Deadly poisonous. Even though it was five weeks earlier, she could still hear the creature’s dying screams in her memories.
“We have to take precautions,” Emi continued as she shoved that horrifying memory away. “Believe me, I’ve seen bad critters firsthand. We won’t know more about the fauna until the drones and robotic landers do close-up scans. We also have to test the flora. Make sure it’s not poisonous.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Despite Donna’s brains and beauty, patience didn’t even make the top ten list of her strong points.
“You’re not bored, are you?” Emi asked.
“No, not bored. I just want something to do besides stare at a computer screen from several miles above the planet’s surface.”
“Don’t worry. We have four weeks here. Once we finish our scans and topography studies tomorrow, we’ll start sending down the drones.”
Donna’s voice softened, her tone growing serious. “So…how bad was it on Kal’moran? We really haven’t had a chance to talk about it. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?”
Heat filled Emi’s face. Her stomach churned before tightening, threatening to send the remains of her dinner back up via express elevator.
She picked up Bucky, the rubber spider, from where it sat on the command console. She rarely let Bucky out of her sight. The good luck charm had allowed Emi to save her men from the treacherous Kal’moran who’d tried to take them from her.
To save her family.
“I’m okay,” Emi softly said. “Maybe later. Face-to-face. Not like this.”
“Fair enough, girlfriend. Fair enough.”
They spent most of their night watch talking. Ford showed up first the next morning to relieve Emi. Of course he brought her a cup of coffee.
She cupped her palms around the warm mug and blew across its steaming surface. With enough creamer to turn it the color of caramel, and sugar, he’d fixed it exactly the way she liked it. “Thank you.”
He leaned against the command chair with one arm, his other hand holding his own mug. A delicious smile curved his lips. “No problem, babe. You really think I’m going to show up here with no coffee? That’d be like taking my life into my hands, wouldn’t it?”
Emi smiled at him over the top of her mug. “I love you so much.”
“Ah, you just love me for my caffeine.”
“And your cock.”
“Well that’s good to know.” He grinned, his blue eyes playfully lit with good humor. “I thought it was my witty conversation.”
“You are a chatterbox, but I love that about you, too.” Slightly slimmer in build than Aaron, his lean, catlike body always turned her on.
“Also good to know.” He tipped his head toward the screens, where the sensor scan readouts still scrolled. “Anything interesting?”
“It’s all interesting to me.”
He arched an eyebrow at her. “You know what I meant, babe.”
“Nothing unexpected or extraordinary, if that’s what you meant.”
“That’s what I meant.” When she slid out of the command chair he took her place. “Nothing to catch me with my drawers around my ankles?”
“You mean besides Caph?”
“Ah, good one, babe. Nothing I need to worry about, then?”
“Nope. Donna and I had a good chat last night. She had their night watch.”
“Never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad Rob and his crew are here with us.”
Emi reached over, grabbed Bucky off the console, and pocketed the rubber spider. “You and me both, Ford.” She gave him a kiss and wandered down to the galley. There she found Aaron toasting himself a bagel.
“Good morning, Em.” He leaned in and kissed her. He hadn’t shaved yet. The stubble on his cheek brushed against hers. “Boring night?”
“Got lots of data pouring in.”
“So that’s a yes?”
She shrugged. “It’s not boring to me. Am I the only one on this boat who enjoys looking at scientific data?”
“Maybe. My job is to get the data and keep my ship and crew safe.”
She bumped him with her hip. “And here I thought you were a renaissance man. How many times have you read Othello and Hamlet?”
“I am. If we discover an opera or Shakespearean theatre company down there, they’ll have my full and undivided attention. Until then, it’s just a job for me. I’ll leave the science stuff to you and Ford. I have a ship to take care of.”
She was toasting a bagel of her own when Caph swooped into the galley, grabbed her, and kissed the side of her neck. “Hiya, babe.” She felt his semi-stiff cock rubbing against her through his uniform trousers.
“What’s wrong, big guy? Didn’t Aar and Ford take care of you last night?”
He grinned. “They did, but I missed you.” He went after her neck again, making her squeal with giggles as he dry-humped her hip. Caph was her big, playful goofball. His shaggy blond hair and green eyes were the decorative bows on his total package, which included a large body, broad shoulders tapering off to a narrow waist, and a positively bitable, tight ass. Aaron referred to Caph and Ford as the twins because of their habit of speaking at the same time, not because they were related or even looked remotely alike.
Aaron smirked from where he leaned against the counter and ate his own bagel. “You know how he gets, Em.” She felt his amusement, echoed by the light in his sweet brown eyes.
Right now, what she felt from Caph was horniness and a desire to talk her back into their bunk.
She patted his hands. “Maybe tonight, sweetie. I need to do some work in the hydro lab before I get some shut-eye of my own.”
He nearly pouted. All he needed was a boo-boo lip to complete the look. “Aww. All right.”
She gave him a final kiss before disengaging herself from his arms. If he got her into bed now, he’d fuck her to sleep, and she’d never get everything done on her to-do list. “Not that I’m not willing, but you know the drill. I have to get my chores done. So do you.”
“Yes, he does,” Aaron concurred. “And he’s got tests to run on the drones today down in cargo.”
Caph poured himself a cup of coffee. “I know, I know,” he grumbled. “You can’t blame a man for trying.” He tugged at his trousers, which now sported a full bulge.
“No, you can’t,” Emi agreed with a smile. “And we know you’re always willing to try.” After smearing cream cheese on her own bagel and wrapping it in a paper towel, she refilled her coffee and picked up her mug and the bagel. “That’s why the rest of us have to be on our toes, or you’ll always have us on our backs.”
She left both men laughing.
Down at the entrance to the decontamination chamber that led to the hydro lab, she took a deep breath before stepping in. No matter how many times she rationalized to herself that there was nothing to fear, she couldn’t forget how she nearly lost her life there.
When the decontamination cycle ended and the door opened to the hydro lab, she let out the breath she’d been holding and stepped inside.
This was her sanctuary. The refit team had done a brilliant job of repairing the damage done by Eckhart’s attack. They’d even made some changes for her at her request. It was, literally, a whole new hydro lab. She had vines trellising up wires crisscrossing the lab. In a few weeks, the entire ceiling would be concealed from view. Two large vid screens, one on each side, could display whatever Emi wanted, whether a window scene, a duplicate of the bridge view, or even vids from their exhaustive library.
Today, she chose to set them up as window sims. She looked through one and saw Bozeman, Montana, in the spring, as she remembered it from her childhood. If she closed her eyes she could almost smell the pines. The other showed a similar view, just from a different angle.