Lady Lure (9 page)

“I wish I could be of more help to you. Her
voice was tight with the discomfort he was inflicting on her.

“I can do it,” Halvo said. “Just a moment or
two more.”

The
Space Dragon
shivered as if it
would come apart at any second and Halvo, already unbalanced by the
effects of the old injury to his inner ear, went sprawling. He
landed on something soft and heard the air go out of it in a quick
little cry. He opened his eyes to find himself lying facedown atop
Perri.

She was soft and sweet beneath him. Her lips
were parted as she gasped for air. With that first deep breath her
breasts moved against Halvo’s chest. Her green eyes met his with
concern and fear.

Halvo felt his body stir into hard, masculine
life. It had been so long since that had happened, the entire year
of his hospitalization and for some months before that. He had
worried, in the black loneliness of many a night since his
injuries, that he would never feel like a virile man again. That it
should happen here, in a spaceship about to disintegrate into tiny
pieces, while he lay immobilized on the body of a girl half his age
who was responsible for his present situation, seemed to Halvo just
one more piece of a bad joke the cosmos was playing on him. And yet
gazing into Perri’s eyes, he was aware of a jolt of irrational
happiness.

He wanted to kiss Perri and feel those soft
red lips opening beneath his own hard mouth. He wanted to take her
in his arms and hear her moan while he -

“Halvo, are you in terrible pain? Speak to
me. Are you paralyzed?”

“Just give me a minute.” He could not take
his eyes off her lovely face.

“Get off me, Halvo, and go fix the controls.”
Perri pushed at him with her left hand. The urgency in her voice
increased. “Please hurry.”

He wanted to hurry. He wanted to thrust
rapidly into her soft, feminine body and rush to a joyous,
all-consuming climax…

“Halvo!”

“I know. I know, Perri. I have to get to my
feet.” Halvo had spent more than twenty years in the Jurisdiction
Service. He was trained to duty, and duty called to him. In a
monumental act of willpower he consigned the storm of desire
afflicting him to a far corner of his mind and kept it there.

“If you can reach the release button just
above my head,” Perri said, “the bands will retract and I will be
free to help you stand up.”

“Yes. Good idea.” With some difficulty Halvo
got his right arm over his head. His searching fingers found the
button and pushed. He tried to make his mind a blank so he would
not react out of passionate desire when Perri touched him. She
seemed to be unaware of his response to physical contact with her,
but Halvo knew he would not soon forget the sensation of her lithe
body sliding out from under his or the gentle strength of her small
hands. Then he was on his feet, and the pain in his spine was
minimal. After carefully straightening his back, Halvo made his way
to the controls.

“Perri, come and help me move Rolli.”

“I’m here.” She was right behind him, and she
gave him an encouraging glance before turning her attention to the
robot. “Oh, poor Rolli,” she said, regarding the blackened fingers
still resting on the control for Starthruster.

“Don’t touch anything that’s metal until I
have shut down the panel,” Halvo said.

It only took a moment, then he let Perri roll
the robot out of the way.

“We’ll fix it later, when we have more time,”
Halvo said, seating himself.

“Do you know how to pilot the ship?” Perri
crouched down beside him, eager to help. Halvo wasn’t sure why she
was so calm when she had previously been so upset, but he blessed
her self-control.

“I was flying ships like this before you were
born,” he said. “I haven’t forgotten how. Your knees and back are
younger than mine, so you are going to have to do the repair work.
I want you to crawl under this control panel and follow my
instructions.”

“Don’t say that.”

“Don’t say what?”

“You are not so much older than I.”

“Tell that to my doctors.”

“Your injuries will heal in time, Halvo.” Did
she know what the soft touch of her hand on his thigh was doing to
him? “It seems to me that you are not as pale as you were when you
first came aboard the
Space Dragon.”

“I’m sure that’s true.” Halvo looked down
upon her dark red hair and barely restrained himself from twisting
his hands into it and lifting her face to his. “Here is what I want
you to do. It’s fairly simple. You won’t even need tools.” Swiftly,
he gave her the repair instructions.

“Are you certain I won’t destroy the ship?”
she asked. “I have no mechanical ability at all.”

“It’s a perfectly simple adjustment,” Halvo
said. “If you aren’t sure about something, just ask a few
questions.”

“That I can do.” After giving him a wry
smile, she lowered her head and went to work.

Halvo tried not to react when she brushed
against his legs as she moved around down there beneath the control
panel. However, he did find it impossible to keep his eyes off the
beautifully rounded buttocks that shifted and moved back and forth
just beside his seat. His gratitude knew no bounds when Perri
finally completed the repairs and crawled out again to stand behind
his chair.

“Will it work now?” As she bent forward to
look at the control panel, her breast pressed on his shoulder and
her warm fragrance filled his senses.

“Stand back,” he ordered brusquely. “You are
in the way.”

She said nothing more, but she did move.
Halvo breathed a sigh of relief and refused to think about his
growing frustration. Then he brought the control panels back
on-line and deactivated Starthruster. At last he was able to fire
the braking rockets. The
Space Dragon
slowed, and as it did,
the dangerous vibrations gradually stopped.

“Oh, thank you.” Looking as if she might cry,
Perri collapsed into the navigator’s chair. “You saved us. The ship
will hold together, won’t it?”

“I think so. For the time being, at least.
You did the actual repairs, Perri. I should be thanking you.” And
he knew just how he would like to thank her, too. Gods of Demaria,
what was wrong with him? Why did he think about making passionate
love to her every time he looked at her? “Because it has been too
cursed long a time,” he muttered, answering his own questions.

“I beg your pardon, Halvo?”

“It has been too long since I last piloted a
ship like this,” Halvo said hastily. “In my younger days, I used to
be a hotshot pilot.”

“I think you still are.” The brilliant smile
Perri gave him nearly took Halvo’s breath away.

There had not been much reason for Perri to
smile in recent days. Nor was there cause for rejoicing at that
moment. Her relief at the knowledge that death by disintegration
was no longer imminent quickly gave way to pangs of guilt.

“Halvo, I do not know how to express my
regret for what I have done to you.” She was still seated in the
navigator’s chair, with Halvo in the copilot’s chair. The pilot’s
place was empty because it was Rolli’s place and the robot did not
require a seat.

At her words, Halvo turned to look at her
with a burning intensity that Perri interpreted as anger.

“I am truly sorry,” she whispered, hoping she
might avert his rage by enlarging her apology. “I will do anything
I can to make it up to you.”

“We will discuss it later. I’m sure I will be
able to think of something you can do for me.” A silver light
smoldered in Halvo’s gray eyes.

“I ought also to thank you for being clever
enough to save our lives.” Perri was disconcerted by Halvo’s steady
gaze. Remembering Elyr’s cold anger whenever she did something
wrong, she was a bit fearful of Halvo’s present mood. “You were
right about everything, Halvo. I was a fool to trust the story I
was told without asking questions. Elyr, his servant who first
brought the tale of his arrest to me, the Chief Hierarch himself –
all of them lied to me. None of them cared a bit for my life. Nor
was my concern for Elyr an adequate excuse for committing a
criminal act. I am deeply ashamed.”

“Abject penitence does not become you, Perri.
I much prefer to hear you snapping and snarling at me. Besides,
this adventure isn’t all bad. I haven’t had this much fun in years.
Being an admiral can be an awfully stuffy business.” His cheerful
grin shocked Perri.

“Your attitude is most gracious,” she
murmured. “But I still owe you some recompense for your recent
trials.”

“Don’t worry. As I said, I’ll think of
something you can do in return.”

“You have only to name it, Halvo.”

He laughed and suddenly he looked like a much
younger man. Perri noted how sure his hands were on the controls.
When a light blinked or a buzzer sounded, Halvo did not hesitate
for a moment. He knew just what to do. His competence gave her a
feeling of complete security. Unfortunately, she knew her
contentment could not last. In her experience of life, good things
never did.

“Halvo,” she said, “where are we going?”

“I have a more important question,” he said.
“Where are we now?”

“Don’t the navigational instruments provide
that information?”

“I’m not sure we can depend on them. All the
evidence indicates that we were hit by a blast from one of the
Regulan ships just as we shifted to Starthruster. Add the effects
of using Starthruster for too long a time to any structural damage
the Regulan shots did and you get some very peculiar readings on
the instruments. We can make some repairs here in space, but we
really ought to find a planet where we can set the
Space
Dragon
down and go over her completely inside and out, checking
all the systems.”

“Will it be safe to land?” Perri asked.
“Won’t the Regulans pursue us?”

“They have to,” Halvo said grimly. “The Chief
Hierarch cannot take the chance that we will reach a Jurisdiction
outpost and report everything we know about his scheming.”

“What shall we do, then?”

“Our best chance of eluding capture lies in
staying as far away from Regula as possible, which may not be too
difficult, given the length of time Starthruster was controlling
this ship. The Regulans have no way of knowing how long we used
Starthruster. That lack of information ought to slow their search
somewhat and provide us with a little time. At the moment, it’s the
only advantage we have. Let’s hope it will be enough.”

“You are saying that I cannot return to my
homeworld.” Perri had not meant to sound so despairing.

“Do you really want to go back?” Halvo sent
her an understanding look.

“I don’t know. I have never thought of living
anywhere except on Regula. For Regulans, exile is a punishment
worse than death. But there is nothing left for me on Regula now.
Elyr has made it clear that he does not want me.” Perri took a
moment to purge her voice of any hint of sorrow before she
continued. “I have been separated from my blood kin for so long
that they are all strangers to me, and my parents have been dead
for several years. If I were to return, I would have to stand trial
for what I have done, and with the Chief Hierarch and Elyr
testifying against me, as they surely would in order to protect
themselves, I would be convicted and given a long prison sentence –
or a worse punishment.”

“Permanent exile,” Halvo said. “Which is what
you have now without the nuisance of a trial.”

“Oh, dear,” Perri said. “Just a little while
ago, I was feeling so content.”

“Perhaps we can discover a way to restore
your contentment.” Halvo’s voice sank to a low, caressing tone that
resonated in the depths of Pern’s being. His smile warmed her
heart. It told her he held no grudge against her. She smiled back
at him, feeling for a brief and lovely moment as if she was not a
stranger in a cold, empty universe with all the forces of her
native world aligned against her.

“Now,” Halvo said, speaking more briskly, “I
am going to switch to the slowest possible speed and set the
controls on automatic. Let us hope we don’t have any trouble with
that setting, because while it is on, you and I are going to try to
repair Rolli. We are going to need that robot to help us get the
Space Dragon
back into top condition and to correct any
defects in the navigational system, not to mention in the sensors,
so we can detect the Regulan ships that are surely going to follow
us.”

Half an hour later, with the ship running on
its own and with the available tools laid out on the bench in neat
order as if they were a surgeon’s instruments, Halvo went to
work.

“I know it is only a metal construction, but
I have begun to think of Rolli as a person,” Halvo said. “Removing
its head feels to me like a decapitation.”

“It is.” Perri watched Halvo’s nimble fingers
with growing amazement. As a female, she had never been permitted
to use masculine tools. Her first attempt to work with them had
been the repair to the controls that she had done under Halvo’s
guidance. Now, her fingers itched with her desire to take up one of
the instruments and help Halvo. Knowing she would very likely prove
to be more of a hindrance than an assistant, she resisted the
impulse. To distance herself emotionally from the actual work, she
decided to tell Halvo some of Rolli’s history. She was just about
to begin when Halvo finished removing the last screw and lifted
Rolli’s head off the slender metal neck.

“Oh,” Perri murmured, looking into the
opening thus revealed. “I did not know how complicated Rolli is.”
She was pleased when Halvo did not order her to move away. Instead,
he began to explain what it was she was seeing.

“There is the damage, right in front of us.
No wonder Rolli’s hands froze on the controls.” Using a tool that
looked to Perri like a large pair of tweezers, Halvo extracted
several long strands of blackened fiber from Rolli’s neck. “This is
why we smelled burning insulation. The mechanism for Rolli’s
physical movement is located in what, on a human, we would call the
chest. Information is routed from Rolli’s memory circuits in the
head we just removed, down through the neck along these fibers to
the secondary circuits in the chest, where a message to use the
hands is implemented, or a message to move around on those little
wheels. The system is roughly analogous to the human body: Your
brain tells your hands or your feet what to do by sending commands
through your nerves.”