Dark Runner: LodeStar 3.5 (9 page)

Tal hid, living on his rage until he was well enough. Then he stole a laser weapon, walked into the dingy club where Brutal and his woman liked to hold court, and killed them both in full view of the denizens of the club

Not a being in the place protested. Instead they watched as this new, young human with death in his eyes walked around the table, used one booted foot to shove Brutal’s body to the floor, and assumed his seat. Trix and Darry moved in to flank him, while Dalg took position to one side.

“Anyone who’ll stand with me,” Tal told the silent crowd, “can stay. I’ll take care of you, no matter what. Anyone who tries to betray me … “ he nodded at the bodies on the floor.

He set his weapon on the table before him and leaned back in his chair. “Choose.”

A few dock riff raff slid out the exits of the club. One by one, the others came to present themselves to Tal and offer their allegiance to one who was brave enough and crazy enough to rid them of Brutal.

And a new ganger lord was born.

Tal had had many women since then, and some men, all of them attractive. He trusted very few of them.

Scala Raj wasn’t going to be around long enough to be a problem anyway, and with her past, there was no way she had any connection to the man who’d spurred him to take on this mission. No way in hells.

He cut the link, then lay back in his comfortable chair and stared at the muted lights on the console of his cruiser. A familiar satisfaction filled him. The
Zharrdul
was
his
, from her fancy layered gelpaint exterior to her cerametal fitments, to the real silk velvet duvets on every bunk.
 

The cruiser was his latest acquisition, and even when he was deep in the building he’d taken over and refurbished bit by bit so that the shabby main floor club was now the Flash, the top floor his luxurious penthouse and the middle floors his business offices, he could feel his beauty crouched on the roof of the building like a protective beast, ready to snarl into life at his command. To carry him anywhere, high above the noise, crowds and crush of buildings that comprised his world.

He’d always come back, though. To the astonishment of many, Tal had no intention of ever leaving New Seattle or the gritty streets into which he’d been thrust at a tender age to fend for himself. He smiled to himself. They’d never understand how much more satisfying it was to stay, and to know that now when he walked those streets, everyone he met stepped aside for him, many with fear in their eyes, but all with respect.
 

And to know that those who had tried to best him had gone down in blood and flames themselves. But not before crawling in abject fear. Oh, he still had enemies and always would, for the slums spawned criminals like the seas spawned finned creatures.

But New Seattleites knew he was the man to come to if they needed protection. And he gave it, in return for loyalty. To be under the awning of his gang meant to be safe from the sentient trash that prowled the city, alert for any weakness, ready to use and destroy the innocent, the vulnerable, the helpless.
 

Once it was known they were Darkrunner’s, they were no longer the last two. And since he’d never had the luxury of innocence himself, he had little patience for it. It was better given up, so a being could get on with life.

He found himself picturing a pair of golden eyes that glowed with defiance which couldn’t quite hide the shadows deep within. He reckoned it had been a long time since Scala Raj had been innocent. What string of events had ripped that veil away for her?

Tal rose, shaking his head in irritation. Fuck, he was in danger of becoming sentimental here. What did he care about a Serp warrior with wounded eyes? Time to get to bed.

Chapter Six

Failure.

That was what Scala had feared the most when she set out on this mission. The kind of fear that turned her guts turned to jelly and her legs to rubber. Failure to keep Tal Darkrunner occupied and away from his empire in the streets of New Seattle, Earth II. Failure to gain the thing she wanted more than anything else—her freedom.

Once she’d met the ganger in person, her fears had shifted to include his wrath. If he ever learned why she was really on the
Zharrdul
, he might kill her in a cold rage. A man who tossed a female off of a gangplank to see if she’d land on her feet didn’t know the meaning of the word mercy.

Just when she’d convinced herself she could handle his expectations of his crew, her fears had widened another notch, to encompass the very real worry that she’d give in to the sensual temptation he cast like an aura. He radiated danger and sex—a combination that was her personal kryptonite. She couldn’t afford to make a fool of herself over another man who dealt in coercion.
 

Those fears were all swept aside just now by the one that had, for two years, trapped her in an endless cycle of risky employment in space. The nightmare where she at last dared to set foot on a civilized planet, only to be accosted by IGSF or local cops who carted her off in restraints after her chip alerted them to her illegal presence.
 

If that happened, she’d no longer have even the cold comfort of travel. She’d be dropped onto the prison planet, Deep Six, where prisoners tended to expire from violence or exposure. As a Serpentian, she hated being cold with a passion. Freezing to death was one of her worst nightmares.

So of course, when the
Zharrdul
landed at the large and bustling space port in Sunspot City, Solaria, Tal Darkrunner announced, “I’m meeting a contact who may have some information for me. Place called the Black Hole.”

Scala had been to the Black Hole in years past, with her
Orion
guard mates. Solaria was a small satellite planet that revolved in tune with Serpentia around their brilliant sun. It was used mainly as a jumping off spot for long space flights, and storage for risky fuels and freight bound for its much larger sister planet. There was no farming or settlements other than the ports and depots.

The inhabitants were a tough, hardened lot living their lives as if there was no tomorrow, and their favorite watering hole reflected this lifestyle. She thought about warning Tal and the others to watch themselves, but on second thought, that was like warning a serpent to watch out for the local lizards’ sharp teeth. The serpent would be just fine.
 

Leaning against the bulkhead beside the passage to the rear of the ship, she shrugged. “Okay. I’ll be here when you get back.”

He shook his head. “You’re coming with us.”

Scala blinked. He had a short memory. “Sorry, but no. I’m not.”

“You are,” he said implacably.

“Look, I get
you
don’t care if I get zapped by this damn chip,” she snapped, “But
I
sure as hells do. It quarking hurts, it’s loud as a screamer siren in my ears, and the local law can hear it too. How long you think it’ll take the cops to reach me?”

He held up his hand, a small silvery obelisk dangling on a chain. “This is a scrambler. It’ll take care of the chip. You’ve got your pretty collar to hide the surgery scar, and this will just look like more jewelry.”

“Yeah, that’s great. Try it on someone else.”

“The scrambler will interrupt the signal,” Darkrunner repeated. “I know it works, it’s already been tested. You’re not the first chip in my employ, you know. ”

That didn’t surprise her. She could only imagine what crimes some of the others had committed. She shook her head, crossing her arms across her midriff. “Not gonna chance it. Look, you go have a drink, check for intel. I’ll be here when you get back. Not like I have anywhere else to go.”

The Mau tromped out of the cockpit and paused, giving her a look of disfavor. Or maybe that was just his usual expression, hard to tell on a Mau. “I’m out. Link me when you’re ready to take off.” He disappeared down the gangplank.

Darkrunner prowled across the cabin to face Scala, bringing his aura of imminent peril with him. “You’re going if I say you are. Unless you’re ready for that consequence we talked about.”

Scala rolled her eyes. “Right. You went to the trouble to hire me, and you’re threatening to toss me out here? It’d take me twenty minutes to find another post.”
 

He reached out. She stiffened, but he merely traced one long forefinger down her arm, his gaze following his hand. She felt the heat of his touch through the thin knit of her favorite tee, dusky rose with sparkles of gold. Peekaboo lace filled a deep vee in the front and wide stripes down the sleeves. With the tee she wore her leathers and her favorite soft boots, the same bitter chocolate hue as her leathers, with gold studs swirling up the outsides.

“But you’d be leaving with nothing, remember?” He looked up at her from under his brows, the shadow of a braid laying a stripe across his eyes. “I know how women are about their clothing. Be a shame if I had to cut this off of you...watch you scamper naked through the streets while the chip screams.”

“Try it,” she advised through her teeth, so furious she was shaking.
Damn him
. How dare he threaten her with humiliation? When this was over, she was going to take him
down.
“Look, Serpentia is my native planet, Darkrunner. Solaria’s a God-forsaken sand pit, yeah, but it’s part of my home. Do you not get I would give almost anything to have the right to walk down that gangplank with you, go and have a friendly drink, maybe do some dancing?”

 
Only they weren’t her friends, not him and not the pair waiting by the open hatch. Trix looked bored, Darry was watching her and Darkrunner avidly, like a man watching a cage match and wondering when the real action would begin

Unfortunately, her emotions cost her. While she glowered longingly, Tal once again moved swiftly. She found herself pinned against the wall, his forearm across her throat, his face close to hers.
 

She brought up her knee hard, but he’d twisted his hips defensively, so her knee struck the outside of his hard thigh instead of his vulnerable genitals.
 

His arm was braced so he could break her larynx with one move, so she grasped his arm, but didn’t try anything more.

He bared his teeth without humor. “Don’t ever challenge me in front of anyone again, Snake Eyes,” he whispered, so quietly only she could hear. “My people or others. Because I’m always going to win.”
 

The pressure of his arm hurt her throat. Just like the damn collar the IBI had shoved on her. She fought for breath, but stubborn pride kept her from begging him for mercy, any more than she had the uniforms. She met his gaze defiantly, until her lungs screamed for air and black spots floated before her eyes.
 

He waited another heartbeat before lowering his arm and stepping away. “You’d better change then,” he said. “And we’ll go.”

Scala sucked in a deep, ragged breath, and then froze as she felt a draft of air on her bare skin. She looked down and gasped. Her tee gaped open, baring her breasts and torso.
 

She grasped one edge of the garment, so enraged she could hardly speak. “You slimy, slithering sand toad. You cut
my shirt
!” With that sneaky palm blade of his.

“
I
like it better this way,” Darry commented from the hatch. Trix laughed.

Her gaze locked with Darkrunner’s, Scala yanked the shirt off, and faced him, shoulders back. “This what you wanted to see?”

His gaze never leaving hers, he shrugged as if completely disinterested in her nudity. “Go and change. Unless you want to come as you are. I don’t suppose anyone will mind.”

For one blazing moment, she contemplated doing just that. She could show him it took more than this to humiliate a Serpentian warrior. Hells, she’d been naked with enough beings to fill whatever spacetrash bar he wanted to visit, anyway.

But she needed to keep her eyes on the prize, remember what she was doing here. Her freedom was worth more than any momentary irritation. That’s all he was, just a sand burr on her ass. Nothing more.

Holding his gaze defiantly, she threw the remains of her shirt at him. The soft fabric struck him in the chest and slithered down. He caught it reflexively, an odd look in his eyes, almost like respect. She was clearly seeing things.

 
“You owe me a new shirt, ganger. That was my favorite.”

Then she turned away. Sneering at Darry, who was staring at her breasts, and Trix, who was frowning, Scala sauntered down the passageway as if she’d triumphed in the situation, not Darkrunner and his thugs.
 

As she pulled her gold tank from her duffel and tugged it on, she noted with vague surprise that her hands were trembling. Overload of adrenaline, that was all.
 

As she walked back out, Trix and Darry were gone. Darkrunner waited for her by the hatch. Without a word, he held out the pendant. She slipped it over her head. Darkrunner watched as the pendant slid down to rest between her breasts, and the ghost of a smile passed through his eyes.

She didn’t look down. So her nipples were taut under the tight knit, so what? Didn’t mean anything.

“After you,” she said, gesturing with scathing courtesy at the gangplank. With a smirk, he strolled down ahead of her.

As she followed him, Scala listed all the ways she could toss him off on his head. She’d get even with him for tossing her off here, and for ruining her shirt—maybe not now, but later. And it would be worth every moment she had to wait. She had so many ideas, it was hard to choose her favorite.