“Well… no. I guess not.” She shrugged. He had a point. She’d found him on the D’Corr ship and since being picked up from the colony, they’d been aboard a succession of different vessels. They hadn’t even made planetfall in their search for the AI, an ion storm keeping them in orbit and then Nyek’s message coming through before they could land. “Is it everything you expected it to be?”
He chuckled as they reached the rise. “Looks a bit like Wales.”
She blinked. “Wales?”
“It’s a small country on Earth,” he replied. “Spent some time there as a kid. In a tent. It rained a lot.”
“Sounds charming.”
“Yeah, that’s one way to describe it.”
The outpost came into sight in front of them. Keris kept an eye out for any automated defenses as they walked toward it. But the single-level building seemed long abandoned, nothing moving as they approached the entrance.
It was slightly ajar. Jay pulled the blaster he’d purloined from the shuttle’s small weapons cache, a hand out to move Keris behind him.
“I don’t think anyone is home.”
She shook her head. “None of the automated defenses are active and I didn’t get an answer when I pinged it from the shuttle. But the core should still be viable. If we can spool up the generators, I can get a message out to the Izal’vias.”
He nodded, checking inside the door for predators before setting his shoulder against it and shoving it open wider. He stepped through and held his hand out for her, to help her step over the bulkhead.
“I could have squeezed through the gap,” she told him, flashing him a wide smile as she slipped past him into the semi darkness. Dust motes danced in the air as Jay swept his torch around, and there was an odd smell. Something had died in here, but by the smell of it, a long time ago. She hoped anyway.
“There is a great difference between could have and should have,” he told her, taking point to light their path.
She kept behind him as they made their way through the small building. There was no telling what could have gotten in here with the door open, and she didn’t fancy coming face to face with any of the local predators. Particularly when she had no idea what they might be.
One thing was reassuring, though. The presence of an outpost here ensured that this was not a Krin planet nor one anywhere near their territory.
And, it was kind of cute how protective Jay was being. She was used to being the first one through any door thanks to her mechanical build, but not anymore. Any chance he got, Jay put himself between her and any possible danger.
“How long do you think this place has been abandoned?” he asked, staying by the door as they reached the control room. There was only one way in and out, so he guarded their backs—a marine through and through. She’d downloaded most of the human database just to check what one was. Jay was practically the definition.
She smiled as she initiated the startup procedures. This was not exactly how she expected their relationship to go, on the run together from murderous B’Kaar.
Her thoughts stuttered as the systems flared to life. When had she started to think in terms of relationships? All she’d been focused on for so long was becoming biological, but now she realized it was far more than that. She’d wanted to become biological to be with Jay. She… she loved him.
Her eyes unfocused, the displays in front of her unheeded. Lady Liaanas, she loved Jay. She loved the human male with all her new heart, and with every breath she took.
“How’s it going in there, sweetheart?” Jay asked from the doorway.
“Comms are coming on line now,” she smiled over her shoulder.
He nodded. “Hurry it up and then we can get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.”
Nodding, she turned back to the panels in front of her. The systems were older Latharian tech, so easy for her to operate. Bringing the comms systems online, she checked the date-stamp of the last message sent.
“Looks like this place was abandoned pre-plague,” she said over her shoulder, hands moving over the controls as she composed a quick message. It was short and sweet to underline its urgency, quickly fired off through as many comms channels as she could. In addition to the Izal’vias, she’d copied in any K’Vass or M’rln ship in range.
“Message sent, but it looks like the internal systems are all good.” She pursed her lips, tapping at them with the fingers of one hand as the sensors kicked in, scanning the interior.
“Okay. Several rooms on this level are open to the elements but I can seal those doors,” she said, reaching out to suit words to action. “Scans indicate we are the only living things in here.”
“What about dead things?” he rumbled from the door. “Certainly smells like something died in here.”
“Yeah… I can’t tell that from here.” The systems were good but not that good. With how long the outpost had been abandoned, it was remarkable they were even still working. “We’ll have to check that ourselves. And the automated cleaning systems are offline, so…” She shrugged. If they found anything that was dead in here, they were cleaning it up themselves.
“Securing the place will do,” he said. “At least we can relax then.”
He came to stand behind her, sliding an arm around her waist and bending to bury his nose in the side of her neck. “And by relax, I mean… relax.”
She closed her eyes, a wave of heat washing through her. “Personal quarters are on the second level. They should still be sealed,” she suggested. “There might even be viable food pods as well. While we wait for backup to arrive.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He dropped a kiss on the side of her neck. “Let’s go explore. Shall we?”
“This is actually quite nice,” Keris murmured an hour later.
They’d located the personal quarters the outpost staff would have used and, apart from a musty smell in the air, most were in good condition. Reaching down, she smoothed fresh blankets over the two smaller beds they’d shoved together. Well, the blankets weren’t precisely fresh, but they were new out of a storage pack, which was the next best thing.
Jay groaned as he sat on the opposite side and then lay down, patting the covers next to him. “Come on, sweetheart, lie down. It’s been a long day.”
She slipped off her boots to cuddle up. The feeling of his large, warm body next to hers made her feel warm and safe. A sigh escaped her.
“I didn’t think we were going to get away from them,” she admitted. “I hope Miisan will be okay.”
“She’ll be fine.” Jay snorted, turning on his side to spoon her. His hand settled in the curve of her waist, a reassuring weight. “I’ve met women like her before. They always manage to come out on top.”
She twisted her neck to look up at him. “Women?”
“Women, yes. The female of the species, of which you are one?”
“Haha. Yes, I get it.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “I meant… no, it doesn’t matter.”
He frowned, reaching up to brush her hair away from her face. “No. Go on. It mattered enough to start to say it. So what were you going to say?”