GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3) (17 page)

"This is a waste of time, Frezlo. She's not
that
important to me. Anyway, in the seconds that it would take you to break her neck and shake loose your arm, I'd get a shot off between your eyes."

Cherry wondered what one called a Mexican standoff if one was a billion miles from Mexico.

"I... tell... name. Keep... woman."

Gallant's eyebrows raised a notch. "That good, huh?"

"Best... ever. I... keep. No... kill." To prove his point, he released Cherry and let her move to his side again.

"That's all well and good but I've got an even better deal for you." He took a step into the room and moved aside. "You give me the woman and the information, or I let my pet have its annual meal a little early."

He whistled and held out his index finger. A high-pitched buzz filled the room, and a fluorescent blue insect about the size of a large mosquito landed on Gallant's finger. In a flash, Frezlo yanked Cherry in front of him again.

"Now, Frezlo," Gallant said in a tone that implied the beast was a child. "You know she can't protect you from a hungry drillfly. And if you think threatening to kill her or me will keep me from releasing this littler bugger, think again. You make one move, of any kind, and I take my thumb off its leg.

"It's well trained but being this close to its favorite dish is too much temptation. The moment I let it go, it's going to head right for you. And you know how fast it attacks. Where do you think it will enter? Your ear? Your nose? Your mouth?"

If Cherry didn't actually feel the violent trembling of Frezlo's body, she wouldn't have believed it. That little bug had him absolutely terrified.

"Just so you don't feel left out, Cherry, let me explain why Frezlo suddenly has rubber in his knees. A drillfly is the only natural enemy of Frezlo's species. They've tried for centuries to eradicate them but never quite succeeded because only one needs to survive to reproduce.

"You see, the drillfly is born pregnant, carrying thousands of eggs. All it needs to do is fly inside a host's head, where it nibbles on brain tissue until the eggs are ready to hatch. Up to that time, the pain is enough to drive the host insane, but once those babies start their feeding frenzy... well, I've heard it's a very unpleasant way to die. But don't worry, it doesn't care for the taste of your brain or mine—only Frezlo's."

With each sentence of Gallant's explanation, Frezlo stumbled further back in the room and Cherry was forced to follow. But Gallant kept coming closer until Frezlo was pressed into the corner.

Holding the insect a few inches from Frezlo's nose, Gallant's voice sounded like a death knell. "Release her."

Frezlo squeaked and looked at his tunic laying on the bed a few feet away. Raw fear had apparently frozen his vocal chords.

"The hook is in the inside of his tunic," Cherry quickly offered. "He put it in an inside pocket on the left side." Gallant backed up far enough to fetch the tunic, then came back and handed it to Cherry.

"Oh, look what I found," Cherry said as soon as she examined the inside. Besides the hook, there was a set of cheats, just as Gallant had suspected.

Gallant explained to her how to unlock the manacle with the hook and, within seconds, she was free and standing behind him. "My mother always said cheaters only cheat themselves in the end. Now, give me the information." Frezlo opened his mouth but only another squeak came out. Gallant stepped a few feet away in hopes that a little breathing room would help Frezlo find his voice. "Try again. Who hired you?"

Frezlo was now shaking so uncontrollably, Cherry was certain she could feel the building vibrating around them.

Gallant raised his finger an inch. "Last chance, Frezlo."

The beast opened his mouth again and this time he managed to make the squeak sound like a word. "Conrep."

Gallant lowered his finger and in a doubtful voice repeated, "A Consociation representative?" Frezlo bobbed his big head up and down. "You'd better be telling me the truth." Between the sheer terror in his eyes and the jerky movements of his head, Gallant decided to believe him. "Which one? And why? Why would a Con rep want to silence the Weebort?"

Another head shake seemed to signify that he had no idea. "Man... masked. Saw... emblem. I... followed."

Gallant interpreted that to mean that Frezlo followed the man who'd hired him once he figured out his employer was someone of importance. He probably planned to blackmail the Con rep after the assassination. "Where did he go?"

"Lore."

Gallant again repeated the word to make sure he had understood. Lore was an unexplored, uninhabitable planet, shrouded in mist and mystery. "Did he land there?" Frezlo nodded shakily. "Did you?" He knew the answer would be negative. No one who landed on Lore was ever heard from again.

"Nice doing business with you, Frezlo." He nudged Cherry toward the door then backed away himself. "Just to make sure you don't have any thoughts of coming after us, I'm going to leave my pet with you while we take off."

Gallant flicked his wrist and the drillfly took off with a flutter of iridescent wings and a loud buzz. The next instant, Frezlo's enormous body was wracked by a seizure and he crashed to the floor in a hairy heap.

Cherry stood by in shocked silence as Gallant cautiously approached the body. Keeping his stunner pointed at the beast's head, he nudged its side with the toe of his boot. When there was no movement for another few seconds, he knelt and pressed his ear to Frezlo's back. "He's dead."

Cherry marched over to Gallant and shoved his shoulder so hard he tipped backward. "You
animal!
How dare you kill him after he told you what you wanted to know?"

That insult coming out of her mouth after he had just risked his life to save her was more than he could stand. He leapt to his feet and stared down his nose at her. "I didn't shoot him! And keep your voice down."

"I don't see any difference between shooting him with that box of yours and letting that insect do it for you."

His nerves were stretched too far to defend himself in a rational manner. "The insect didn't kill him either."

"How can you say that? I saw you let that thing go and it went right for his head. It flew in his ear and killed him."

Through gritted teeth, Gallant argued, "It didn't go in his ear."

"I saw it—"

"How the drek could you see it after I'd already made it disappear?"

They were standing toe to toe, glaring at one another when his words registered in each of their minds at the same time.

Cherry's curiosity temporarily pushed aside her fury. "What did you just say?"

"Never mind. We have to get out of here while it's still dark."

He was out the door before she could get her feet moving, but she swiftly caught up with him outside.

"What—" His hand clamped over her mouth.

"Hush," he whispered. "Do you want to alert that crowd in the tavern that you're out here with me instead of back there with Frezlo?" He didn't wait for an answer before walking off again at a faster pace.

Cherry's lungs were heaving by the time they reached the ship—both from the exertion of keeping up with him while carrying a length of heavy chain and anger over the multitude of abuses he had heaped on her in the last few hours. She could hardly decide which to scream about first.

As they neared the ship, the door opened and the stairway telescoped down. The moment they stepped inside, the process was reversed and Gallant hurried to his chair. Cherry was right behind him.

"I have a few things to say to you, pal."

"It'll have to wait until we're off-planet," Gallant muttered as he flipped switches and pressed keys in the panel. Mar was busy bringing a grid up on his screen and, when Cherry tried to speak to Dot, the female placed a finger to her lips and closed her eyes.

"Sit!" Gallant barked at her.

She was tempted to try standing throughout takeoff just to defy him but her obstinacy didn't go so far as to risk injury. For the next several minutes she remained quiet, outwardly. Inside, she was ranting and raving. At least the enforced delay gave her a chance to rehearse all the rotten names she was going to call him.

Gallant stretched out the take-off procedures as long as possible, hoping for two miracles—that Cherry would calm down and that she would forget what he said about making the drillfly disappear. He may as well have asked for the Supreme Being to make an appearance in the cockpit for all the good hoping did him. The second the ship settled into cruise mode, she was on her feet in front of the panel, ready to tear him to pieces.

Cherry faced him with her fists on her hips, took one deep breath, and fired. "You are the most despicable, vulgar, disgusting, lying, cheating—"

"Excuse us," Mar interrupted.

Simultaneously, Cherry and Gallant turned to him and demanded,
"What!"

Mar gave them a pleasant smile. "You neglected to inform us of our destination."

"Lore," Gallant said.

"Earth," Cherry countered. "You
swore
you'd take me back if I helped you. Considering what you just put me through I'd say you owe me a hell of a lot more than a ride home. How
dare
you leave me like that? I could have been killed!"

"You weren't in any danger of being killed... at least not right away."

"Aargh!
How can you be so—"

"Excuse us," Dot interrupted. "Do you think you could settle this matter elsewhere while we plot our course? Your...
discussion
is somewhat distracting."

"Fine," Gallant said with a huff and rose from his chair.

"That course had better be for Earth," Cherry warned as she followed Gallant into the corridor.

"Lore!" Gallant called over his shoulder. "I'm still the captain on this ship."

"Only as long as I let you live," Cherry said to his back.

His frustration showed as he slammed his fist against the door opener for his room. Not to be outdone, as soon as they were inside, Cherry hit the panel just as hard to close the door again.

Holding the length of chain in front of her, she demanded, "You get this damn thing off me before I use it to beat you with." As soon as she was free of the collar, she resumed her verbal attack. "What you did to me back there was the lowest, most wretched thing anyone—"

"You were never in any serious danger!"

"How would you know? You left me with those... those
creatures,
to do who knows what!"

"I wouldn't have had to leave you at all if
you
hadn't taken my cubes out of my vest!"

"I wouldn't have taken them if I hadn't found out
you
were using them to cheat."

"And I wouldn't have had to cheat if you had just been reasonable and agreed to cooperate with me to begin with!"

"Considering how you ended up abandoning me, I was right not to agree."

"I never abandoned you. I was right outside the whole time. Anyway, I knew Frezlo wouldn't allow anyone to touch you once he decided to use you himself."

"And
who
was the brainy bastard who put that idea into his head? He only wanted to kill me before you made it sound like Sinbar had enjoyed me so much he should try me himself!"

Gallant grinned in spite of himself. "That was rather quick of me, wasn't it?"

"Quick? There was nothing quick about how long it took for you to rescue me."

"I told you before. You weren't in any serious danger. The mating ritual of Frezlo's species is extremely long. I was waiting outside his door until I heard the sounds that let me know you had him completely distracted."

"That shows how much you know. All I was doing was brushing his hair... not that that wasn't gross enough!"

"Not to him. For Frezlo, a good grooming is the most sensuous foreplay there is. Unlike humanoids, his hair contains nerve cells."

"Are you telling me that while I was untangling knots, I was actually...
arousing
him?"

Gallant couldn't resist. "You heard what he said—you were the best ever."

"O-o-oh! I hate you!" Unable to speak another coherent word, she raised her fists, prepared to express her anger physically.

He blocked her attack and ordered, "Stop it. I'm getting sick and tired of you hitting me without reason. The next time you do it, I'm going to hit you back."

"Ha! You already did that, remember? In fact, I think you cracked my jaw." She rubbed the spot he had struck for effect.

"I had to do that to save you from Sinbar! Surely you realized he was drawing you into a trance."

"Of course I did. But you still hurt me." She tried to hold on to her anger, but suddenly, uncontrollably, tears filled her eyes and she stammered out the truth. "I've never been so scared in my entire life." His arms opened and the offer of comfort—even from him—was impossible to resist.

"I swore no harm would come to you. You should have trusted me," he said, holding her tightly against him.

She tipped her head back and frowned at him. "How could I trust you? You're a liar and a cheat and—" Before she could utter another insult, he silenced her with his lips.