Jury (2 page)

She nodded. “What is your species?”

“Thudulan.”

“Noted. Well, I am going to find the tiny closet that contains my stuff. I will see you at five o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Ajaru winced. “Why so early?”

“I am giving you what you want. You give me what I want. I want you to go through the motions of being a champion fighter. I want you to train like you have never trained before and earn a mate of your own.”

Enthusiasm lit in his eyes. “Are you sure this is possible?”

She groaned. “Let me ram it through the proper channels. The fight master is going to love this.”

“I am sure that you can handle it.” He paused. “What is your name by the way?”

“Trainer Bex and you will be seeing a lot of me.” Bex got to her feet and extended her gloved hand to him. “See you before dawn tomorrow.”

When his fingers closed over her much smaller hand, she stifled the jolt of recognition that her body had when they connected. Her body might be shut down, but her mind knew that the woman who finally caught him would be lucky indeed.

“Are you joking with me?” It was far more of a primal scream than a shout.

“No, Fight Master. If you want him to improve his performance, he needs something to strive for. In his heart, that is a mate and a home to call his own.” Bex stood with her feet apart and arms behind her back.

The fight master ran a hand over his horns from base to tip. “Well, at least it is a motivation I can understand.”

Silence stretched between them. “So, Master, may I do it?”

“You may. I will give you access to a list of free, suitable women on this world the moment that he wins his first fight under your training. You can work on finding candidates from there.”

“Me?”

“It seems he trusts you, and as his trainer, you will soon know him better than anyone.”

She nodded shortly and left the master’s office. A tiny bead on the inside of her wrist glowed as she approached the trainers’ quarters. Her room door glowed with the same green-yellow colour, and with a great deal of relief, she put herself in the tiny cell.

It was easy to arrange her three dresses and the few pairs of underwear along with her photo cube before she hung her suit in the refresher and crawled between the sheets. She set her chrono for four A.M. and tried not to think of her new career as intergalactic yenta.

Deep in the night, she woke and sat up. “Damn it.”

She turned so that her feet were flat on the floor and answered the mental call. She was in the midst of the most stressful situation she had ever been in and she was getting a summons to jury duty.

On the astral plane, she was connected to the mind of the judge, and through the judge’s eyes, the courtroom began to fill.

Four hours later, court was adjourned, and she had just lain down when the alarm got her up. Stumbling to the narrow lav, she took a quick sonic shower and got back into her suit.

She left her quarters and found the trainer’s hall. Caf, some pastries and something that looked like bacon later, she was feeling better about her lack of sleep.

Jury duty was hell. It pulled her mind in a thin strand until it connected with the judge. The pay was good, and because no one knew she was a juror, there was no way to contaminate a verdict.

Judge Samso was one that depended on the jury for a verdict. He didn’t use them for consults; he used them as the means by which he came to the verdict. He was one of six judges that had Bex’s pattern on register. The judicial system kept the judges from pulling on her at the same time, but aside from that, she was at their beck and call.

A trainer wearing his fighter’s colours came and sat with her. “You are up early.”

She looked at the strange male and inclined her head. “I am up. That is what matters. It is my first full day with my fighter. I thought that an early start was warranted.”

“Who is your fighter? I don’t recall seeing you here before.”

“Again, today is my first day. I came over from the other side.”

The male was staring at her as if trying to figure out what she was. She checked the large chronometer, slugged down her caf and took her tray to the drop point.

She would see him again; she could feel it. His eyes were watching her backside as she walked, and with the form-fitting suit, there wasn’t much left to the imagination. Just because her hormones were in neutral, didn’t mean everyone else’s were. A visual species was going to come after her, just like a scent-based one would. She was far from safe here.

The training centre was nearly empty. Ajaru was waiting for her when she arrived, and he was jumping rope.

There was energy in him, and she pulled out the data pad strapped to her back and began to design a workout.

A shadow fell across her work. Ajaru was there and he was sweating. “I was about to go for a run. Care to join me?”

She sealed her plan and put it on her back. “Sure. Let’s go.”

He led her out to the track, and they started running. His suit was the same midnight blue as the rest of him, so it was like running next to a perpetual shadow.

“What did the fight master say?” Ajaru jogged easily at her side.

“He said yes. I will get access to lists of appropriate females the moment you win your next fight. I am suggesting to you that it be by quite a point spread. Are you understanding me?”

He nodded, and he began to sprint past her on the track, doing three laps to her one. By the time she was done three laps, she was ready to get some water.

Other fighters were beginning their workouts, and she moved past them to get to the cooler. She got a bottle and settled against the wall with Ajaru in her field of vision.

Her view was soon blocked as a gathering of legs occurring in front of her. She got back to her feet and looked up at the fighters. “You are blocking the view of my fighter.”

Bex felt a hand caressing her shoulder. Another grabbed at her hip.

Bex sprayed water into the eyes of one of her admirers, and she kicked out at the knee of the one who was interested in her hip. The man with his hand on her shoulder was not prepared for her to bring her elbow into his midsection.

A swift hand upward broke the nose of another one.

It was an endless round of spin, kick, twist and punch. The men grunted and a larger crowd gathered. Suddenly, her attackers were pulled back to fly through the air, one by one.

She panted and faced Ajaru. “I think that went well. Now, you need to get to the weights.”

“Come with me.” He lifted her in his arms and carried her through the now-silent crowd.

She shivered and waited with crossed arms for him to put her down. He seated her in one of the small conversation areas set aside for trainers and fighters.

“What happened?”

“I was drinking a bottle of water and some of the men decided that I was worth watching. When they decided I was worth touching, I had to register my disagreement.”

“That you did. If they were normal males, you would have discouraged them rather handily. As it was, the more you fought, the more they wanted you to submit.”

She grimaced and ran her hands over her hair. “I know. It was both pack hunter and riot behaviour. They could block my scent but not my appearance. Apparently, the blue is supposed to make me look ill.”

“This isn’t your normal colour?”

Bex shook her head. “Nope. I am normally a pinky-white with yellow hair. The blue blocks my scent ducts so that the scent-sensitive males don’t notice me. With the sight-sensitive ones, I was using the wrong body language.”

“You are making yourself responsible for the attack?”

She rubbed the back of her neck. “No. I am not. But I do understand cause and effect.”

“Shall we continue the workout?”

“Yup, and then, I will administer a rub down and you can entertain yourself in any way you choose.”

He smiled. “Good. Now, we have done endurance, how about strength?”

“Fair enough. It was on my checklist for today anyway.”

They got up and he settled into one of the presses, working on the machine with good will and determination.

The other fighters gave them a wide berth for the rest of the morning. They might be staring at her, but with Ajaru with her, no one was going to start something.

Sitting in a sauna with a bunch of alien males was something to cross off her bucket list. She wasn’t going to put it on there; she was just going to cross it off.

To say that the scent of over-testosteroned males was thick was to put it mildly. Bex was relieved when Ajaru was done with his soak in the steam and musk, and they left the sauna.

Bex blinked and swayed a little when they came out of the heat.

Ajaru patted her shoulder. “You did well, Bex. Few trainers can sit there with the fighters without commenting.”

“I am glad I can be one of those few.”

“You are surprises all around. I had no idea that the few female trainers who made it down here were altered.”

She gave him a wry look as they headed for an available massage table. Rubbing down her fighter was part of the job.

Watching him in the nude hadn’t bothered her. It had been like sitting in the middle of an art exhibit. The men had draped themselves around in a few lewd poses, but Ajaru had remained calm and relaxed next to her, as if carved from navy blue granite. They might flop their cocks around but none were going to make a move on her.

“I don’t think they have ever seen someone take a steam in a bodysuit before.”

She had done some research while he was pressing and found his favourite massage oil. She sniffed it and drew her head back. “It seemed the best alternative.”

With a bit of care, she found a respectable substitute that would mix with his own scent on a better level.

“That isn’t the one I like.”

“Tough, it is the one I like. The other one stinks.” She pulled off her gloves and tucked them into the back of her neckline. “Since I have to wear the scent on my hands, I get to pick.”

A little bit of oil between her palms made her skin shiny, and when she was sure it was warm, she began a strong massage on his shoulders and lost herself in her task.

Every inch of a fighter was to be worked on, from toe to scalp. She had him groaning and squirming on the bench before she was done. It made her work harder because she was straddling him at the time.

He grunted. “How are you doing that? My last three trainers haven’t been able to get that knot loose.”

“Girly fingers.” She snorted. This was her true workout. She was sweating and her muscles ached, but she kept going on his backside until there was no tension in him.

She dismounted. “Flip.”

He had a visible erection, but she draped a towel over it and went to work on his shoulders, across his chest, down the ridges of his abdomen.

“Is this a bruise?”

“It was a break from four weeks ago. It was patched up at medical.”

Bex rubbed it again. “It isn’t set properly. You are going to have it seen to immediately.”

He sat up and winced. “Right now?”

Bex walked to the wall and called medical. When she hung up, she said, “They are expecting us. Put on a towel.”

Bemused, he put a towel around his hips and followed her down the hall and into the med facility.

The attendant ran the scan and winced. “Your trainer was right, Champion. It didn’t heal straight. We need to fix it, but it will take a while to get the surgical suite.”

Bex sighed and walked over to Ajaru. “Hold still.”

“What? Damn it!”

She used her knuckles in a fast punch and felt his half-healed bone snap.

She stepped back and rubbed her fist. “There. Fix that.”

The attendant looked at her wide-eyed, ran the scan and quickly got the setting kit. Two small pins through the skin to hold it while the regeneration unit worked its magic and they would be out in no time.

Ajaru looked at her. “I can’t believe you did that.”

She snorted. “I can’t believe you let me. I was ready for one of those fists to come flying at me.”

“I would never hit a woman, and despite what my senses are telling me, you are definitely that.”

“I am your trainer first.”

“I only rarely hit my trainer.”

Bex watched the attendant as he worked on the break. His hand shifted slightly and she gripped his wrist. “You must have other patients to attend. I will finish this.”

The attendant swallowed and ran for it.

Bex sighed and reset the break. “Sorry about that. He must have been bribed to give you a soft spot.”

She used the regenerator with skill.

“You seem to know what you are doing. Have you done this before?”

“On the women’s side, we have to do a lot of our own medical work. We don’t have the same audience that the men do. Well, we do, but it is mainly made of chronic masturbators.”

Her patient laughed.

“Hold still.”

Ten minutes later, they were on their way and the fight master was aware of the name of the attendant taking bribes for shoddy healing.

When they returned to the training area, she smiled, “Your evening is your own.”

“Would you like to come over and watch a vid?”

She chuckled. “Porn?”

“Not with my trainer. I need to keep your mind out of my pants.”

She laughed and nodded. “Speaking of pants, put yours on. Take a shower, you are aromatic.”

Ajaru headed for the showers, and she made notes on the next day.

“So, it looks like you had an eventful day with your trainee.”

The skeevy trainer from breakfast was up next to her. “I don’t think we met properly, I am Ymsan, trainer to Champion Brinik.”

“Bex.” She continued her work.

“That was some workout you put him through. Are you going to go through his private paces this evening?”

She gave him a cold look. “I am sorry to stop your twisted fantasies, but I have been shut down when it comes to that sort of thing. I work, I sleep, I eat. I don’t fuck.”

He sniffed at her. “You smell…you are serious. You have been shut down.”