Star Trader Update .015

015.01

“Sam? Get them off of us, now!” I yelled from the bridge. The iisadsu were not afraid of Ma-rye-a. They had attacked the ship as soon as she entered the level of the atmosphere that the iisadsu inhabited. I didn’t think they could do much damage, but I was in a pissy mood. It was as though they had expected us.

What they didn’t expect was Sam’s electrical pulse coming through Ma-rye-a’s outer hull. When he fired, their stunned bodies were blown off her like shooflies off a bug zapper. That action kept the rest at bay until we landed. There were a horde of them. The sky was full of the winged beings circling over Ma-rye-a like so many vultures over a carcass, but we weren’t dead yet. Not by a long shot.

“Ma-rye-a, now that we are down can you locate Attalla?” I asked.

“He is approximately 50 yards in front of us and 100 feet down,” she replied without hesitation.

I looked out the viewport in front of us. All I could see was a slip of the sandy beach and then the ocean.

Star Trader Update .014

014.01

Attalla sat at the table in the mess with his head in his hands. When I placed the cup of tea in front of him he flinched at the sound.

“Sorry,” I said. He had already told me that his head felt like a cracked egg this morning after being tranked last night.

Chee lay curled in her pouch on the table. She came out and approached Attalla for a pet or a bit of breakfast.

He pointed to her pouch without even looking up. “No, Chee. Pouch.”

The little mahserg turned around and returned to her pouch. I took pity on her and slipped her a grape.

“How much tranquilizer did Sam have in that dart?” he said into his hands.

“He loads them according to weight,” I answered plaintively.

Star Trader Update .013

013.01

I was so exhausted. I ached all over. To breathe was torture and he was sitting across my waist with his knife in his hand. Klaid had my hands pinned up above my head. He flashed his knife in my face.

“How about a little breast meat?” he threatened.

I screamed out in excruciating pain as he cut into the top of my left breast.

“3su, wake up,” Attalla said in my ear. “It’s a dream.” He soothed back the hair from around my sweat dampened face. “It’s all right. I’ve got you.”

He was sitting on the edge of my bed. I was still in my clothes from the night before, but he was in some sort of pajama bottom and nothing else. I must have awakened him from a sound sleep. Chee sat on his shoulder her tail curled around his neck. Her dark round eyes were bigger than usual from watching me struggle with my rampant sub-conscious.

Star Trader Update .012

.012.01

There really was a negotiation job for Arr on Ukhra. He eventually succeeded in creating a treaty that both parties could live under. The trip back to the refitting station where the guys left the Calpernia was leisurely. They did not have another job lined up yet. I was still looking for something simple. I didn’t need a challenge right now. I was still recovering – not so much of body, the body was pretty much healed, more of mind. I was still having nightmares.

Two days before we arrived at Refitting Station Delta I found a cushy little job shuttling a diplomat around for three months while he re-negotiates treaties with the planets in his solar system. Cassie and I checked out his Bio on the NET and he looked good to both of us. We took on the job contingent on the fact that we all liked each other’s company after the first stop.

Now it was time to say our good-byes.

Star Trader Update .011

011.01

“Officialdom is swarming all over the crash,” Cracker hissed when he rejoined us behind the rise. “We won’t be going that way.”

I was lying between Arr and Jake on the ground. I reached out and squeezed both their hands in an ‘I told you so’ moment. They both smiled back. The first time I had seen either of them smile since we crashed.

Jake signed to Arr. They both quietly rolled to their knees as the trio of malefactors continued to discuss strategy. Jake kept an eye on Klaid and his men as Arr proceeded to signal to Kayo behind us. I couldn’t see the Dar-dolf, but caught the movement of the grass as he crawled through it to our right. Jake reached back over his shoulder and tapped Arr on his back as he kept his eye steadily on the trio. Arr signaled again with a combination of hand signs and a trill from his throat that sounded like a bird.

Star Traveler Update .010

010.01

I don’t remember too much of that first day on Ukhta.

I remember Jake holding me in his arms as he did his best to break through the underbrush below the huge iron wood trees - their deep charcoal colored bark standing out against the dense green ferns at their feet.

I remember Jake’s heart beating a fast rhythm in my ear as he held me against his chest. It would have been so much easier for him if he had been able to toss me over his shoulder, but that would have punched one of my many cracked ribs through something vital internally.

I remember one very painful fall we took when Jake tripped on something in his rush to put distance between us and whoever was chasing us. It would have been a lot worse except that Jake managed to turn in mid-air as he fell and put his body under mine to cushion my fall.

Star Trader Update .009

009.01

“3su,” Cassie whispered.

“What is it, Cassie.” I sat up in bed and beamed the light up to low. I glanced at the bedside clock. It was 2:00 a.m. It wasn’t like Cassie to wake me in the middle of the night.

“It’s Jake,” she whispered. “He’s on the bridge.”

“He’s very agitated,” Ma-rye-a piped in. “He just broke a mug.”

I guess I was just too sleepy. I didn’t understand what they were saying. “He dropped a mug?”

“No, it was a violent act,” Ma-rye-a corrected. “He is upset about something.”

“I think you should have a look,” Cassie continued. “He might do damage to us.”

Jake must really be upset if he had my A.I.’s running scared.

I got up and slid me feet into my slippers. I never wore a robe. I wear shorts and a tank top to bed. I am always cautious about being prepared.