Red Planet: The Revolt (Tamarians Book 2) Read online

  “Great first date so far, isn't it?”

  Kelbara chuckles, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, sir.”

  I growl lightly, and it's Kelbara's turn to smile as she takes the lead to Mogar's shuttle. Inside, we open the supply locker to leave Kelbara surprised. “What's this?”

  I take out the smooth, stretchy fabric suit, impressed. The fabric flows between my fingers almost like oil gel, even though it's not shiny at all. Amazing, I know how expensive each of these suits are, I tried to get them for years in the Resistance. “It's Lancer Marine commando hydrosuits,” I reply, taking out the suit that's obviously for me. “Thermally balanced, waterproof....”

  “And form fitting,” Kelbara says behind me. “Wow, this is tighter than I thought.”

  I turn around to see Kelbara's already stripped out of her top, and thankfully she's turned away because watching her naked back is amazing. She's just as muscular as my fingers have told me, but it's not masculine in any way, but flowing, sexy, feline in it's lean, sensual appearance. She's not chunky like a man would be, but instead sensual. Heaven and stars. “Ahem... Kelbara?”

  “Yes?” she asks, turning her head to see me staring. She blushes, and quickly pulls her top the rest of the way down. “Sorry.”

  “No.... I liked it. Just, it might be safer if we stay turned around while we change.”

  Kelbara nods, reaching for her hydrosuit pants. “Of course. Safer.”

  I can almost taste the tension in the air as I pull on my hydrosuit, for the first time not liking the fact that the fabric is practically skin tight. I can feel the tension in my cock as I tug my bottoms on, and I'm tempted for a minute to put my other trousers on over top, just to give me a bit of modesty, but I know if I do Kelbara's going to know why. Fuck it, I guess I'll just have to deal with her seeing my cock size, and it'll be mostly dark anyway.

  “Ready, sir?” Kelbara asks, and my cock twitches in my hydrosuit. I don't think she's teasing any more either, she is fully giving herself to my control, and it's sexy as anything I've ever felt. Sexy and powerful, but also reminding me that I'm the one in command of this chase, and I need to protect her with everything I have. It's a sobering responsibility.

  “We've gotta get our boots on, but yeah, I'm dressed. You?”

  “Same as you. Where are the boots?”

  I turn, stopping for a minute to watch Kelbara's body as she turns around. If I thought my hydrosuit was skin tight, hers looks like it's been practically painted on her body, I can see every curve, every muscle and joint and beautiful, sexy plane of her body from her throat down almost as clearly as if she'd been standing in front of me naked. She finishes turning to look at me, her eyes flickering over my body, and she bites her lip, nervous or impressed I'm not sure, maybe both. “Uhm... you look good, Jensen.”

  “You too. The boots are over here,” I say, pointing to the locker. “I'm glad Mogar knows our boot sizes.”

  Kelbara chuckles, taking out the larger set and handing them to me. “Maybe that's why King Tauren sent him. Mogar knows our clothing sizes. Although I think this hydrosuit is just a little snug.”

  “Looks good to me,” I tease, and Kelbara blushes even as she laughs lightly. We put our new boots on, and I feel them mesh with the hydrosuit to create a waterproof seal, and I'm impressed. Expensive, more expensive than a hoverbike, but this suit feels great. “Come on, let's find out what's going on at the palace.”

  Mogar's waiting for us when we come out, and I see that the rest of the supplies have been loaded onto the boat. “So what's the situation?”

  Mogar squats down on the sand and pulls out a stick from our wood pile, drawing as we talk. The figures appear in the firelight, rippling in apocalyptic shadows that seem eerily predictive of the future. “Whatever the Slavers planned, they've had it in place for a while. Tauren's gone public with Ambaris and Tauria's escape, but still.... they've seized the Pollux base. Castor base is firmly in royal control, and almost all of the orbital platforms are secured.”

  “But?” I ask, watching as Mogar circles a spot around the planetary map he's drawing. “What's that?”

  “Defense Platform Omicron,” Mogar says. “The shutdown codes Tauren tried aren't working, it's still listed as having active Q-weapons. It's directional Q-beams can't hit the major population areas, but the Q-missiles can strike planet wide. And before you ask, the missile defense bases like what you used in the Resistance as hiding spots can't stop these things, they've been upgraded to be undetectable until it's too late. Joren's regaining more of his memory, he's trying to use his older codes, ones he hadn't passed to Tauren yet in the changeover. But right now, it may have to be that Omicron gets scuttled, or if it is in Slaver control.... assaulted.”

  “Can that be done without triggering the Q-weapons?” Kelbara asks, and Mogar shrugs. “What does that mean?”

  “I mean that there shouldn't be any active Q-weapons on Omicron as it is,” Mogar replies. “So someone, at some time has to have made modifications to the platform. Who knows what else has been done? Under Joren's rule, all sorts of corruption took place, I would not be surprised if Omicron was set up as some noble Lord's idea of a Deadman switch, a final card to play in a noble power game.”

  I sigh in understanding. “So no matter what, this is at least partially out of our control. But still....”

  “Still, the weapons on Omicron are listed as in safe mode according to what the readouts at the palace say. I included a flexi in your weapons locker with the latest intelligence. Actually, you're going to be using flexis a lot on the boat, it's a minimalist design for a reason. But yes, the faster you can stop Tauria, the better. I must return to the palace quickly, in order to help Tauren and Joren try to gain access to Omicron's computer systems,” Mogar says, standing up and kicking the drawing to pieces. “You should get going.”

  “Best of luck, Mogar,” Kelbara says, kicking sand into the dying fire. Mogar nods, leaving for the shuttle while Kelbara and I finish dousing the fire. I look at the crawc meat, then shake my head, tossing it behind me into the woods. “Why did you do that?”

  “Because it really does taste terrible without salt and seasoning. Come on, let's see what rations Mogar left us on the boat, we can eat while we make our way down river.”

  Chapter 9

  Kelbara

  The new boat is smooth and quiet, nearly silent as we go up the river. I keep my eyes open just to be safe, but there's nothing visible on either side of the river to say that Ambaris and Tauria have left their boat.

  Jensen yawns, rubbing at his eyes, and I go over, patting him on the shoulder. “Rest, Jensen. I'll bring the boat over to the side opposite the bluffs and go more slowly so I can keep my eyes on the shore. You get some sleep.”

  “I shouldn't,” Jensen says, yawning again. “I can use meditation.”

  “Yes, Mogar showed me. He also taught me that it has to be done in a quiet, warm place. You're in a boat on a river in the cold,” I remind him. “Lay down, use the cover that's in the corner, and close your eyes. I'll wake you up in a few hours. Please, Jensen?” I ask. “I'm serious, I'm fine, and we'll do better if you're rested.”

  Jensen gives me a look, but nods, going over to the sidewall of the boat and stretching out. He lays his head down in the corner formed by the foam seat and the sidewall, closing his eyes. Within just a few minutes, he's asleep, and I slow the boat some more so that I can watch both the shore and the open water ahead of us.

  I can't help but take time to look at Jensen too as he sleeps. He looks innocent when he's asleep, his hands tucked under his armpits to keep them warm while our suits take care of the rest. I was so ready, I wanted him on the beach. I didn't think I would be, especially giving way to Jensen's strength and power the way I did. Actually, since starting this mission, I've done so many things that I didn't think I'd do. Calling him sir, especially in a way that I know is sexually teasing to him? Crying? Even kissing him felt like a dream, even though I don't know if Jensen rea
lizes just how powerful all this is to me.

  I wasn't lying to him when I said I've never had a date before. I've never had a boyfriend, or someone I've loved. I've never.... the beach was my first time even going that far. But most of all, I've never felt towards anyone the way I feel towards Jensen.

  My only worry is his reputation. Living in Mogar's house, I've come to learn from many of Mogar's servants, humans and Tamarians. And while Jensen's nowhere near the level of a sex slave in terms of experience, he has had plenty of intimate relationships, even with women that he normally can't get along with. In the one that got told to me the most, he agreed to let Mogar experiment on him with the libido enhancing drug, along with a female servant that until that point Jensen hadn't been able to get along with.

  What resulted was a years-long sexual relationship that was, as Pitir one of Mogar's servants called it, 'worthy of performance art.' While outside of the bedroom they could barely stand to be in the same room together, when the mood came over them they'd practically tear the tapestries off the walls going at it in bed. They didn't always confine themselves to their bedrooms either, Pitir told me with a laugh. The most memorable was when Jensen and the woman had their 'goodbye fling' before she entered a committed relationship with a man who eventually became her husband. It involved the pool, the main banquet room, and apparently the lawn in between. “Actually,” Pitir told me with a chuckle as he finished his story as we sipped tea, “it sort of trigged a miniature baby boom in the estate. Nine months after that, five babies were born among Mogar's servants, four human and one Tamarian, all within a week of each other. Jenni, Ronsen, Jendale, Leon, and Jarleen. Some of the servants called them Jensen's step-babies.”

  Pitir's laughter echoes in my mind as I watch Jensen sleep, making me nervous. What if he sees me the same way? A fun fling, a bedroom based romp that might be slightly more thawed outside the bedroom, but that's it? Despite the evidence that humans and Tamarians can cross-breed, Mogar's told me the odds are astronomical currently, a combination of genetic traits that just aren't going to be prevalent in Tamarians or humans for at least another generation or more as evolution brings our lines closer together. Which leaves me and Jensen as most likely incompatible. At least that way.

  I shake my head, clearing my mind as I watch the shoreline. It slips by slowly, far more slowly than I'd like, but I can't increase speed without missing any drag marks or other signs of a boat being beached or warning anyone who might be ahead of us on the river of our approach. When the controls say two hours have passed, I shut off the engines only long enough to wake up Jensen, who comes awake in an instant. He blinks once, then smiles at me when he sees who it is. “I must still be dreaming.”

  “Why?” I ask, stroking his face.

  “Because even though I'm cold, even though I know I'm on a crazy mission to prevent planetary devastation... it's nice to be woken up by you.”

  I feel heat creep up my neck, and I brush a lock of hair out of his forehead, leaning down for an instant to kiss him on the lips quickly. “Time to wake up, Jensen. According to the flexi, we'll be approaching the second site in about an hour, so I'll try to nap for forty-five minutes if it's okay.”

  Jensen nods, rolling to his knees and giving me the space he's just occupied. “Forty-five minutes. Is that enough?”

  I give him a wink and a nod. “You're not the only one who knows a few tricks to getting the most out of every minute of rest. Sometime I'll teach them to you.”

  I close my eyes, already starting the internal hypnotic triggers that I programmed myself with years ago, the only time that I've allowed the hypnotic drugs to enter my body since Ambaris' 'lesson' to me years before. These triggers I put in myself, using the hypnotics and pre-recorded post hypnotic triggers to allow myself to slip into a deep, refreshing sleep in seconds, only to wake up when I want to. In fact, I open my eyes exactly forty-four minutes after laying down, just as Jensen's throttling down the boat and the lap of the river against the sides goes silent. “What's our position?”

  Jensen gives me an impressed look, shutting the engines all the way off. “One minute early. How'd you do that?”

  “I told you, I'll show you some time,” I tease, sitting up. “But we should be close?”

  Jensen nods, passing me the flexi that Mogar tied our map system into. “Up ahead about one kilometer is a bend in the river, and then five kilometers further on, the next site you pointed out around another bend. What is it?”

  “A series of ruins, an ancient river fortress that Ambaris would use when the caves we were at before flooded out. He didn't like them as much, it's too far from the capital for quick transport, but in bad weather it's a better option. From what Ambaris told me, the fort stretches back to the Unification Wars, it was used to patrol and control river traffic to the capital. Not exactly a summer home, but still sturdy.”

  “And capable of a multiplexing antenna,” Jensen notes, and I nod. “How capable?”

  “It'd take a good number of men and a lot of equipment, last time I was there it was little more than walls and roofs. It didn't even have internal power any more, it was just space. But there's enough space there you could build a multiplexing antenna.”

  Jensen hums, going over to the weapons locker and opening it up. “We're going to need to get armed. You ready?”

  I nod, taking the dual thigh holsters on their belt and strapping them around my waist, securing them to my thighs. “Hmmm... makes my butt look bigger.”

  “Whatever,” Jensen chuckles, strapping on his own holsters. “And my butt?”

  “Rock hard,” I tease, and I swear Jensen blushes in the predawn light. “So what's the plan?”

  “Go slow around the curve, I want to be on the shore by the time the sun comes up. Just in case,” Jensen says. “Keep low on the sides of the boat, powerlance out. I'll steer.”

  I want to protest, at his height Jensen will be a bigger target, but I don't argue. Instead, I go over to him, and kiss him tenderly. “For luck. And safety.”

  “For luck and safety,” Jensen says with a smile, kissing me back. “Come on, we've got work to do.”

  I get down in the front of the boat behind the hull, my powerlance ready just in case. Jensen starts up the engines again, and I'm impressed once again at the silence of the engines. Other than a soft whine that I can barely hear over the wind, there's nothing but the swishing sound of the hull cutting through the water as we creep forward. It seems strange, and I think about it often. I can ride a hoverbike that will exceed the speed of sound, and I've piloted shuttles that are hypersonic, covering hundreds of kilometers a minute. But the few minutes it takes for us to creep forward at a speed barely past walking as we start to go around the curve in the river is scarier than even my first exo-atmospheric flight. I keep an eye out, glancing back for only a moment to see that Jensen's kneeling next to the control panel, his body as low as possible. It reassures me for some reason, and I look back, just in time to see something.

  “Stop!” I call back, holding up my hand. Jensen doesn't question me, instead immediately stopping the engines, the boat coming to a stop on the water. Jensen comes up, kneeling down next to me.

  “What is it?” he asks, his own lance out. “Do you see someone?”

  I shake my head, pointing at a slight bulge rising out of the water. “No. That.... and that... and that.... what's your count, eight?”

  Jensen sees what I'm talking about, and scans the river. “Nine. There's one over by the shoreline on the far side. What are they?”

  “I think.... I need to check,” I reply, unbuckling my holster and passing it to him. I reach down and slip out my mono wire lash, palming it in my right hand. “Be back in a few minutes.”

  “Be careful,” Jensen whispers, his eyes watching me nervously as I slip into the water. I swim over to the first of the bulges, confirming it before I'm even a meter away. I duck under the water, examining it carefully before turning and swimming back to the boat, coming
up just as Jensen starts to look around worriedly. “Heaven and stars, don't do that! You scared me, I thought you'd gotten caught up down there or something!”

  “I'm fine, it's okay,” I reassure him. “It's an anti-ship mine. Ambaris has used them before, usually to stop escaping slaves. They're older tech, but still useful.”

  “You sound like you know them well,” Jensen says, offering me a hand, but I shake my head. “What?”

  “You have a tool box up there, right? Get a hyperspanner and a oct-head driver, put them in a bag or something, and pass it to me. I'll have it deactivated in five minutes.”

  Jensen raises an eyebrow, but says nothing, getting the tools and passing them to me in a small net bag. “Now can I ask what the heaven and stars for?”

  “If there's mines, then Ambaris has patrols around here. Let's move them, give us a little more coverage on our asses,” I whisper. “You call in to the palace, report what we've found. Even if Tauria and Ambaris aren't here, they're going to want to know about this place.”

  It takes me four minutes actually to deactivate the mine and bring it over, passing it to Jensen who handles it carefully, putting it inside the boat. I hang onto the side as he slowly motors us over to the next one, and then the next, and the next. In all, we gather six of the mines, as much as our boat can handle before I let him help me back into the boat and sit down, squeezing out my hair. “Been a while since I did that. Fun times.”

  “Don't tell me you've done that before. I can swim, but I've never even tried that,” Jensen says, kneeling down and stroking my hair. It feels nice, and I realize he really was worried about me.

  “Jensen, there's a lot of skills I have that not most girls do. Don't worry, I won't hold you back on kicking ass as we keep going.”