Finding Lara (Distant Worlds Book 3) (7 page)

“If you need lessons on
how to fix a ship find someone else.  I’m not about to have you questioning me
every step of the way because you think a woman can’t handle it.”

“Nobody works on my ship
without me there.  Not woman, man, or beast.”  He pointed aggressively to his
own chest.  “I oversee all repairs.  Period.”

“Then find yourself another
mechanic.”

Barnos sighed when he saw
the mech step forward aggressively in the Shakien’s space.  Talk about the
wrong move.  He moved faster so that he was almost within touching distance
when he saw Tolan Lark’s teeth had shifted to a more pronounced canine.  Barnos
stepped up to grab the little mech and pull her back, but two things happened
before he could do that.  One, the mech just seemed to float right out of his
reach faster than his eyes could catch, leaving him grasping air; and two,
Tolan Lark turned those savage lavender eyes his way and lost his ever-loving
mind.

Barnos was still
wondering what the hell was happening when the man shifted.  Fur flowed over
his body like water, and suddenly he was facing an incensed Shakien cat in his
warrior form.  The man growled at him, his eyes no longer showing a hint of the
man of fierce intelligence, or even playful menace.  This beast meant business,
and something had triggered his most aggressive side to come out and play. 
From the look of those lavender eyes, as they watched Barnos slowly move back,
his hand on his blaster, what he wanted to play was games of blood.

When Barnos backed up
about two feet, the beast seemed to relax and Barnos took the moment to look
around him.  He was no longer between the mech and the Shakien cat, and as
such, apparently he was no longer important.  Watching the way the beast eyed
the little mech reminded Barnos of a great predator eyeing his next meal.  The
beast was on a different hunt now, which was not to say they were any better
off than before, quite frankly, because the girl looked none too pleased and
Barnos had to wonder if he was going to have to blast his friend anyway. 
Bollocks.

Tolan Lark took a step
toward the woman, a snarl on his lips that had Barnos reaching for his weapon. 
He was charging the little female as Barnos cleared his holster.  With a curse,
the mech pulled something out of her too large coveralls and smacked the
expanding stick across his Shakien snarl; and then with a whirl of deadly
grace, she twirled around his reaching claws and took him out at the knees. 
Flipping the staff-sized weapon in her hands, she shoved the lighted end into
the Shakien’s exposed throat.  Tolan Lark went down, and Barnos was left
blinking in amazement with his blaster half-raised to fire.  The deceptively
delicate mech was not even breathing hard.

She looked the cat over
making sure he would not get up again, then met Barnos’ shocked gaze.  “He’ll
be out long enough for me to fix the ship,” she pointed a warning finger at
Barnos.  “But I’m warning you right now, if he comes at me again, I’ll do more
than stun his grumpy ass.”

All Barnos could do was
nod.  He was too surprised by the unfolding events to do anything else.

Apparently that was all
she needed because she collapsed her staff and shoved it back in the hidden
pocket she had pulled it from.  “And I’m adding five percent to my original
quote for the time I’ve wasted dealing with a stubborn Shakien warrior.”  She
waggled her finger at him, her eyes narrowed and on Barnos.

He held up his hands.  “Whatever
you say.”

Then she turned and
strutted away.  That was fine with him.  If she could take down a Shakien cat in
warrior form like it was nothing, he did not want to see what else she was
capable of if she actually got angry.  Barnos looked down at the mighty Shakien
warrior passed out on the deck and could not hold back the snort of humor. 
Here’s hoping Tolan wakes up in a better mood than when he went down.  Barnos
somehow doubted it.

Lara had no idea how much
time had passed.  It couldn’t be much because she was still tipsy with brew
when she heard the engines come to life.  She smoothed down her tunic, pushed
her bed hair behind her shoulder, and headed for the bridge.  When she got
there she was shocked to see it was the mech Dainaree who had keyed the ship
and was trolling it through its paces, her eyes glued to the comp screen.

“I’m almost finished,”
she said not looking away from her work.  “I just need to check that all my
repairs have registered and are integrated properly.”

“I thought you said it
would be two days for repairs?”  Lara said it like a question, but the kind of
repairs they had needed were extensive.

“Needed to get you done
and gone before your Shakien wakes up,” she said absently.

Lara opened her mouth and
realized she had no idea how to address the mech. “What is your name?” she
asked, tilting her head and studying the woman.  Under the calm of her outward reaction,
she was a wild tizzy of emotions.

The mech finally turned
and looked at Lara, studying her as she might a puzzle or a broken engine. 
Then she shrugged coming to a decision apparently.  “Jax.”  She looked like she
had worked the week originally quoted with no sleep, or food.  Her delicate
face looked hollow and her eyes shiny with the last dregs of manic energy. 
Lara recognized the look of someone who had spent a great deal of energy too
fast.

“Well, Jax, am I right in
assuming your sensitivity to tech is not your only gift.”

The woman blinked at her
and then her face went blank. Lara did not give her a chance to lie.  “You are
a whisperer.”

Jax’s shoulders tightened,
her hand going to a pocket of her oversized coverall.

“I am no danger to you,”
Lara said soothingly and watched as some of the tension left the woman.

“Why do I believe you?”

Lara shrugged.  “Maybe
because you know the truth?”

Jax tilted her head and
turned fully from the comp screen.  “You are something of a whisperer yourself,
aren’t you?”

Lara laughed, “I am Heti,
we calm with our presence, but I am no whisperer.”

Jax sighed and dropped
her hand.  “I should kill you,” she said mildly, but it was more tired than
threatening.

“I am no danger to you,”
Lara said spreading her hands wide.

Jax snorted.  “So you
say, but your friends look to be less than savory.”

Lara laughed and teetered
a bit on her heels.  “They are disreputable, I will give you that, but they are
not in the market of flesh peddling.  And since you made repairs in a time that
only a whisperer could, you have to know they will figure it out.”

“Maybe,” she said, “but I
am counting on your mercenary friends seeing more value in knowing a solid mech
than selling me to the highest bidder.  He seems overly attached to his ship.”  Then
she shrugged. “And I need him out of here before he wakes up.  I doubt he’ll be
as easy to take down when he knows what I can do with an enhanced shock lance.”

Lara tilted her head,
studied the woman with the clear eyes and conflicted emotions.  “Why do I think
I missed something when I was at the bars with Barnos?”

“Did someone say my name?”
Barnos asked, coming onto the bridge with Tolan Lark unconscious over his
shoulder.  Lara blinked at the sight and then turned to look at Jax.

“You did this?”  She
could not keep the disbelief from her face. 

Jax nodded with a shrug. 
“I stunned him, yes.”

Barnos snorted, hefting
Tolan Lark a little higher.  “No stun weapon I have ever seen will take out a
Shakien in full warrior form.”  He raised a brow at the mech.

“I made a few
modifications.” Jax shrugged those delicate shoulders again.

Lara looked her over
carefully.  “I don’t suppose you have one you are willing to sell to me?”

Ignoring another doubtful
snort from Barnos, Jax eyed her and then shook her head.  “Sorry, but it would
be too easy for the unprepared to stun themselves.  A Shakien might get knocked
out, but someone as slight as you would probably be killed.”

Lara narrowed her eyes.  “You’re
smaller than I am.”  Maybe not in height but the Dainaree were slighter of
build than most.  Even the Heti.

“But I know what I’m
doing, and I’m Dainaree.  I can take an energy blast.”

Lara let it go with an
effort.  It was seductive to think there was a weapon that might allow her to
take care of herself against bigger and badder opponents, but she had no desire
to electrocute herself either.

Jax turned to Barnos and
handed him her comp pad.  “Repairs are finished,” she said.  “I need your
signature here for the transfer of held credits.”

Barnos blinked down at
the little mech.  “Repairs are finished?  You said days.”  He looked like he
was prepared to hold the big figure of Tolan Lark as long as necessary, as if
he weighed nothing, when it was obvious from his size and armor he would be
heavy.  It was somewhat impressive, Lara thought, eyeing the two men.

“I moved you up the
list.  I want you and your crazy partner out of my station.  Now.”

“She does not wish to be
here when Tolan Lark wakes up,” Lara murmured, trying to help.  She gave Barnos
big eyes.

“Well, now,” he said
turning back to Jax. “I hate to break this to you, darlin’, but Tolan Lark has
a code lock on his ship.  No one flies it but him.”

“I have removed the code
for now,” she said.  Lara was distracted by the look on Barnos’ face.  He looked
flummoxed.  “He can reinstate it when he wakes up.  Far from here.”  She ended
pointedly, her eyes moving from him to the comp pad she held out closer.  “Sign
here.”

Barnos looked from her to
the pad, and then raised a brow.  “You realize if the work is subpar, or you
overlooked anything, we will be back,” he warned, the warmth Lara was used to
seeing leaking from his eyes.  “You won’t be able to surprise him with that
glow stick a second time.”

Jax glared right back at
him.  “I do not do subpar work.”

Barnos looked her over
for a long minute and then must have seen something he wanted to see because he
shifted Tolan Lark back further on his massive shoulders and signed the comp
pad.  “Just so we’re clear.”

Jax took the pad back and
gave him serious eyes.  “You’re clear,” she said, finalizing the transaction.  “Now
let me be clear.  He doesn’t come back here.  You need a mech, don’t expect to
find one here.”

Then she turned with one
last glare and walked away.

“Why would we want to
come back to this lovely piece of shite planet anyway,” he muttered turning,
presumably to take Tolan Lark to his room.

Lara cleared her throat
delicately.  “Maybe because she’s a mech and tech whisperer.”  She smiled and
shrugged her shoulders at his look.  “I doubt you could find a better mechanic
anywhere in the galaxy.”

Barnos turned and resumed
his march, carrying Tolan Lark and cursing under his breath.  She heard the
word ‘women’ and a whole load of others that had her wincing.  He certainly
cursed like a pirate, she thought.  Not that she could blame him.  Finding a
mech whisperer was like finding a unicorn.  Rare and worth their weight in
gold.  Especially to pirates and mercenaries who are forever in firefights and
trouble.  A mech who can literally run her hands over a ship and will it into
the shape and function she imagines is priceless.  And Tolan Lark had managed
to piss her off so much she not only stunned him to unconsciousness, but also
refused future service.  She would be cursing, too, if she were him.

***

Lara knew the second
Tolan Lark woke up because the roar of rage reverberated down every corridor of
the ship, and shook the walls.  They were on the bridge.  Barnos grimaced and
stood up from the captain’s chair.  He motioned to Lara to get behind him.  “Stay
back and keep quiet until I get him talking.  A Shakien can be . . . unpredictable
at the best of times.”

“You forget my adopted
sister is Shakien; I know more than most what to expect from one in a rage,”
she said.  Then she heard the tromping feet rushing towards them, and could
feel the power of his rage running before him.  She pointed behind her.  “I
will wait over here.”

Which she was really
happy about when Tolan Lark came through the hatch in a full boar rage.  Barnos
met him sitting in the navigator seat.  He had sat just before the Shakien cat
in warrior form came through.  Lara followed suit behind him almost too late, her
butt hitting the chair as the rage-filled beast hit the bridge.

She had seen Nori in a
rage.  This was not that. She sucked in a breath as an unrecognizable Tolan
Lark burst into their space and sucked all the oxygen out of the room.

Barnos started to speak
and the other man roared.  “Where is she?!”

“Shite,” Barnos said
softly.  Then seemed to be thinking of the least volatile explanation.  When it
looked like he was about to get the full charge, Lara stepped forward.

“She’s back on Rindel,”
she said quickly, doing her best to show no fear.

“What do you mean
back
on Rindel?
  Where the hell are we and how?”  If anything he looked angrier,
but he was listening, that was something.

“The mech was a tech whisperer;
she fixed the ship, insisting that we leave before you woke up.”

“And how did you manage
that when I have a passcode?”  His voice had gone deadly low, and Lara shrugged,
trying not to let the fear of imminent spine removal drown her.  She opened her
mouth and hoped he didn’t shoot the messenger.

Barnos jumped in before
she could say it.  “The pretty little mech broke your code, cat.” 

Lara thought the humor in
Barnos’ voice was a touch suicidal but it had the desired effect.  The Shakien
turned those deadly eyes to the pirate and she sagged in her seat, relieved.

There was a long hard
silence before Tolan Lark spoke in an almost growl.  “She broke my code?”

“Well, she kicked the
shite out of you first, fixed the ship in a few hours’ time, apparently with
some crazy power I’ve only heard about in legend, and then broke your passcode
so we could leave before she had to deal with you again,” Barnos corrected
jovially, his eyes twinkling with his insane happy thoughts.  “You certainly
have a way with women.”  Lara opened her eyes wide and tried to communicate to
Barnos that he needed to stop now.  He didn’t.  The big idiot actually laughed
jovially at his joke.  He didn’t even try to moderate it.

She looked from the
pirate to the Shakien and was surprised when the warrior form flowed away to
reveal the man.  A man she noticed who had gone stone cold in a blink.  The
rage was just gone.  Lara had never seen anything like it, but it was what
replaced it that worried her.  Tolan Lark, for all his cold calm never lost the
swirling lavender eyes of his beast form.  His rage had turned to purpose.

What purpose she did not
know, but when he moved to start checking his beloved ship, she looked at
Barnos with a question in her eyes.  He just shrugged and went back to watching
the Shakien with that easy humor.  He also holstered the blaster that Lara had
never seen him draw.  She let out a long breath at the sight and wondered at a
man who could laugh at his partner, while at the same time planning how he
would kill him if he had to.  The scariest part of the whole thing was that she
could feel Barnos; he was enjoying himself as much as he appeared to be.

When he caught her
watching him, he saluted her, his eyes fired as hot as Tolan Lark’s were cold. 
He swept his eyes over her, and she felt the heat of that gaze move over her in
one prickling wash of heat.  Then he turned back to his navigation computer as
if nothing had happened while she tried to breathe again.

With that one look added
to the adrenalin rush of the last few minutes, she was . . . well, energized. 
Her whole body awake and revved up for something, anything else to happen now. 
But nothing did happen.  Tolan Lark and Captain Barnos went about their
business in a swirl of suppressed emotions while she tried to function around
the ridiculous high she was on.  But the man kept watching her, his eyes hot
causing all kinds of tingling to overheated skin.  When she realized her
nipples were beaded tight against her tunic and armor, and her sex was
drenched, she bolted from the room.

She made it to her cabin
door before a hand on her arm twirled her around and she was lifted into a hard
body.  Warm lips slammed down on hers and she gasped.  Barnos growled and took
that as an invitation, plunging his tongue into her mouth and eating her from
the inside out.  He slammed her back against the door or her room, his body
pushing into her much softer one, as her feet dangled from the ground.  She
wrapped her arms around his neck and groaned as her body went supernova in an
instant.

She had been kissed
before.  She even had a lover for a while back on Heti, but it had been soft,
sweet, and lukewarm.  This was none of those things.  He didn’t care who she
was or who her father was; all he wanted was to pillage.  Like the pirate he
was, he stole those rough hands over her body as if he had bought her from the
slave auction for real.  Like he owned her.  This was raw sex and animal heat,
without thought to anything between them but man and woman, and the Lady Lara
of Heti wondered if she would survived the heat.