’s features combined with his muscular frame suggests that half the women in the universe would trade places with you in a nanosecond. Me included—that is if I had a body.”
“What kind of man would take advantage of vulnerable women with a sneak attack—”
“Attack!” Dora’s voice altered into an official cadence. “Warning! Warning. We are under attack.”
Tessa cursed under her breath as bells clanged, a siren screamed, and purple lights flashed. She’d intended to keep her conversation a secret, but now she’d accidentally set off the alarm. She wondered what else could possibly go wrong when a pair of invisible lips brushed her brow. Seemingly paying no attention to her, Kahn stood at a console and checked his monitors. “Alarms off.”
“Alarms off,” Dora repeated in an official tone, quite different from the one she’d used when speaking to Tessa.
When the alarms went silent, Kahn continued his conversation with a third party over his communications system. Odd how the man never quite reacted as Tessa expected. In her experience, most men would have been angry with her for setting off the false alarm, but Kahn had barely seemed to notice.
However, those warning systems were there for a reason and set Tessa on a new line of thinking. “Dora, what kind of enemies would attack this ship?”
“Endekians.”
“Are these Endekians part of the Federation?”
“Oh, yes. They are short and thick, yellow-skinned people with sharp teeth and a predilection for cold worlds with glow stones. Endekians take insult easily and live for revenge. They are not handsome or sexy like the Rystani men,” she added.
Tessa supposed she should be glad an Endekian wasn’t training her to take the Challenge. At least Kahn was easy on the eyes. With his muscular physique and height, he would attract female notice on Earth. But she’d been around many handsome men. Most were full of themselves, convinced a smile and a bit of charm would win over the ladies. She gave him credit that Kahn didn’t use his looks to get his way.
At the moment, Kahn tapped his fingers impatiently on his console. He no longer appeared to be speaking to others but stared at some kind of space chart, frowning in concentration. But even his frown couldn’t mar the attractive line of his jaw or his model-like cheekbones.
“There are no Endekians here. So why did you claim to be under attack?” Dora asked.
“It was a figure of speech. What I meant was that your Commander Kahn kissed me without my permission.”
“He didn’t. My sensors indicate that the commander has not moved from his seat since he entered the shuttle.”
“Maybe your sensors are malfunctioning.”
“I just ran a self-diagnosis. All systems are working at full efficiency. Perhaps your lip sensors are the ones that are damaged,” Dora suggested. “However, I don’t understand why you keep harping on this issue. Don’t you like kisses?”
“Whether or not I like kisses isn’t the point.”
Dora sighed. “It would be the point if you’d never been kissed.”
Never been kissed. Tessa remembered once feeling so naive and eager, so enthralled and wistful. She wished this artificial kiss didn’t have the same power to set her on edge as Mike’s had once done, and didn’t appreciate her body responding as if she were being kissed by a real person.
Tessa did her best to ignore the sensations. This might be her best opportunity to get answers about her situation. “What are the usual items humanoids request while on board the shuttle?”
“Food, water, medicine, navigational charts, communications, history, social and political customs of the major planets, emergency procedures, evasive maneuvers, trade rules, and regulations.”
Casually, Tessa asked, “Do you have information about the suit?”
“Only that all humanoids wear them, they are run by psi ability, and that they will help protect wearers in an emergency.”
“Dora, please be more specific.”
“If the cabin loses pressure, oxygen, heat, or gravity, the suit will compensate.”
“Does the suit do this automatically?”
“I do not have enough data to answer that, dear.”
“Dear?” Tessa was startled. “Did you call me dear?”
“Yes, dear. You said we are friends. Didn’t I use the correct honorific?”
“As a matter of fact, you did. Tell me about the translators.” Tessa hadn’t forgotten how easily she understood Kahn’s words and wondered if she could communicate as easily with others.
“Your suit translates other languages into your native tongue. If you speak to someone who doesn’t have a suit, your suit can be altered to emit the proper language.”
“Good to know,” said Tessa, wishing she had a hot cup of coffee to go with the friendly conversation. Earlier Kahn had said he couldn’t tell her more about the suit, but would the same rules hold true for the computer? “What else can you tell me about the suit?”
“The most delicate mechanism will wear out in four hundred years. I do not carry replacements, but they can be purchased on Tran, Mycan, Ikton, Blair, Zzss, and Zenon Prime.”
“Dora, enough.” Either Dora didn’t have the kind of information about the suit that Tessa was seeking or the computer had been programmed not to reveal it. “How many planets are there in the Galactic Federation?”
“Two million, five hundred, forty-two thousand, seven hundred and eighty-eight, dear.”
Tessa whistled in appreciation at the mind-boggling number. Millions of inhabited planets were out here, and Earth had been invited to join. This Challenge appeared to be an endeavor worth undertaking. “How many planets are humanoid? Does the Federation have any enemies? Dora, give me a brief summary of its history, please.”
“The Galactic Federation began thousands of millennia ago. Its beginnings go so far into the past that they are cloaked in mystery. Legends about the Perceptive Ones are sketchy, but it’s speculated that the older star systems have long since passed into dust along with their original inhabitants, but the evolving membership slowly expanded outward to the younger galaxies.
“The Galactic Federation is a governmental body with its own rules of interstellar trade. The body decides who can colonize and where. Each planet sets its own laws, religions, and customs, so long as they don’t interfere with another planet’s wellbeing.
“Three-quarters of the Federation sustains humanoid life of one kind or another. Other life forms vary from the crystal people of Macarobiana to the telepathic cloud runners of Ceylinnz. Trial membership is offered to planets after nuclear or space flight capabilities are developed.”
We had nuclear weapons in the 1940’s.”
“We want stable worlds in the Federation. We wait to see if you’re going to blow yourselves up before issuing our invitation. The Federation presently has no enemies. The vast distances of intergalactic space usually make war economically unfeasible and impractical. The occasional inter-solar system flare-ups are arbitrated by the Council of Zenon Prime, and there is no appeal. There are sporadic problems with ambitious pirates who prey on the slow interstellar cargo ships, and the Federation is attempting to police the threatened areas. The most critical current problem is the Endekians’ overpopulation and coveting of other worlds.”
Another shivery kiss started at her collarbone, skimming a path to her throat. Tessa placed a hand over the spot, but the sensation of warm lips trailing between her breasts lingered. “Stop it,” she hissed.
“Stop what?” Dora asked.
“I wasn’t speaking to you. These kisses are . . .”
“Are what?”
“Becoming more intimate.”
“Oh, how very lovely.”
As those lips teased the curves of her breasts, nibbling and licking until her nipples pebbled and heat flared straight to her core, Tessa began to tremble. “Can we continue our conversation later?”
“This was just getting interesting.”
“Dora, please.”
“Compliance.”
Tessa waited for the sensual kisses to cease then rose shakily to her feet and marched over to Kahn. “Excuse me, are there any creatures aboard that I don’t know about?”
“Are you concerned over the alarms? That was merely a faulty circuit.” Had Dora sent him a false reading to cover up Tessa’s mistake? Was Kahn lying to her to see if she’d confess?
“I’m concerned that there might be someone else on board besides you and me.”
Kahn’s amber eyes stared at her in puzzlement, and his mouth frowned, then he checked his controls. “We are alone. Why?”
“Someone is touching me.”
“Ah, I was wondering when you would bring up that little matter.”
That little matter? That little matter wasn’t so little to her, and his comment revealed he was aware of the kisses. Only her self-discipline from years of martial arts training kept her anger from causing her right fist to jab his throat.
As if reading her thoughts he lifted one challenging eyebrow. “Your suit is touching you?”
“Well, it must be broken. It feels as if someone is kissing me, and I don’t appreciate being fondled. Can you fix it?”
“There’s nothing to fix,” he replied with a sincerity she no longer believed.
“Make it stop. Come on, the joke is over.”
“I assure you the suit is working perfectly.”
She stared at him, flabbergasted. Either he was completely dense or the translator wasn’t working properly. She was about to restate her problem when the sensation of two tongues simultaneously licking each of her nipples verified his candor. The man had only one mouth. He couldn’t be creating the exquisite sensations that rocked her back on her heels. “What the hell is going on?”
“Your training has begun.”
“My training?”
“I’ve already told you that information about the Challenge cannot be explained.”
“But you didn’t tell me why.”
He hesitated, then spoke grudgingly. “Additional explanation will hinder your training.”