Fugitive (32 page)

***

Adding Drusilla's sample to the cauldron had a side effect Tisana didn't expect; Cat and Leo were nearly incapacitated by the scent. Leo was purring all over his wife and licking her neck while she stirred her potion. Cat opted to sit down under a tree and pull Jack back wards onto his lap.

   "This isn't very comfortable," Jack complained. "It's like sitting on a rock."

   "With an aroma such as that in the air, it is hard for me to be anything
but
a rock," Cat purred.

   "Guess it would make a great perfume ingredient," Jack observed. "For Zetithians, anyway." She paused a moment to settle herself more comfortably on Cat's rigid cock. "You sure this isn't hurting you?" she asked.

   "Not at all," replied Cat. "But if you would like to do something
different
, I would not complain." Cat was ready to carry Jacinth off into the jungle and get wild when she twisted around to face him, her expression decidedly pugnacious.

   "Hey, I thought you married guys wouldn't get all hot and bothered by another woman's scent," Jack argued. "What gives?"

   "Ordinarily it would not affect us," Cat replied, "but there is something different about this potion of Tisana's that renders it extremely stimulating."

   "Well, Manx is sure to like it, then," Jack said with a sigh of relief. "I just hope the wind is blowing in the right direction. In the meantime, we need to get you and Leo upwind of it before the kids see something they might wish they hadn't." Then something else occurred to her. "Hey, the boys wouldn't be affected, would they?"

   "I believe not," Cat replied. "But they are half human. It might be different for them."

   "Ha!" Jack scoffed. "Which half? They don't seem to be
human
at all."

   "In appearance, perhaps," Cat agreed, "but no one knows what differences there might be with respect to their physiology."

   "Don't get technical with me, Kittycat," Jack warned, getting to her feet and calling to her children. "Come on, boys, we need to go to town or something. Or inside. Anywhere away from the steam."

   "You're right, Mom," said Moe, wrinkling his nose. "It stinks."

   "You see?" said Cat. "No problem."

   "I certainly hope you're right," Jack said with relief. "That's something I'm just not quite ready to deal with."

***

At Tisana's insistence, Leo had also retreated to the ship to avoid a very public display of lust with his wife. He wanted nothing more than to lie down on his bed and wait for her, but the door to his and Tisana's room was firmly closed. Correctly assuming that Drusilla was in there resting, he sat down at the table in the galley. His cock was beginning to assume more normal proportions when he noticed something odd.

   Tisana was very exacting about how she arranged her store of herbs, and it was somehow comforting to Leo that they were always lined up in the same fashion, but something had changed. Upon closer examination, he discovered a tall, slim vial with a crystalline stopper. Taking it down from its perch, he pulled out the stopper and sniffed it. It might have smelled horrible, but the scent alone was enough to send desire coursing through his body like a flood. Even so, without Tisana's scent to fully arouse him, his cock remained as it was. Smiling, he replaced the stopper and put the vial back where he found it. He knew what it was and where it was. He would make use of this information at a more opportune time.

***

Coordet was the third planet in a neighboring star system and one of the few in the region that didn't require adhering to endless regulations for permission to land. It might not have been a pretty world—it was more rocky than green—but it did have the virtue of being warm. Despite their hairy bodies, Nedwuts were intolerant of cold, but, fortunately, Zetithians didn't seem to care for it much either; Klarkunk had yet to find one on any of the frozen planets he'd reluctantly visited while on the hunt.

   "You won't believe what I saw on Barada Seven," Veluka said quietly. The noise in the crowded barroom was enough to keep anyone from overhearing, but it didn't pay to take chances.

   Klarkunk knew what was coming next. He'd left Barada completely against his will, and still couldn't understand how it happened. He'd about decided there weren't any Zetithians left that were unaccounted for when he'd stumbled onto the trail of this latest one. Barada Seven had been his last, best hope, and having to leave the planet without having captured his prey had left him seething with resentment. He hadn't gone far before Veluka had contacted him for a meeting. He didn't completely trust Veluka—and doubted that anyone else did either—but he'd been the source of useful information in the past, so Klarkunk had nothing to lose by listening to him. "Let me guess," he said. "A Zetithian?"

   "Oh, not just one," Veluka said eagerly. "A whole fuckin' band of them. Kids, too."

   "How many?" Klarkunk tried to control his reac tion, but his beady eyes widened with greed—a reac tion not missed by the scaly native of Nerik who sat opposite him.

   The expression on Veluka's face was so smug Klarkunk had to fight the urge to smash it in with his fist. "Two adult males, five boys, and one girl," Veluka reported. "There were some babies too, but I don't know if they're male or female."

   "A female?" Klarkunk said with a contemptuous snarl. "They aren't worth shit, but the males are worth five million apiece."

   "Females are worthless?" Veluka's large pupils dilated briefly, which was very noticeable against the total white of his almond-shaped eyes.

   "No bounty on them anymore," Klarkunk replied. "I've heard it's because without a male of their own kind, they won't reproduce, so they aren't a threat to anyone."

   "I've never understood the threat," Veluka said with a shrug, "but I do know the value of thirty-five million credits."

   "Make that
forty
million credits," Klarkunk amended. "There's another one somewhere on that cursed planet. We tracked him there and then turned a wildcat loose so we had an excuse to land, but some Terran woman claimed to have killed it, so we had no choice but to withdraw. She had one of our weapons, so she could have done it, but I'm betting on the Zetithian." The Nedwut made a rude gesture to demonstrate his contempt for Drusilla's claim. "She was no hunter, and she'd painted a fuckin' picture of him! I just couldn't find him before the Baradans revoked our landing permit."

   "Wouldn't think that would be much of a problem for you," Veluka said. "You Nedwuts tend to ignore everyone's rules."

   "There was no point in remaining," Klarkunk said, but he knew he was lying just to save face.

   Veluka, however, seemed sympathetic. "Funny thing about Barada," he said with a nod. "I've gone there plenty of times intending to cheat those weird little natives out of every credit they've got, but something always happens to stop me. Can't figure it out."

   Klarkunk had no answers. He'd had a similar experi ence himself, but for that many credits, he was quite willing to go back and try his luck again. "Where are they?" he asked.

   "Got a ship berthed just north of the spaceport. Quite a little encampment—kids out playing like they're on holiday; they've even got a dog. The ship belongs to a trader—Jack Tshevnoe. Ever hear of her?"

   "Yes," Klarkunk said shortly. Captain Jack's record against his kind was enough to have her on every Nedwut hit list in existence. "She kills every Nedwut she lays eyes on."

   Veluka laughed. "A lot of people do that these days, but you can't really blame her for not wanting you guys hauling her husband in for the bounty," he said smugly. "She's pretty tough, I grant you, but someone who was
not a Nedwut might be able to get close enough to ba
g one of them."

   "Meaning you, I suppose?" Klarkunk growled.

   "Meaning me," Veluka said. "For a price."

   The idea had merit, but Klarkunk was as greedy as the next Nedwut. He might use Veluka, but he had no intention of sharing the bounty with him.

   "Up front," Veluka said, correctly assessing Klarkunk's intent.

   Klarkunk's anger flared. "I don't need a fuckin' Nerik to help me," he snarled. "Now that I know where they are, I'll land illegally if I have to. Wouldn't be the first time. I know some spots that even the Baradans don't go."

   "You do, do you?" Veluka said with a chuckle. The sharply pointed black scales covering his body rose as he laughed, lifting the fabric of his tunic and making his broad shoulders seem even wider. His laughter was disarming, but intimidating at the same time. "Better keep that to yourself, then."

   "Your problem is you don't know how to redeem the bounty," Klarkunk said with a sneer. "That's something only we know, and it'll stay that way until they're all gone."

   "You know, you should leave this band alone," Veluka suggested. "The way they're multiplying, in a few years, you could have a
real
fortune."

   "Forty million
is
a real fortune—for anyone."

   Veluka laughed again. "If you don't get yourself killed in the process."

   "If I take out Jack Tshevnoe first, the rest will fall."

   "The witch who travels with her is more dangerous," Veluka cautioned. "And the Zetithians are trained warriors. You just watch yourself."

   "I don't need advice from you," Klarkunk growled. "But I will pay you for the information." Shoving back his chair, he stood up and tossed a credit on the table. "There, buy yourself a drink. On me." Barking out a laugh, he rounded up his cohorts and headed for the door. None of the other customers even looked up.

   Veluka stared at the credit lying on the table in front of him, his scales now flattened with anger. Raising his eyes, he watched as the Nedwuts left, Klarkunk pushing another customer roughly aside as he passed through the open door.

   Then he smiled.

***

The journey through the jungle was difficult, but Manx followed the scent as if he would draw strength from it—especially since it seemed to be drawing him back to Drusilla.

   In his mind he had never left her side. When he slept, he dreamed of her, and when he awoke, he tried to shove the memory of those dreams aside, but failed miserably. He should never have run, but fear that Drusilla would have been killed or captured along with him had driven him onward.

   But now a similar fear was driving him back. The Nedwuts might have taken her anyway. True, she had the weapon Lester had given her, and she did know how to use it, but unless she'd had it on her when confronted by the Nedwuts, he couldn't count on it being of much use. He knew he should have remained to fight, but running had become second nature to him, and he'd never doubted that those he left behind would be much safer without him. But this time, he wasn't so sure. The thought of his delicate Drusilla at the mercy of those beasts had haunted him from the beginning. It was time to stop, once and for all. He should have known that already, should have known he couldn't abandon her, and not knowing her fate quickened his pace.

   Then he noted a change in the air and his cock stiffened in response. Not only did the wind now carry Drusilla's scent, but that of an
aroused
Drusilla.

   For a moment, anger flared in his mind. If she was
that
aroused, there must be another male responsible. Another
Zetithian
male. Desperate to know the truth, he started running, not caring if it
was
a trap.

***

Veluka waited until the Nedwuts were out of sight and then set off toward his ship, the
Okeoula
. Never let it be said that he didn't plan ahead. He knew exactly where the Nedwut ship was berthed and just how much it had cost them to leave it there.

   Klarkunk was a fool. It was much cheaper where Veluka had docked his own vessel and no one asked any nosy questions—or let any unauthorized persons anywhere near it. He waited until he saw the Nedwut ship blast off.

   With a smile so wide that his scaly face made a cracking sound, Veluka fired up the
Okeoula's
engine. Already knowing where they were headed, he decided to wait until later to activate the homing beacon. After that, it would be easy to find them—especially since the beacon was on Klarkunk.

***

Following the direction of the scent, Manx arrived at the lake house only to find it deserted. Drusilla's things were still there, though, and Dwell let him in without question.

   "Where is she?" he demanded. "Did the Nedwuts take her?"

   "No, another of her kind came to visit," Dwell reported. "They left together."

   "How long ago?"

   "Three days," Dwell reported. "She has not returned."

   "Any idea where they went?"

   "She did not say, but they had a speeder."

   "They?"

   "A Terran female and two males of your kind."

   "So, I haven't been imagining it!" Manx exclaimed. "Though how their scent could be so strong—and Drusilla's, too." He shook his head, still not understanding how it was possible. "You didn't see any Nedwuts, did you?"

   "Five of them visited with Lester after you left," said Dwell. "They said they were hunting the wildcat, but left after Drusilla told them that she had killed it." Dwell's voice became softer as he added, "I did not explain that it was you who killed it, rather than she."

   Manx laughed out loud. "Thanks, Dwell. I appre ciate that."

   "I did not like the Nedwuts," Dwell said frankly. "Klog said they were evil, and Klog is always correct."

   "Did Drusilla take that weapon with her?"

   "No, she did not."

   Manx heard a soft beep just behind him. Turning, he saw Klog holding it out to him, handle first. "Thanks, Klog," he said, checking the controls before pocketing the pistol. "I wish you could come with me, but I guess I'll have to go it alone from here."

   "What will you do?" Dwell asked as the house droid floated toward the kitchen.

   "I don't know," Manx replied, "but I'm sick of running. I want to find Drusilla and go back to Earth with her. That is, if she'll still have me after taking off and leaving her like that."