Fugitive (8 page)

   "What about that swim in the lake?" Manx went on. "Did you enjoy watching her?"

   "Didn't hate it, if that's what you mean," Zef replied. "Like I said before, she's a lot like you." Zef looked up at Manx with a friendly eye. "Never minded you."

   "Well, then, do me a favor and try not to scare her off—let her swim without being bothered—unless, of course, you two decide to be friends. Then she probably wouldn't mind." Maybe.

   "Rather be swimming with her yourself, wouldn't you?" Zef said shrewdly. "You haven't come right out and said it, but you fancy her, don't you?"

"Fancy?" Manx echoed. "What do you mean by that?"

   "Means you like her, numb nuts! Want to mate with her and all that crap!"

   Manx's lips curled into a grin. "You wouldn't have said it was crap when you were younger."

   "That's another reason never to get old," Zef grumbled. "I got so old and ugly they voted me out of the lake! Imagine that, now—being sent off to live out the rest of your miserable days without any of your own kind!"

   Manx just looked at him for a long moment with a slightly raised brow.

   "Oh, yeah," Zef said. "Sorry. Forgot! Guess you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

   "Yes, I would," Manx said. "And if you don't mind my saying so, the 'rest of my days' is going to be a very long time—provided that no one kills me—and I'm thinking I'd like to spend those days with someone like Drusilla." Actually, it wasn't someone
like
Drusilla that Manx had in mind, but Drusilla herself, though he didn't want to get his hopes up too soon. After all, Drusilla wasn't the first potential mate he'd spotted, just the one he found the most appealing.

   Manx had come very close to choosing a mate on Serillia, which was where the Nedwuts had caught up with him last. Larita was her name. She was pretty and very nice, but Serillians weren't nearly as much like Zetithians as Drusilla was. They'd become good friends, but Manx wasn't sure he could have mated with Larita; her scent wasn't quite right, and he'd had doubts that they were genetically compatible. Manx was also honest enough to admit that he hadn't truly loved Larita, but he did regret not saying good-bye to her. He had warned her about the threat of capture and hoped she understood why he had to leave so abruptly, but there was no way to be sure.

   Zef hadn't thought so when Manx had related the story to him. "Just thought you were making an excuse to run out on her," he'd said. "Not a bad excuse, either."

   But Manx didn't want to make excuses anymore, and he was getting tired of being alone. He wasn't that old—just entering the prime of his long life, in fact— and being on the run wasn't much fun, either. There had to be
someplace
where the Nedwuts wouldn't find him. Perhaps this "Earth" that Drusilla was from was just such a place…

Chapter 5

MANX HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING IT AT THE TIME, BUT EARTH was a
very
good place for a Zetithian to seek refuge— and Captain Jacinth "Jack" Tshevnoe of the starship
Jolly Roger
was the reason why. A Terran herself, she'd bought a Zetithian slave whom she'd subsequently freed and then promptly fell in love with. She'd dubbed him "Cat" and, since her marriage to him, had become the champion of the remaining Zetithians throughout the galaxy. Granted, there weren't many of them left, but those she'd found were now well protected—especially by the women who loved them.

   Given to shooting Nedwuts on sight, Jack had managed to discourage most Nedwuts from collecting the bounty on her husband, but she had recently discov ered that the bounty was not only still being offered, but had, in fact, been raised to five million credits. Someone wanted them exterminated very badly—someone with plenty of money and the ability to remain anonymous.

   Nedwuts were hairy, snarling, wolf-like primates who were generally regarded as the worst the galaxy had to offer. Thanks to Cat's visions, it had become known that, while people from several worlds had been engaged in the war on Zetith, it had been the Nedwuts who were responsible for its ultimate destruction. This, coupled with the fact that no one liked them anyway, made Nedwuts persona non grata on most civilized worlds. But with a five million credit bounty on Zetithians, those who had the resources kept looking.

   Jack was a trader in legal goods throughout the galaxy but had lately tended to keep to the Terran quadrant, where it was safer for her husband and six children. She and Cat traveled with Leo, another Zetithian, and his wife, Tisana, who was a witch capable of telepathic communication with animals and who also possessed the power to set things on fire with a glance. These were both useful skills when it came to defending her own husband and children, and though Tisana was a peaceful sort of witch, she didn't hesitate to use those powers when she deemed it necessary.

   The men had all been taken prisoner at the end of the war on Zetith and had been sold as slaves by an enter prising soul who had seen no point in executing these last few soldiers when he could make a tidy little profit on them. In addition to Cat and Leo, Jack had found Trag, Tychar, and Lynx on her trading runs, and all but Trag had found Terran mates. Trag, who was now a pilot for an arms merchant, was holding out for a Zetithian female, and despite Jack's efforts, thus far she had come up empty-handed. Trag's brother, Tychar, was a galaxy class rock star—and had women on a host of planets drooling over him, including his wife, Kyra—but he hadn't run across any either. If there were any Zetithian females left, they were keeping their heads down.

   Manx had been the only one of them to escape from slavery, but the rest were, as yet, ignorant of his where abouts, as well as his continued existence. Until now.

   When Jack had discovered that a band of Nedwuts were on the trail of another Zetithian, she became determined to get to him first. Jack had once tracked her sister's trail across the galaxy and had managed to find her, and though this trail wasn't as easy to follow, expe rience had taught her the best methods. The Nedwuts in question had been blabbing about their next kill in some seedy little bar, and the proprietor had been more than willing to share this information with Jack—for a price, of course.

   The Nedwuts had reportedly been grumbling about how many planets they'd been searching since they'd lost their quarry on Serillia and how difficult it was to gain information, but Jack had an advantage: People didn't mind talking to her, but they hated dealing with Nedwuts or helping them out in any way. So, Jack was able to avoid searching all of the possible planets that the man could have gone to after eluding capture and instead focus on the one that he
had
landed on.

   On Serillia, instead of looking for the Zetithian, Jack had posted a picture of her husband along with the infor mation that he was searching for his lost brother. Jack had no idea if the man they were looking for was Cat's brother or not but decided it was worth a shot, and it paid off.

   A woman named Larita had come forward and said that though Cat had black eyes rather than green, he had the same long, curly black hair, pointed ears, and feline eyes as a man she had known who had suddenly disappeared without a trace. In addition to his physical description, she was also able to report that he had an amazingly good sense of smell. The trail was cold— he'd been gone for more than a year—but with this new information, though Jack suspected that Larita could have added a few more sensuous details which would have clinched it for her, Cat was able to identify him.

   "It is Manxarkodrath," Cat told Jack after hearing Larita's description.

   "Who?" Jack said.

   "Manxarkodrath Panteris," he repeated.

   "That's his name? You've
got to be
kidding!" she began, but added, "No, you're not, are you?"

   Cat shook his head. "He had green eyes and black hair and only had to be downwind of a receptive female to—"

   "Get it up?"

   Cat grinned devilishly and nodded. "He had the best nose of any of us. We called him Manx."

   "Manx, huh? Probably should have called him Snuffles," Jack said with a chuckle. "But at least we know who we're looking for now—and have a pretty good idea of when he left. Hope the guys at the spaceport are feeling talkative. Probably have to trade them something for that info," she muttered, mentally reviewing the contents of her ship's cargo bay. "By the way, what did Larita want in exchange for her little tidbit?"

   Cat smiled again. "A lock of my hair."

   "You guys just kill me," Jack grumbled. "Did you give it to her?"

   "Yes, I did," Cat replied. "You are angry with me?"

   "I'd only be angry if you gave her some of your joy juice," Jack said frankly. "Give away any of that, and we'll have to talk!"

   Cat began purring as he took her in his arms. "I would not do that," he said. "That is only for you, my lovely master."

   She never could resist Cat once he started purring. He could have gotten anything from her but only wanted her love. "I think we need to get back to the ship," she whispered, "—and soon!"

   Inhaling the intoxicating aroma of her desire, Cat smiled mischievously. Pushing a stray lock of hair back from her eyes, he kissed her softly.

   "That Larita wasn't pregnant, was she?" Jack asked suddenly.

   "I do not believe so," Cat replied. Zetithians were known for their occasional "visions" and Cat's claim to fame was in knowing when the women of his acquaintance were pregnant—especially if another Zetithian was the father.

   "God, I hope there's nothing wrong with him! What if he's like Lynx?" Jack shuddered with horror at the thought. Lynx had been a harem slave, and the women there had literally worn him out. This had caused Jack a great deal of concern—a surviving Zetithian who couldn't reproduce was something that she couldn't stand the thought of—and though he had recovered, Jack didn't ever want to go through that again.

   "Larita knew he was on the run from the Nedwuts but didn't mention that he'd ever been a slave," Cat said soothingly. "Perhaps he managed to escape that fate."

   "I certainly hope so," Jack said roundly. "But if the Nedwuts ever catch up with him, he's dead meat."

   "But they have not caught him yet," Cat reminded her. "He could be very elusive and was an excellent hunter himself."

   "Yes, but could he smell Nedwuts a kilometer away?"

   "Perhaps not so far as that, but he did have an excel lent nose."

"Better than yours?"

   "Yes," he replied. "If you will recall, when you left me in the slave market, I thought you were gone forever."

   "No chance of that," Jack said wryly. She'd seen his cock in full bloom during the pre-auction inspection and wouldn't have left before seeing where he wound up, even if she hadn't bought him herself. Of course, if she hadn't been there, he wouldn't have been sold at all because the level of restraint he seemed to require made him less attractive to other bidders. Jack had been the only one bidding on him, getting him for a paltry five credits. "I know a bargain when I see one."

***

They arrived back at the
Jolly Roger
and boarded, only to discover that Leo and Tisana had taken all of the chil dren on an outing to the local zoo.

   "Cat!" Jack whispered excitedly. "Do you realize this means we have the whole ship to ourselves?"

   "It has been a long time since we have had such freedom," Cat agreed. "We should not waste it."

   Since Jack was already unbuckling his belt, this encouragement was completely unnecessary. Sliding her hands inside his breeches, she reached down to grab his buns and pull him closer. "My sentiments exactly."

   Taking her face in his hands, Cat kissed her, the sensa tion of heat already beginning to grow inside him. His cock became hard as he inhaled her scent and he reveled in the feel of her hands on his skin. Licking first her neck and then teasing her earlobe, he began purring in her ear.

   "Mmm, Kittycat," she said. "I just love it when you do that."

   "And I love it when you call me Kittycat," he returned. Purring might be one of a Zetithian male's surest means of enticement, but his lovely Jacinth knew all the ways to entice him as well.

***

It was tedious work, but Jack and her friends managed to trace each ship that had left the spaceport within a few days of Manx's disappearance. While several captains had reported possible stowaways, only one mentioned something that the Nedwuts wouldn't have made anything of: the stowaway in question had apparently liked sweets.

   "What makes you think that?" Jack asked.

   "Nothing ever went missing from the food locker but sweets," the captain declared. "That was the only clue there was anyone aboard. Very good at hiding, he must have been, because we never found any trace of him—and we
did
look."

   Now, Jack knew how partial Cat was to sweets and, with Leo as further evidence to support her theory, suspected that all Zetithians had a sweet tooth, which made this the most likely lead to follow.

   "Where did you land on that trip?" Jack asked.

   "Let me see now," he said, checking his log. "After Serillia, we made the rounds of the neighboring systems. Nurate, Bexal, and Barada Seven—in that order."

   Jack had been to all of those worlds before and knew that if she'd stowed away on a ship, Nurate and Bexal were some of the very
last
places she'd want to get off, which left Barada Seven.

   "Have the stowaway the whole time?" she asked casually.

"Unless one of my men was lying."

   Jack doubted that. "Any of them gain weight on the trip?" she inquired with a mischievous grin.

   "Not a gram," he replied. "In fact, most of them
lost weight."

   "Bingo!"

   "I beg your pardon?"

   "Nothing," Jack replied, but it wasn't nothing; it was a good, solid lead. Manx was as good as found.

***

But Jack and the Nedwuts weren't the only ones on his trail.