Cutlass Sharpened (32 page)

“
Then are you giving
permission to enact my plan?” Elder Javelin inquired.

“
Not yet.” He said, blue
eyes never leaving Oliver’s. “Too true is he in danger if we do not
tread carefully. Many black market deals would be sure to hire
mercenaries to capture Oliver or kill him and autopsy his body to
uncover everything about him. Galicom’s president especially would
stop at nothing to find how Oliver has a multi-tool too
without
his
being
aware as well as use a Star-saber without any credits or trace to
have ever existed in the galactic Terran database. We all know he’s
about profit no matter the sacrifice. If he can’t have our brother,
no one can. The question is, if I step down as Grandest, will
Oliver be up to the task to put the lives of all Hunters in his
grasp without crushing us? We
do
need to keep him safe for sure. Since we do not
believe in holding a member of our family in custody for no
unlawful need, he is free to live as we all do…” the man rubbed his
narrow chin. “I’m not ready to decide this day.”

“
May I make a suggestion?”
Oliver asked after.

“
By all means.” The eldest
gestured to proceed.

“
Rather than give me an old
identity like the thirty first, why don’t you create a whole new
secret program that
doesn’t
exist. You can say that three hundred or so years
ago you came across a moon with a density nine times Standard
gravity packed with Beasts. You could say you forgot about me till
one day it clicked and you returned to find I was the last survivor
of the program. It would explain my bone density and ligament
adaptations. I would not be a Grand Elder as it would seem I’ve yet
seen four centuries, but I’d be old enough for High. Could you
design a secret program. As Grandest, your authority would not be
questioned and you won’t need to worry if I royally screw up as
you’ll still be my superior.”

“
Intriguing notion. I rather
like it actually. There are plenty of dense moons out there to
chose from that are infested with Beasts. I could say that I even
discovered it from the last Grandest before me and say you were
chosen after Splicers found an experimental method to increase
gravitational resistance.”

Talon touched her husband’s shoulder. “We can
even drop debris to make it look like a small derelict settlement
once lived there.”

“
I do not like the notion of
secrecy, but I believe it’s prudent, Old Friend.” Said a grizzled
man who seemed to have never been happy a day in his
life.

“
For you to speak up is
rare, Old Friend.” Vanishing Claw raised a single eyebrow. “I’ll
trust your instincts. Oliver,” He switched back to the man in front
of himself. “please go speak with Ms. Dorgen and continue your
lessons, but get to sleep before midnight. At first light I will
uphold my promise to teach you how to properly wield a blade as it
was intended. We will work a plan into action for the remainder of
your stay with us, but you are not allowed to speak to anyone
outside this council. Your life will depend on it. As of right now,
your mind is open for all strong enough to use telepathy to pick
through. If you cannot defend against it and you come under
scrutiny for some slip up, our work will be for naught. We are
risking much. Do not let us pay the price if you can prevent
it.”

“
Thank you for sticking your
necks out for me. I’m touched. Truly. Oh, before I forget… my com
is Oliver Void and the code is Forgotten.”

“
Does Elder Void sound good
to everyone?” Talon laid back down after programming him in and she
and others gave their codes.

“
Sounds good to me.” The
eldest said and his words sealed the discussion Oliver heard last
as he left to walk down the stairs.

In several minutes the walk coupled with the
roaring waterfall settle the tangled web within the mind. Sitting
bright in the village was a sign depicting red cross over white and
he made straight for it.

Renee turned her head as the door slid open.
She stopped breathing for a moment as she stared at a bare chest
Oliver to find her mouth watering and she swallowed before drooling
all over the patient she attended. His bronze skin was so much
healthier than before and made her imagine how delicious it would
taste to run her tongue across. Two days worth of beard darkly
shadowed his squared jaw rather than the twenty plus during
tracking he removed during the shuttle ride back. But in the month
since she first saw him she noticed he would have a head of thick,
dark brown hair. The bare chest had no hairs and his arms had just
the right amount. Smoldering amber eyes burned through her breast
and as she saw his nose flare she knew there was no point in
denying she creamed her panties again at the mere sight of him.
Oxygen deprivation started to burn and the intake of fresh air
helped get delicious images from becoming a reality.

Hating her own reactions
made her arousal turn to irritation. “Give me a few minutes,
Idiot.” She went back and focused on her patient, very aware of him
now. It didn’t affect her work, but she had begun to miss having
him close and for weeks she missed him, not that she’d ever admit.
At first she couldn’t send him away fast enough, but now she
realized other disturbing thoughts.
Damn my
libido. He’s just so male. Why can’t I push him away anymore? Oh
right, I haven’t had a good balls to the wall fuckfest in
years.
“All done, Kiddo.” She ruffled a
small Hunter boy’s head.

“
Thanks.” He grinned and
sped outside.

Next thing Renee knew Oliver was laying down
on the table the boy vacated and didn’t make a sound. “And just
what the hell are you doing?”

“
You’re going to ask to scan
me anyway. You always do.”

“
Oh.” She used her chip to
activate the machine to drop from the building’s white ceiling. She
especially looked at all the puncture wounds already healed over
and nodded satisfactorily there would be no marks by
morning.

As it worked he asked “So what have I missed
since I was gone?”

“
Aside from me delivering
Vanessa’s beautiful baby girl, Taylor, I’ve fixed three broken
arms, repaired the cornea of someone struck in the eye and gave a
few injections… it’s been boring. Most sat around watching you on
large holo-screens… you will have no lasting damage. The nanites
did a great job putting you back together again.” He sat up and
smiled, her eyes dropped slightly to the bulge in his pants and she
looked back up quickly. “What about you?” she took another blood
sample. “What did all the old Hunters have to say?”

“
Not too much. They wanted
to hear my story personally and then they sent me down to you.
Apparently they won’t trust me till I can shield from telepaths…”
He looked down.

“
Spit it out? If you want to
ask if I’ve read your mind then yes, but only once.”

“
What did you
see?”

“
Nothing I haven’t seen
before in horny teens. I was just curious why you were so confident
the day you caught me and I saw you kick Stone’s ass. Don’t worry.
Your date you’ve been thinking of remains secret.”

“
Whew. I’m glad or you would
give in to my advances without a fight.”

Renee’s lips quirked.
“You’re that confident in your plans eh?” his smile widened and her
heart about exploded.
Stars! Not dimples!
Fuck, he’s got dimples!
She cleared her
throat. “I’ll stay out of your head then. If I find out and fuck
your brains out and you fail to deliver on the date I’ll be pissed
and castrate you for deceiving me.”

The dimples deepened. “You’re mine already,
Red. You just won’t admit it aloud.”

“
Oooh? I think even if you
do believe we’ll be together, you still have no concept of my
tastes or even if after a few romps I’ll kick you out of bed and
you’ll pine for me while I move on to a new shiny toy and shake his
stars too.”

His smile vanished and he
glared. “No you won’t or you would have mated the other Hunters,
but they don’t look at you like I do. You’re the type of person to
mate for life and are hostile to others sniffing around what
belongs to you. In your head you may think otherwise, but
I
know the truth. I arouse
you, but when I aroused the other women the day I left to hunt I
smelled your anger to them when they stated they want me. I wanted
to hurt them all for making you upset, but you would hurt them more
and I could not make them like you if they knew I will be with only
you. Every night when we spoke I could see only you and I know that
I will not find another. I’m going to win you correctly and show
you I’m not taking you as a mate. I will make you my wife like
Jessica and Stephanie. I cannot explain why, but I know there will
never be another. And I might not know your story, but I know
you.”

Oliver gently poked a finger over her left
breast, where her heart lay hammering. “This does not lie to me.
You may pretend to hate me and call me names and treat me worse
than anyone else, but I know fear of rejection. It is the same as
my fear of being all alone again. You isolate yourself on purpose
and put on a tough armor, but I’ve found the crack in it. You won’t
be alone so long as I live and woe to the male that comes near what
belongs to me. You’ve seen how I react to Beasts. Any pursuers will
meet the same fate.”

“
Drop the chauvinistic
shit.” She didn’t slap his hand away from pointing at her heart
that had a mind of its own. “You don’t know a thing about me,
Oliver.”

“
I know I unsettle you more
than anyone else. And I know you don’t smell like the other females
who smell of multiple men. You have the smell of a single pairing,
like Stephanie, Jessica and Vanessa. You require
more
than sex unlike all
the others around us. I have told you the truth. You
will
be mine as I will be
yours. There is no doubt in my mind. Mating will just physically
signify our union. And once I have you, I will never let you go. I
will peruse you like the Fire Wyrm, only with more desire and love
in my heart.”

Renee was completely and utterly rendered
speechless and felt her cheeks burn, but could not halt the flush
that colored.

Oliver closed his eyes as he got up and sat
on the ground. All but a pair of boxers hid his manhood. He seemed
larger somehow like that. “Let’s begin before we regret the
topic.”

Again she cleared her throat and held a
stiffened palm hand to him and his expression changed. “What’s that
look for?”

“
Aren’t you going to remove
your clothes?”

“
Not
going to happen.” Her words were sharp. “Right now you’re
calm. You need to work on this now and if I strip to a bra and
panties we’ll both regret it. Besides, I’m much stronger so I don’t
need to worry about clothes rubbing my skin to feel the gathering.
It’s as easy as breathing to me now.”

“
I’ve heard that word
before. Gathering.”

“
It’s a simple term to
gather up psionic energies to use outwardly. You’ll learn how to
use what you can gather to help fortify your mind and one day
affect the world around you. Now close your eyes and…”

Oliver listened to her smooth feminine voice
softening. It did feel uplifting telling her his intent and
enjoying the reaction it made. He liked doing it to her and her
alone. He was also true in telling her how he’d react to another
male other than himself. He likely would kill and not think
twice.

Sitting on the cold, hard floor he noticed
something he never felt before. Had he not spoken his desire,
calmed and could think clearly again, he wouldn’t have sensed it.
Like a mental lever holding back a stream of dammed water. The
barest trickles came out from below.

The mental image helped and he grabbed hold
and pulled. It didn’t budge at first. Then as he felt Renee’s power
begin tingling the lever seemed to loosen some rust around gears
and get oiled. He pulled and the stream began to gush.

Renee’s crackling hand got a sudden shock as
a tiny spark zapped from Oliver’s forehead to her hand and her eyes
widened with realization.

Oliver though could only open the floodgates
so far, but the feeling the stream gave was spectacular. It was
like the feeling of running and letting go. It was freeing. The
sensation of energy though was building in a barren lake that
seemed to have no ending depth or end, but the water didn’t
disappear. His mind just knew what it had to do. Doing what felt
right over teachings of another.

Like the first night Elder Scythe worked with
him, Oliver craved to have and hold that feeling all the time. The
vibrating sensation moved from head to toe, but moved faster than
he intended. It was natural though and soon his whole body hummed
with invisible power. As he opened his eyes he smiled calmly. “I’m
doing it, Renee. I’m finally doing it.”

“
How? How are you doing it?
You should be able to grasp and gather after six
months
, no three weeks…
ugh. You’ve given me another fucking headache.” She pinched the
bridge of her lightly freckled nose.

“
Don’t question the how. I
couldn’t pull the lever till I felt your help.”

“
You imagine a lever and
valve of water too?” Her green eyes flashed with a momentary
increase of energy, but more from a bit of indecipherable fear. He
nodded. “I thought
I
was the only one… my Phantom teachers couldn’t explain why I
saw the lever when other kids couldn’t… no one in the program
imagined anything…” She shook her head as his earlier words of
belonging together echoed in her mind, ringing like a struck bell.
“Tell me right now, did it open all the way?”