Finding Lara (Distant Worlds Book 3) (5 page)

“We’re going to do what!?”

The Lady Lara smiled. 
Even recovering from acute shock, he could not help but take in that smile.  He
shook himself out of it when Tolan Lark pulled up the tracking and sent her to
get cleaned up.  “You can use the same room as last time.  You look like you
need a bath and a rest before we get to where we are going.”

“Thank you,” she beamed. 
“I knew you would help both of us.  No matter what my sister says about you.” 
Then she practically skipped out of the room.  Skipped, a full-grown woman,
after being rescued from a kidnapping and the slave pits.  It boggled the
mind.  Barnos watched her until she was out of the bridge and then turned back
to his temporary partner, who until this moment he thought he understood.

“Have you lost your mind?”

“What reason would
someone buy an Avian male child?”

Barnos narrowed his
eyes.  “Are you going to answer my question?”

“I just did.”

Barnos blinked at that,
and then really thought about it.  “Not sexual slavery; they are too dangerous
. . .”  Then Barnos started to laugh, his good mood restored.  “The death
games,” he smiled, and this time the smile was half evil, half satisfaction. 
They bought him for the fights.”

“And he wears an
undetectable tracker that we have the code to trace.”  Then for the first time,
it was Tolan Lark who laughed.  Barnos was no lightweight but even he had to
suppress a shiver at the rough sound of it.

“And the girl?”

“Has a way with words we
might need, not to mention I have no intention of giving back the Alliance
tracking device until I’m damn well good and ready to.”

Now that was the
heartless mercenary he had come to know.  Driven and focused with little
thought to anything but ending the death games.  Barnos had never learned Tolan
Lark’s reasons for the quest he had given himself, but then he had never
discussed what drove him with the cat either.  Barnos fisted his cybernetic
hand at the end of his cybernetic arm.  And grimly his thoughts turned to Cor
Warrung. Owner of the death games and slippery evil bastard.  After months of
fruitless searches, they finally had a way to find the bastard.  Who would have
thought it was the Lady Lara of Heti that would ultimately bring down someone
as evil as Cor Warrung?

That thought was enough
to send Barnos into a gale of laughter.  He ignored the cat’s hiss at the loud
sound.  Then he sobered.  That was a meeting he never wanted to take place. 
Cor Warrung would take great delight in destroying something that beautiful and
innocent.  The genetically twisted monster would revel in it.  He remembered
the joy on Lara’s face when Tolan said they would help rescue the boy. 
Shite.
 
He assured himself that they would keep the boy and the Lady safe, but it was
not as reassuring as he wanted it to be.  In a fight like this innocents paid
the price all the time, and if switching her tracking device showed anything it
was that the lady was just as innocent as she appeared.  God help them all.  He
did not want to live with that on what was left of his conscience.

The next blast hit them
broad side.  Barnos grinned when Tolan Lark cursed.  “No luck with their
computers?”

“I’m not even sure these
pirates have one,” he shot back.  “It’s downright barbaric.”

Another blast shook the
ship.  “Maybe they figured the cannon and shield were enough tech.”  When the
ship rattled, he silently thought they might be right.

“Bloody pirates,” Tolan
Lark muttered.  Barnos laughed when he added a quick, “No offense.”

“None taken, mate.”  He
grinned at the cat.  “What do you suppose they’re after?  This close to
Montrouge?”  It was a rhetorical question.  They both knew what they were
after.

“You had to make a
dramatic statement and bid one thousand platinum.  They’ll be coming out of the
woodwork until we get clear of this quadrant.”

Barnos shrugged.  What
could he say?  He hated wasting time on the small shite.  At the time, he just
wanted to get the lady with all expediency and go.  He just figured they all
would think he was besotted or crazy, but the deference the Maize paid her
along with his own actions called too much attention to the girl.  She was
beautiful sure, but one thousand platinum would feed a family for a year, if
they weren’t too particular.  A man might pay one thousand platinum for a suit
of nanite Faustian armor but for a mere slave girl?  Not bloody likely.  Even
he would never have bid that much if it had been his own money.  Now, her father’s
Alliance money, that he had no problem spending.

When she returned from cleaning
up, with her shiny hair brushed and braided down her back, he wondered if she
really was an angel.  Even in a standard blue tunic and black ship slacks, she
would stand out in any crowd.  And in those tight ship pants and knee boots her
legs looked like they went on forever.  If she lived up to all that sultry
promise he had to admit he might pay that much, maybe.

If they had not been attacked
he still would have been wallowing in a particularly risqué fantasy involving
all that hair flowing free, and those long damn legs wrapped around his face. 
Instead, she was sitting quietly in her jump chair watching them with big
trusting eyes that expressed the rock solid belief that they would win the
day.  With four different pirate clunkers blasting away at them he had to admit
his own arse was puckered significantly.  The Lady, however, was giving off
soothing serene vibes.  He doubted his boner was the result she was going for,
but there it was.

The computer blared a
warning and Tolan Lark cursed a blue streak with a voice that was considerably
more animal than man. Then the lights on board buzzed off and on and Barnos was
thinking the mercenary’s incredible luck might have just met its match.  Then
the crazy bastard did something at the computer with a growl and Barnos could
feel a difference in the ship.  They were adrift. 

“What the hell?!” This
time he was the one growling.  They floated sideways in an uncontrolled drift,
into the flight of one of the pirate ships.  The pirates barely evaded, and
then something happened that Barnos did not anticipate.  The pirates turned on
each other.  While
The Fire
drifted into dead space, ignored for the
moment by the pirated war birds, Barnos looked from the view screen to Tolan
Lark who was casually flicking buttons as if he had all day.  Then, moving to
the computer to give the reboot command, he oh so casually started up his
drifting ship and sailed away.  With enough space between them and the others,
he initiated light speed and they were gone.

Barnos was still blinking
in disbelief at the incredibly suicidal move.  “You did that on purpose?”

“Yes.”

“Without shields one hit
would have destroyed us.”

“Yes, but I was counting
on them not wanting to lose their prey.  I figured once they thought we were
out of commission they would turn on each other.”  He shrugged casually.  “They
did.”

Barnos closed his gaping
mouth, shaking his head in disbelief; as soon as he got over the adrenaline
rush from that one, he was sure he would find it hilarious.  In the meantime,
he was just glad to be alive.  “Jaysus.”

The computer started that
warning drone again, and Tolan growled.  “We took damage.  We’re leaking power
and there was a hit on the starboard side that could turn into a major hull
breach if we don’t take care of it.”

Barnos grumbled under his
breath but pulled up the navigation tables.  “Where the bloomin’ hell are we
anyway?”

He pulled up the answer
himself.  “Close to the edge of Alliance space,” he mumbled.  “It’ll have to be
Rindel.”

“Let’s hope they have a
decent ship mechanic there or we are in trouble.”

They looked at each other
and then turned to look at the Lady Lara. 
At least she was quiet in a star
battle.

“Any chance you speak
Rindelee?”  Tolan Lark asked.  “It’s doubtful that they speak Alliance Standard
and the language tutoring software I have is dated.”

Not to mention
,
Barnos thought,
that even if you do the tutorial it takes weeks to absorb a
new language and unless you have a knack for it, you still sound like an idiot
until you are immersed in the speaking people for a while.  Nothing says
outsider faster than trying to speak with a people after only the tutor as your
guide.

“As soon as we are close
enough to the planet start an open line for me.  I can listen to the open
broadcasts.  By the time we reach Rindel, I will be able to speak for us.” 

Barnos almost laughed
thinking she was being a smart ass, but she looked completely sincere.  “Come
again?” he asked with obvious incredulity.

“Your sister once told me
you had a way with languages that I would not believe,” Tolan murmured with a half-smile
forming, “but that is quite an impressive talent.”

“If she can pull it off,”
Barnos added with a great deal of doubt.

“If she can pull it off,”
Tolan Lark nodded his head in agreement, his eyes still on the lady.

The Lady Lara merely
lifted her dainty shoulders and dropped them again.  She did not argue one way or
the other. 
She was right
, Barnos thought. He wouldn’t believe her until
he saw it anyway.

***

Barnos was still gaping
when the lady finished her negotiations with the border guard and they were
headed for the recommended ship mech on Rindel.  When she turned and smiled at
him, he broke into a broad grin and returned it.  Laughing.  “Bloody brilliant,
sassy, not to mention straight up hot as hell,” he added to that smile, his
heated eyes moving over her.  She lost her smile and glared at him; she huffed
in a small ladylike way, giving him her back while she flounced away.  “What?” 
He admired the angry sway of her backside.  He turned to look at Tolan Lark and
the cat gave him a raised eyebrow.  “What?” he asked shrugging, smile still in
place.  “It’s the truth! That was damn sexy.”

“Perhaps,” he offered a
small half smile belaying his carefully spaced words.  “You might tone down
that pirate brashness, just a bit, when dealing with a diplomat’s daughter.”

Barnos snorted.  “The
diplomat’s daughter who told me not a galaxy past that if I continued to stomp
about the ship like a burly beast I would break it? 
That
diplomat’s
daughter?”

Tolan Lark shrugged
again.  “You do have quite the tromp, my friend, and I think she thought to be
helpful, that you were unaware of the great thumping walk of yours.”

Barnos narrowed his eyes
at the Shakien.

Tolan Lark smirked and
returned his eyes to the controls.  “I have the coordinates for the mech.  Let
us hope that he knows something about ships.”

Barnos continued to glare
his displeasure at the cat but allowed the change of subject.  They would be on
Rindel too fast to dwell on the insult to his person. 
Stomp about like a
great burly beast is it?
  He snorted at the thought even as he headed for
the best part of the ship in his estimation.  The armory.  He stomped his feet
with a little more force than necessary when he passed the female again.  She
scrunched her forehead cutely as he passed, but made no further comment.  He
harrumphed. 
Damn right.

***

Pirate
,
Tolan Lark had said.
 Captain Barnos definitely looked the part,
Lara
thought, though the pirates she had observed in the past were nothing like this
one.  Still, he fit the romantic ideal, rather than the true to life greedy
mean souls she had seen in passing on her travels.  She was not completely
innocent of what a real pirate was.   Two women alone attracted all kinds of
attention from the less savory among them.  Barnos was nothing like them.  And
everything that a pirate should be.  She shook her head at the wayward thought
and laughed at her own naiveté.  He was arrogant, loud, and tromped around
thumping against the floor of the ship with his big burly self, made fun of
everything and everyone, and flirted outrageously and
not
in a fun
teasing way that some of her father’s marines had.  He was insulting half the
time and . . . interesting the other half, but she was not such a fool as to
fall for a galactic player, even if he was a big sexy pirate that could melt
cold steel with those green eyes.  Lara turned, shaking her head again, and
went to change.  Thankfully, Nori had sent along some of her things.

She slipped out of her clothes
and into the Faustian nanite armor that her father had gifted her when she
started her journeys.  She did not wear it often, as it was considered a sign
of aggression to wear it in some cultures.  When you wore body armor that could
think for itself people tended to notice and give you a wide berth, or think
you were more important than you were.  Over the skintight suit that covered
her from neck to toe, she pulled on another pair of the standard ship tunic and
trouser. She had a more impressive ship formal to wear but she saved those for
important meetings or diplomatic functions.  She was surprised Nori had
included the gown with the rest; she could not have been thinking she would
need such an outfit after her rescue.

Over all of it, she
pulled on her Faustian knee high black boots.  With the silvers and blacks she
was sporting with her black hair, she would have been very monochromatic, but
the brown eyes and gold tone to her skin softened the effect.  When she was
home, she liked colors and textures that drew the eye and were not, well,
boring, but out in the worlds it seemed a bad idea all around to draw any kind
of extra attention to yourself.  She got enough of that just from being a
pretty young woman.  After she dressed she pulled her hair back and braided it
tight to her head in an elaborate braid she had done so many times it was easy
— a braid twisted around her head and then down her back, out of the way.  Lara
strapped the knife she had started carrying since Kenosha into the boot sheath
and the second smaller knife hidden in the nanite harness at her waist.  Both
would be hard to spot in a casual inspection and since she had been taught
reluctantly how to use them by the space marines and her sister they were not
for show.  If she had not been drugged and carted off in her sleep, she would
like to think that she would have at least been able to give a good fight when
they took her off the transport ship bound for slavery.

She blew out a breath and
sat down hard on the bed. 
Who am I kidding?
  Lara could acknowledge at
least to herself that she was not a fighter.  In the thick of true battle she
just stopped.  Her early training had been stay out of the way and it had stuck
a little too much when faced with adversity.  She was not a bad thinker in a
stressful situation, but she was not a fighter either, and it had not escaped
her notice that she had made a decidedly weak impression on the pirate captain
Conall Barnos from the very first.  Whereas he had impressed her in many
negative ways, this did not mean that a frightfully handsome pirate captain
thinking badly of her did not smart just a little.  She blew out another
breath.  That was not likely to change either.  For the millionth time she
wished she had a little more of her sister’s Shakien sensibilities and less of
the gentle Heti.  Maybe everyone was right, and she was just not cut out for
the life of adventure she yearned for.

There was a knock on the
door and a booming voice she had no trouble recognizing bellowed as he tromped
past.  “Move your arse, sassy.  We’re docking in five.”

On the other hand, she
did have some skills even Nori had professed to envy.  She could talk with
anybody.  Lara raised her chin and headed for the door and the obnoxious
pirate.  She might not impress him in a fight, but she could make him eat his
doubts when she talked to the people he could not.

The mech was not a native
of Rindel, and spoke ship standard just fine. As such, the small grease smeared
mechanic in the bulky coverall did not need an interpreter.  However, once Lara
got over her disappointment, she realized that maybe what they did need was a
diplomat.  The mercenary was not doing so well.  At first, Lara thought the
issue was that the mech was a female.  It quickly became apparent that the real
issue was the fact that she was a young
attractive
female.  By the time
they got down to prices Lara could feel the sparks practically shooting off
Tolan Lark.  And, surprisingly, his cat form seemed to be fighting him for
dominance, a fight that was making him somewhat cranky.