Lost in Barbarian Space (16 page)

“I know you’re angry about something. Something to do with your father—”

“I don’t want to talk about it with you.”

That hurt. She swallowed. “With Kavon, then?”

“No. It is my problem to bear.” Colm pressed his palms against the ice wall.

She stared at his straining back. Unable to stay away from him, she stood. She pressed a hand to the corded muscles. “Let me help you.”

“You warm my bed, Honor. That is all.”

She took the hit, then she steadied herself, shaking away the sting. “Well, we haven’t made it to a bed yet, so I guess I warm your furs. But this has nothing to do with you putting your cock inside me, Colm. We’ve worked together on this mission, we’ve fought side by side and saved each other’s lives. I consider you a friend.”

He spun and grabbed her. She found herself with her legs wrapped around his hips, and her back to the ice wall. Only the fur kept her skin from the ice.

His hands were between her legs. He thrust a finger inside her. She arched, crying out.

“You are not my friend.” He kept thrusting one thick finger inside her, while his other hand jerked at the fastenings of his trousers. And then his hand was gone, replaced by his large cock. He slid inside her in one sudden thrust.

She made a choked noise. He slammed her hands above her head.

“We are—” his voice was so deep it was hard to understand “—well beyond friends.”

“You are so confusing, warrior. One minute you say I warm your bed, but when I say we’re friends—”

He thrust inside her again, his eyes turning a molten gold. “For now, you are mine.”

He kept thrusting, slamming into her in hard, jerky motions. It was quick, dirty, and fast. She felt her orgasm rising like a tsunami. When it burst, she reached down and bit Colm’s shoulder.

A second later he groaned, and spilled himself inside her. They stayed there, against the wall, both of them trying to catch their breath.

Then Colm moved, swinging her into his arms. He sank down onto his fur coat, and settled her in his lap. His big body surrounded hers.

“My nanami are out of control.”

She frowned, not understanding the deep edge to his voice. “That’s not normal? In a tense situation, doesn’t that often happen?”

“No. We learn to control them…always. But sometimes, a few people… We call it the nanami sickness. It causes people to lose control. It drives them crazy, makes them violent savages.”

She froze. “Your father?”

“Yes. Nanami sickness is usually inherited.”

Panic flooded in her chest. “How do you treat it?”

“There is no treatment.”

She spun, gripping his arms. “There must be something—”

“Nothing.”

Honor tried to calm herself. “What happens?”

“You lose all control. Become an angry, violent animal. No better than those creatures that were hunting us.”

The ragged tone of his voice made her want to cry. It was everything her warrior was against. She knew for him to hurt an innocent would kill him.

“So, what happens when—?”

“I will go north, to the Wastelands. No one lives there except the winter beasts.”

No one for him to hurt. No one to help him. And he would die there, alone. Knowing him, probably death by beast.

She touched his arm, the strong muscles there.

“Colm, we have excellent doctors on the
Magellan
. We have advanced tech—”

“There is nothing that can be done, Honor. Your doctors know nothing of our nanami.” He stroked her hair. “I will not be like my father. He did not live his life with honor. He stayed, too afraid to deal with the sickness. Instead—”

“He hurt the people closest to him.” She closed her eyes, her chest tight.

“Do not worry, my little warrior. You’ll be long gone when this happens to me.”

It felt like a laser blast to her heart. She didn’t want to be gone, and she didn’t want him to exile himself to die.

She hugged him closer. Then, over his shoulder, she spotted something in the ice wall.

“Colm, look.” She pulled back.

He turned and together they stared at the object frozen into the ice wall. They moved closer, and Honor pressed a hand to the icy surface.

“It’s a cockpit chair.” She looked up at him. “It’s a chair from a starship, and it looks old. It has to be from the
Valhalla
.”

“We must be close.” Colm stared at the artifact. “I want to find this ship, Honor. For Kavon, for my people.”

She nodded. “Then let’s find it.”

***

Colm watched Honor pull on her clothes and then search around in the backpack. She held up a small tool.

“It’s a laser cutter.” She pressed a button on it and a beam of orange light shot out. She turned, and pressed it towards the ice.

Colm watched in awe as she cut a huge chunk of ice from the wall. She reached in, melting the ice around the artifact. Then she set the laser cutter away.

He stepped forward and gently eased the chair from the ice. He set it down on the floor, and she set about examining it.

“Well, it looks like it was wrenched out of the cockpit, and it definitely looks Terran.” She scraped away some ice, then gasped. “Look.”

There was an image on the fabric of the chair. A circle with crossed swords…and the word
Valhalla
beneath it.

She smiled. “It’s from the ship. The rest of the wreck has to be really close.”

“Then we’ll keep searching.”

She stood, dusting off her hands. “Colm…the reason you don’t want to mate…it’s because of the nanami sickness?”

He touched her, gently pushing her hair back behind her ear. He wished things could be different. “If I could have a bondmate, it would be you.”

She looked up at him wordlessly, and the look in her eyes filled his chest with heat.

“Honor.”

She closed her eyes and pressed her face to his chest. “God, Colm. You’ve twisted me up inside. I never wanted a man, and certainly not a stubborn barbarian warrior.”

He pulled her close. Yes, neither of them had been looking for the other.

An echo of noise reached him. He tilted his head, cautiously letting his nanami expand his senses. He didn’t hear anything else, and thought he must’ve imagined it. But then he heard it again.

Honor lifted her head. “I think that—”

“Shh, Honor.”

She went quiet, and Colm strained to hear more. It was a strange noise. Harsh. Unlike anything he’d heard in the ice caves.

And it was getting closer.

“We have to move.”

“The beasts again?”

He shook his head. She didn’t waste time with more questions. Colm pulled his knife from its sheath and cut the logo off the seat.

“Colm,” she whispered. “The astro-archeologists will have a fit.”

He set the artifact in the backpack and she swung it onto her back. “Move.” He nudged her into the tunnel. “Don’t run. We need to move quietly.”

They moved down the tunnel, turned into another, then another. He barely saw the beautiful blue-ice walls anymore. Colm was tired of the ice caves and the cold.

He paused again to listen and his jaw tightened. “Whatever it is, it’s getting closer.”

Honor nodded. “I can hear it, too.”

There was a rattle. The scrape of metal on ice.

They both turned, and Colm pulled his sword from its scabbard. He heard Honor’s soft curse.

The…creature had rounded the corner.

Colm gripped his sword. It was made of a gray, metallic substance and shaped like a man.

But it floated just off the ground, had no legs, and had four arms. Its face was flat, with no features.

It looked a lot like Honor’s spar-droids.

“It’s a syndroid of some kind.” Honor was studying it intently. “It’s tracking us by heat.”

“I will destroy it.” He lunged forward, even as he heard Honor’s protest.

He swung his sword, but the droid was fast. It dodged to the side and out of the way of his blade.

He kept attacking, and the droid continued to dodge his every move. Colm could feel his anger growing.

“Colm! Pirates!”

The panic in Honor’s voice made him turn. He saw a band of people running down the tunnel. Honor had pulled out her stun-staff, and she darted past Colm and the droid to attack the incoming group.

The man in the lead was lean and fast, and carrying a sword of his own. Honor took him down with a hard swing to the back of his neck. He hit the ice, groaning. But before he was even down, two more rushed at her.

The droid slammed into Colm. He spun, trying to focus on the droid, but he couldn’t, not when he knew Honor was in danger.

She fought hard, her staff whirling. Then a huge man came in from the side, and hit her with something. She staggered.

A woman came in low and jammed some sort of device against Honor’s side. She shuddered under the impact of it. Colm recognized it as some sort of stunner.

Honor dropped to the floor.

Colm roared. Inside, his nanami exploded, power flooding him. He slammed an arm against the droid and it crashed into the wall. Then he rushed forward, attacking those who’d injured his woman.

He saw the shocked face of one of the pirates. The others closed in. Colm fought wildly, his fist and sword slamming into various attackers. Soon, the icy ground around him was littered with groaning, battered bodies.

“Contain him! Now!”

Something wrapped around his sword arm. He jerked on it but he couldn’t get free. He glanced down and saw a glowing green rope circling his bicep. Another rope wrapped around his other arm. The ropes burned as they sizzled against his skin.

He pulled forward, trying to free himself. Behind him, he saw four large pirates holding the other ends of the ropes.

Colm roared again, a fierce sound that echoed in the tunnels.

An older woman stepped up in front of him, eyeing him with an annoyed look.

She lifted a metallic object—a large stunner. She jammed it against his stomach.

He felt the electricity jolt through him. He gritted his teeth and fought back the pain. He had to stay conscious. He had to save Honor.

He jerked hard, and someone holding one of the ropes cried out. He freed one arm, yanking it to swing the glowing green rope around. It slammed into one of the pirates, and the man rolled to the ground with a cry.

“He fucking broke my ribs!”

The woman in front of him bared her teeth. Colm saw that they were made entirely of gray metal. She jammed a second stunner into his gut.

Colm fell heavily to his knees.

His entire body was shuddering and jerking. Then he tumbled forward, smacking against the ice. He couldn’t move his body. He forced himself to look up, and saw Honor lying beside him. Her lashes lay motionless against her cheeks, her body still.

These people would pay for hurting his woman. He vowed it.

It was his last thought before the darkness dragged him under.

***

Honor woke to a jumble of strange voices around her. She frowned.
Why the hell did she hurt so much?

She opened her eyes as tiny slits, hoping to find out where the hell she was. Then she spotted the pirates.

They wore a mish-mash of clothes and armor that didn’t match. Some of it looked military, while other parts looked like they were off the runways of the central systems. The group were hunched over Colm and Honor’s backpack, staring at the logo Colm had cut off the chair.

Shit
. She moved her hands and realized they were tied behind her back. All her weapons were gone as well. Not good. Where was Colm? Her stomach hardened. Had they hurt him?

She turned her head a little, and saw him slumped against the wall not far away. His head was lolling forward, and he was bound with laser ropes.
Bastards
. She could see where the rope was burning into his skin.

“Ah…you’re awake.”

Honor looked up. A pirate woman stood above her, wearing dark trousers, red mesh armor on top, and a bright orange sash around her waist. She was older, but fit, her dark hair liberally streaked with gray. She had a pulse rifle resting against her shoulder.

“I’m Alara. I run this crew. I think you know why we’re here.”

Honor remained silent.

Alara gripped Honor’s hair and yanked her head up. “You’ll answer me, girly.”

A low growl rumbled through the space around them.

The pirate stiffened and glanced over her shoulder. “He contained?”

“Yeah.” A young man gave Colm a kick.

Honor saw Colm’s eyes were open. They were pure gold, no brown to be seen.
Hold on, Colm.

“You want the wreck,” Honor said.

“No.” Alara laughed, a deep, rolling sound. “We want the treasure.”

“How did you even know about it?”

“Everyone has their price,” the pirate woman said. “One of your security team sang for a few pretty e-creds.”

Honor’s jaw tightened. “Darzan.”

“Don’t know any Darzan. Pilot by the name of T’kon.”

T’kon? The co-pilot had always seemed a steady, reliable employee. Honor shook her head, hiding her anger. “Poor sucker. He won’t live long.”

The pirate leader frowned, cocking her head. “The Institute’s not in the business of killing.”

“Yeah, not those pussies,” another pirate called out.

Honor shot Alara a thin smile. “No, but my new boss isn’t very tolerant of traitors or pirates. Or Institute rules.”

“Boss?” Alara’s frown deepened. “And who would that be?”

Honor laughed. “You don’t know? Oh, this will be fun.”

Alara yanked on Honor’s hair again and jerked her head to the side. “When I ask a question, girly, I expect an answer.”

There was another growl. Colm fought against his ropes.

“I’m okay, Colm.” Honor tried to keep her voice even. “Calm down.” She looked at Alara. “My new boss is Nera Darc.”

The pirate woman’s eyes widened.

Yep, even in uncharted space people knew who Darc was, and were smart enough to be afraid.

Then Alara’s booming laugh echoed off the ice walls. “Nera Darc? The badass treasure hunter? She wouldn’t be caught dead working for the Institute.”

“She works for Niklas Phoenix. He’s hers and this is his mission. If he’s threatened…Darc’ll be mighty pissed off.”