Even someone’s thoughtfulness in providing them with assorted large blankets didn’t make his bed comfortable. Nothing would be comfortable again. Not as long as this beautiful fighter was lying within arm’s reach. And not as long as he kept thinking of the so-called act they were supposed to provide aboard a pleasure ship.
He plopped next to Lyra and exhaled noisily. It took everything he had to put his mind on sleeping and off the soft-looking body next to his. The woman was only an arm’s length away. Soon, they’d be doing a great deal more than resting together, and that sensual thought had his body, particularly his cock, responding with vigor.
The air needed to be cleared while they had time. He was pretty damned sure this Earther had never heard about a Craetorian male’s body since she’d admitted to never having seen his race before. What gossip she may have gleaned might be incorrect. “Uh … Lyra … I think there’s something you should know.”
She turned her head toward him just as he turned his toward her. “Yes?”
“It’s none of my business how … experienced … you may or may not be. But a Craetorian male has sexual organs that are somewhat differently shaped. My people are taught these variations from puberty — ”
Lyra suddenly leaned over and put her fingertips over his lips. “Don’t. Don’t tell me anything. If we’re billing ourselves as a couple who likes to perform together, I should already know this.”
He gently removed her fingers but kept them in his grasp. “But you don’t. That’s the point.”
“And that’s what will help me act spontaneously. I have to behave as though you and I have never been together, and that your making love to me is the most wonderfully, fulfilling experience of my life. That’s what will make our performance so appealing. That’s our act. It’ll be easier if I don’t know too much. You get it?”
He briefly closed his eyes and smiled. “I suppose that makes some kind of twisted sense. But you really ought to know that — ”
“Shut up! I don’t want to know. Not unless our bodies are incompatible. But even if I couldn’t get you inside me, I’d still find some way to have intercourse so we could pass ourselves off as a sex act,” she insisted. “I won’t sleep with a Condorian. I mean it!”
“Lyra … your point has been made.”
She sighed heavily. “I sound panic-stricken. I know I do, but I’m not. Don’t pay too much attention to me right now. I’m tired.”
He tried to lighten their mood. “You know … there’s a slight chance, however infinitesimal, that we might be successful, and may have a chance at arresting the Condorian contingent on this ship.”
“Keep dreaming, sir … Soldar,” she quickly corrected while curling up on her share of the blanket. “And while you’re daydreaming, why don’t you imagine a fleet of allied war birds appearing and taking out the entire enemy contingent. Then imagine we’re offered private rooms with warm, soft beds, hot tubs, massages, and dinners consisting of nice juicy steaks, loaded baked potatoes, and cases of cold beer. Plus three whole months of nothing but sleep!”
Soldar actually grinned at the burst of imagination but he persisted. “Of course, it could go the other way. I could either be killed in an attempt to get to the bridge or I’ll succeed … and then be killed. Or I could give bad head and be ripped apart for that — ”
“God! Hopefully, you won’t have to give anyone ‘head.’ Besides, you need me for more than just sex. You’ll find my technical knowledge might come in handy. Assuming we can get to the bridge at all,” she informed him wearily.
“What technical knowledge?” He raised himself up on one elbow.
“Before I joined Earth’s ground forces, I worked for a small distribution company. We were always fighting to stay in business against some very large competitors. My brother and I … well … we
might
have figured a way to hack into some of our competitors’ systems and take a look at what they were doing. Of course … I’m not admitting to anything and this was all a long time ago — ”
“Why didn’t you say something about this?” he angrily interrupted. “You might have mentioned it when I detailed Aigean’s plan!”
“You didn’t ask. I figured you at least had my hacking skills or you wouldn’t have been chosen for this mission.” She adjusted her position on the blanket to better face him.
He moved his index finger in the air, back and forth between their bodies. “It’s called communication, Lyra. It works both ways!”
“Okay … Christ!” she uttered and then paused for a long moment. “Is it that important? I mean … if I’d gotten to the bridge without you and didn’t have any knowledge of hacking, what was I supposed to do with any information? I figured that this Aigean person would help transmit.”
“She will. All her messages indicated she’s trying to get locking codes that the Condorians installed in her systems. The point is … if she can get her ship’s computer back, we can send any message to allied vessels. They’ll know the information is true because of the authentication I’ll add. Obviously, all this is assuming we can get on the bridge in the first place.”
“But
I
don’t know that authentication.”
“
Lyra
… it’s the same authentication you’d always use to send a message from one allied vessel to another.”
She sat up and stared at him.
He simply shrugged in confirmation.
“
That’s it!
That’s your ‘secret code’?” she asked while making quotation marks in the air with her fingers.
He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “The Condorian excrement never broke it!”
“God! Allied ground forces are being commanded by idiots!”
“No,” he said in a patronizing fashion, “it’s actually quite brilliant.”
“Please … enlighten me.”
He frowned at her and used his most condescending tone of voice. “As you know … the standard ship-to-ship, allied authentication system is very simple. It only takes a few keystrokes or negligible hologram manipulation to engage … depending upon how old the com console is. Furthermore, it can be changed immediately if it becomes necessary. And since the message would be coming from Aigean’s ship … a woman who’s helped us in the past … it doesn’t really make any difference if the damned thing is read by a fleet admiral or some probationary cadet,” he clarified. “By regulation, the communication still has to be delivered to the recipient … and that will be General Elias Shafter.” Soldar moved closer to her. “The ‘code
,
’” he responded with equal sarcasm and by making the same quotation marks in the air with his fingers, “is just fine!”
“And if our fleet doesn’t ever get a message, what then?”
“If there’s no information coming from the Venus in two weeks, it’s to be assumed this mission failed and the strike will take place regardless. At least there’ll be a few of those bastards that won’t ever fight another day, and Aigean and her crew will finally be free from tyranny, even if it’s in the afterlife,” he asserted. “Satisfied … Admiral Markham?”
Lyra gasped and shook her head in shock. “You know … I just don’t get it. We’ve got some of the best intelligence people there are. Sad to say that there aren’t enough … but we’ve still got good ones,” she told him. “So whose bright idea was it to use a code a monkey could break?” She held up her hand when he would have spoken. “Oh, I realize it’s simple. That’s why it was designed. It’s meant for allied troops to talk to each other from one ship to another and it designates minor chatter.”
Soldar turned away. “You don’t understand — ”
“Explain it to me!”
“Lyra, you and I — ”
“We …
what
?”
“I suspect you and I are the only allied survivors on this planet, Lyra.”
She was momentarily taken aback. Her brow furrowed and she chewed on her lower lip for a moment. He waited for her response and was suddenly sorry to have even said anything.
“What does that have to do with someone not devising a more elaborate transmission code for this mission?” she asked.
He carefully considered his words, but truth was the best option now. “Lyra … there’s no one left!”
She shook her head in confusion. “What exactly does that mean?”
“When did you land on this rock?”
She tucked a stray curl behind her ear before swallowing hard and answering. “Four days ago. My unit was tightly packed until a photon trungeon bomb blew up right in the middle of us. We were scattered after that.”
“My team landed three days ago. Rather, we
tried
to land,” he solemnly advised. “My superiors told us on the way down to the surface that six of Earth’s galaxy-class fighters had been totally destroyed.”
“Six … n-no … that c-can’t be,” Lyra muttered as she shook her head in denial.
“It’s true. Five of our own regency dragons-of-prey were taken out.”
“But that would mean — ”
“That’s right,” he sadly summed up. “The Craetorians only have three vessels left in this entire sector. Earth has one. The allied fleet here has been decimated. There were just too many Condorian battle cruisers and we hadn’t a chance.” He ran one hand over his face and tried not to look into her stricken gaze before continuing. “With the exception of the Earth ship, the Craetorian contingent is being manned mostly by a class of cadets and their trainers. We’re down to sending children into war,” he bitterly told her.
Lyra looked away but not before he saw her shaken expression.
“The remaining craft are badly damaged. There are a few engineers and technicians left alive to make repairs. The message we’d be sending from the bridge of the Venus has to be encoded in a way those cadets understand and can immediately relay. That’s why the frequency will be the same we always use between allied vessels. Simplicity is best when life support systems are compromised and injured kids are at the helm.” He glanced up at the sky. “There isn’t an encryption officer among them. All of those were on flag ships, not the older destroyers that survived at the back of the fleet.”
“I understand,” Lyra softly acknowledged. “Even with the lowest power available, basic communication and its enabling codes remain functional.” She gazed at him and slowly nodded. “I apologize.”
“No. I should have told you sooner. I don’t know why I didn’t except I was waiting to see if we’d even survive our first night on that enemy-infested pleasure ship,” he said in a less harsh tone. “Just understand we have two weeks to make first contact with our fleet. Sooner is better than later.”
She slowly nodded.
“If either of us can get reliable information and get on the bridge — ”
“And assuming Aigean can get control of her com systems — ” she interrupted.
“Just transmit what you can to the remaining allied vessels, Lyra. If you think you won’t get another chance, order our remaining ships to fire on our location. But in the event our transmissions keep coming regularly, those cadets will relay whatever we send to the closest allied base of operations in this sector. They’ll have to remain in deep space to stay away from the Condorian cruisers.”
“Soldar, you know we’ll only get one shot to transmit before the Condorians are all over us!”
“Others hoped we might have a little longer.”
Lyra dragged one hand through her hair. “This is insane. You know that, don’t you?”
“The nearest Allied flag ship is in the Degar System. Even though our cadets sent distress calls, it will still take weeks for help to arrive. The Condorian battle cruisers will have moved on, and will have attacked other civilizations. I’d like to think we could avenge our dead before that happens. We could strike a great blow to their pride and offer some measure of honor for our dead.” He gently grasped her upper arms and pulled her closer. “If two of us can infiltrate and destroy a group of Condorian officers on their pleasure craft, it could go a long way to boost morale. And our warriors desperately need that now.”
Lyra returned the gesture by gripping his biceps. “If General Shafter is still alive then it’s his corsair that survived. A star-class Earth corsair is meant to travel fast and maneuver. It’s small and carries a crew of eighty-five,” she said as she gazed into his eyes. “If there aren’t any more surviving allies on the ground, then there’re only — ”
“Eighty-six Earthers alive in the entire sector. That includes you. Your calculations are correct,” Soldar finished.
She continued staring at him as the news sunk in. “Once the Degar vessels arrive here, there’s only one fleet between this planet and Earth.” She actually began to shake. “Using the latest wormhole charts … Earth is only seven months away.” She lifted one hand and wrapped her fingers loosely around her throat.
The astonished expression on her face grew more intense but she said no more.
Once again he found himself wishing they were in some other reality. If she couldn’t get her emotions under control, they wouldn’t last a single night on the Venus.
But honesty wouldn’t allow him to find fault with her response.
He was scared too.
Soldar wasn’t sure when Lyra collapsed on the blanket and finally fell asleep. She was exhausted and the events of the day were brutal. Emotion had drained her as it had him. His new partner simply couldn’t stay awake any longer. Especially not after having endured a firefight resulting in a chase through the badlands. All while wearing heavy armor.
He fought depression and gazed into the distance wishing he hadn’t had to tell her that truth. But she’d insisted on questioning the transmission codes they’d use if they ever got the chance.
Just before she’d slumped to the blanket and fell into deathlike slumber, there’d been a terrible look in her face. If he had to name the expression, it was very like defeat. But he finally stretched out next to her and took the liberty of pulling her close. Something told him she wouldn’t mind.
Everything seemed so hopeless. Their struggle now was ludicrously ineffective in light of the facts. Having voiced the allied situation, he needed to be close to someone who was on his side, someone who understood the desperate stands in space like this one.
In her sleep, Lyra responded to his caresses on her shoulder and hip. She scooted backward, toward him. Her slender, tight little body pushed against his frame as if, in her deep slumber, she wanted to meld her form to his. The result of such blending, ever it went unchecked while she was awake, would yield a discharge of energy that could rock the universe. In his gut, he knew that the joining of any other two souls wouldn’t be more powerful. They were living their very last days and that enhanced every emotion. Every single feeling whether one of happiness or sorrow was so much more exaggerated. Every touch, every kiss was more powerful.