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

  Jensen chuckles and stands up, smirking. “I never thought you would. Now, what's Ambaris' standard use of these fucking things?”

  “With where we are? There's another bend in the river before the fort, if he's got armed guards that's where they'll be. We should get there before the light gets any brighter,” I answer. “I'll keep an eye out for more mines, but these things are expensive, and....”

  “Ambaris is a tightass,” Jensen finishes. I nod, and he chuckles. “Well, let's use that as best we can. If he's got armed guards, what'll they have?”

  “Most likely Gauss rifles,” I whisper as he starts the motors. “He only keeps stunners and powerlances for slave catching. Gauss rifles are cheap and deadly, just what he'll want.”

  “Anything heavier?” Jensen asks, and I shrug.

  “He's never before, but this is his first act of open rebellion. I know he's got contacts with some pretty heavy duty people, and Cassell.... they might have some heavy duty shit.”

  We advance slowly, approaching the next bend in the river where Jensen pilots us close to the shore and slips us around at barely a walking pace. I see it first, the four boats tied up on the shore, and the lights of an armed camp. “Cut the engines. Ground the boat.”

  Jensen does as I say and drifts to the shore, where he hops out and pulls us onto the sand. “What now?”

  “Anything else interesting in Mogar's box of goodies for us?” I ask, and Jensen looks.

  “Yep. How about a set of binocs?”

  I nod, and Jensen pulls them out, scanning the area. “Okay, nobody's awake on the boats yet. They're river patrol boats, looks like they've got some stuff on their front decks, but probably most handheld weapons. Ambaris might be too cheap, these guys have shitty discipline.”

  “Then let's make them pay,” I reply. “We tie up the boat here, swim along the shoreline near the boats. We slip over, leave them a little gift of a mine nearby, and then we get to the fortress.”

  “How do I arm them?” Jensen asks, looking at the mines. “And how many?”

  “Put four near the boats, the others just drop behind us in case they've got something else,” I suggest. “As for the mines, when you get it positioned, use a spanner to rotate this sensor a half turn, and let it settle in. Just keep a distance of two meters from the boat when you do, the proximity sensor will go off if it's closer than that.”

  Jensen nods and we push off, each of us kicking along silently with a mine in hand floating in the current behind us. They're not very big, only slightly larger than my head, and we arrange the mines quietly, arranging them in an arc that will make sure something goes off if they try to pull off the shore before heading back to our boat which is still undisturbed. We climb in and push off, going to the far side as we go around the curve. Jensen sees it first, pointing.

  “I'd say we've got a problem.”

  Chapter 10

  Jensen

  Kelbara follows my finger, seeing the fortress. To the side of it, barely visible against the rapidly lightening sky, is a framework of struts, a half completed dish on top. “A multiplexing antenna.”

  “It doesn't look finished yet,” I mutter, taking out the binocs. I set them on the highest setting and focus on the structure. “I see a few men, but nobody's welding or constructing anything. They must be waiting on first light.”

  “Or more supplies,” Kelbara surmises. “Either way, we've found them.”

  “You could say that for sure,” I chuckle, pulling out my communicator. “Let's get across the river, tie up this boat and get closer.”

  Kelbara goes over to the controls while I cover us from the hull, the black shallow draft boat slipping quietly across the river and past the fortress before we find a sand bank and pull up, tying off in a bush that's near the shoreline. “Is this going to stay hidden?” Kelbara asks. “It's not very well covered.”

  “If this is the site, we're not going to need it. If it isn't... okay, help me pull this out of the water, we can at least get it up on the sand,” I whisper, going over to the hull and pulling. It's harder to pull the boat out of the water than it was to carry the uncompleted kit out of Mogar's shuttle, the water pulls at the hull and the bottom scrapes on the sand softly in the morning quiet.

  While she helps me pull, I can hear Kelbara grunting softly, her voice low and sexy, distracting me. When we finally get the boat out of the water she's breathing heavily, her skin flushed. I can't help it, the skin tight suit clings to her athletic body as she kneels, her ass outlined perfectly in the matte black suit.

  I've tried to fight it since our first kiss and I've failed, I'm struggling to stay focused on the mission, but it's nearly impossible to tear my eyes away from Kelbara as she stands up, her body moving perfectly as she climbs into the boat, lifting her leg. My brain fills with images, my cock hardening as I imagine her swinging those legs over my head, the look in her eyes when we were making out on the beach repeated as I fuck her. I can't help it, I moan lightly when she bends over to grab our armor, her ass is perfect, teardrop shaped and firm, bent over like that right in front of me.

  I take a shaky breath, jamming my knuckles into my eyes and grinding until the pain causes white spots to erupt behind my eyelids, and I'm squatting down, trying to control myself and my cock that's surging in my pants. This is fucking impossible. I'm trying to complete a mission, the control of potentially planet killing weapons are at stake, and here I am wanting to bend this girl over and fuck her senseless.

  What do I do? Do I take the fifteen minutes to do it? It might not even take that long. I feel so wound up that I could probably come in three or four. I know I've got the skills to make her scream in the same amount of time, I once playfully timed myself with Xandia, the girl I had an on and off fuckbuddy relationship with for years....

  “You're serious?” Xandia asks, glaring at me in that way she does when she and I are circling each other around the estate, both of us getting ready to fuck again while not wanting to admit it quite yet. “You're really serious?”

  “Come on Xandy, you and I both know that we want it,” I laugh, pulling her close in the quiet side corridor where we've pulled each other to the side, trying to maintain at least a little bit of privacy. “Just this shows me. Normally you'd try to slap me if I tried this move.”

  “Normally you'd be right.... but Jensen, speed fucking?” Xandia says, her breath quickening. “Really?”

  “You're busy, and I'm getting ready for the Games. Neither of us have the schedule for what we normally get up to, so why not? I read about on a flexi,” I purr, licking her neck. Xandy loves when I lick her neck, and she moans, reaching down and grabbing my ass.

  “Jensen... fuck, fine. Where?”

  “My room,” I growl, picking her up in my arms. I carry her down the hall and up the stairs to my room, Xandia giggling and moaning as her breasts rub against my body from the bouncing.

  “You're cheating, you said you could take me from zero to coming in under three minutes,” she laughs, smiling. Xandia only smiles at me when we're getting ready to fuck, most of the time she's an ice queen. “Asshole.”

  “No, we played with your asshole last time,” I tease, shoving her towards my bed. “In fact, I don't quite remember who enjoyed it more.”

  “I'm setting a timer, you're on the clock,” Xandia says, pulling at the fastener on her dress as she lays back. Her body is trim and fit, curvy in the classical way that isn't quite what I like but still gets me off, especially when she moves it in bed with me. “If I'm not screaming your name in five minutes, I'm getting to do my fantasy on you. You know what that is.”

  “Yes, of course. But you don't get to get in my ass, Xandy, I already told you that. It'll take someone very, very special, and while you're fun...”

  “We're just fuckbuddies,” Xandia finishes, something we always say to each other. It's just us being careful, we don't want other emotions getting in the way of this. It's fun, it releases something important for us, but th
at's all it is. I've got the Games now, and Mogar and I have discussed the possibility of starting a Resistance. Xandia understands all that, but she wants a quiet life, a good husband that will come home at night, solid and dependable. That's just not me, at least not for Xandia. “You've got four minutes and fifty-five seconds, Jensen. Better deliver.”

  “Actually took two fifteen,” I chuckle, opening my eyes to see Kelbara kneeling next to me, a ration pack in her hands.

  “What did?” she asks, her green eyes studying me. “You okay?”

  “Fine, just a memory,” I reply, taking the ration and wincing. “Number eleven?”

  “All of them were,” Kelbara says, showing me hers. She's right, Mogar played a joke on us. “We should eat and move, confirm this site's active and call in the cavalry.”

  “You have the nav flexi?” I ask, looking at the trees. “Just going up probably isn't the smartest idea.”

  Kelbara nods, handing it to me. “What's the plan, Jensen?”

  I rip open my ration pack, then use the flexi to look at the area. The image is satellite produced, and is about an hour old, the standard navigation systems are built that way. “Here.... we follow this ridge line that climbs up and around, we can approach the fortress from the southeast. It looks like it ends a little higher, we can have a good view of the fort.”

  “Good plan,” Kelbara says, studying the route. “It's not going by any of the overland approaches I've used here before. Still, be careful.”

  We put our armor on and start off, moving carefully through the woods to avoid detection or any traps, eating as we walk. “Jensen?”

  “Hmm?” I ask, chewing the energy bar from the ration pack tucking the wrapper in the slim pocket on my holster. It's one drawback of the hydrosuits, they don't have pockets on them.

  “Why are you doing this?” Kelbara asks quietly. “I mean, this mission in particular. When Tauren said he wanted you to go, you didn't argue at all, when a lot of other people would have sent a platoon of Lancers after Tauria and Ambaris.”

  I chuckle while I finish chewing. “Tauren, Mogar and I were actually just talking about it right before the alarm. I'm a field leader, Kelbara. I'm not the sort of man who has the patience to sit around a Noble Council and listen to a bunch of hereditary jackasses try to talk like they know how to run this fucking planet. I understand why Tauren listens to them, but I'm glad he doesn't follow their advice very often so far. So, while I can, he and I agree I need to be out here, being effective. He originally thought about me leading a small unit, commandos I guess you could call them. I can't exactly walk in and replace a Lancer Regimental Commander without actually going through their training and moving up their ranks. But a small unit, a bunch of volunteer commandos? I can do that.”

  “But why?” Kelbara asks. “What about family, or friends?”

  I stop, checking our position before adjusting course. “I want both, Kelbara. But that has to be on a planet that is free for me, for my family and my friends, both Tamarian and human. And a man, a real man that is, has to be willing to get his hands dirty and fight when we're talking something as important as this. I won't let another child see their parents' corpses like I did, to watch their baby sister be ripped from his arms and raised by monsters like Audra was. So for Audra, for Tauren... but most of all for my future children, I'm on this mission.”

  Kelbara nods slowly, going quiet for a moment before speaking again. “You want children?”

  “Someday. Not today, obviously.”

  She laughs silently, shaking her head. “I get that. I just mean... does that mean you'd only start a family with a human woman?”

  I stop, looking Kelbara in her beautiful eyes. “If you'd asked me that question a year ago, I'd have said yes, simply because of the rules of reproduction. After seeing Audra and Tauren though.... I think love can come in many forms, Kelbara. Come, we have a mission to complete.”

  We make our way through the woods, and I wonder what Kelbara was trying to talk about. I've known for a while that she's had a crush on me, and until recently I thought it was one direction. I've had too many things on my mind, including trying to care for an entire new estate of people, to worry about Kelbara. If anything, I was letting Mogar take care of her, which of course was probably my problem. The master gamesman, playing us like pieces on a board that only he can see, for reasons sometimes we only slightly understand.

  The question, I wonder, is if I'm upset with Mogar for this. Putting us together on the mission wasn't his choice, I know that for sure, but his mind works so quickly, he could have had ideas running through his head as soon as he knew that Kelbara and I were alone. I'm sure that the choice of clothing was intentional, as intentional as his little joke with the number eleven ration packs, he knows I hate those things. He could have used that as a distraction from the hydrosuit uniforms, and of course his taking off so quickly once we'd changed.

  “Jensen?” Kelbara asks, putting a hand on my arm. “Up ahead.”

  I look and see nothing, but I do hear movement ahead. We drop down, ducking behind a tree as a three-man patrol comes into view. They're all Tamarians, and while they have the swagger of mercs, they aren't very professional. As they walk, they talk to each other.

  “Heaven and stars, what a bitch!”

  “She's the fucking Queen man, what the fuck did you expect?”

  “At least a little gratitude to the boss. He did pay for all this shit to put her back on the throne. That's gotta be expensive.”

  “Yeah well, he might be putting out a bunch of money, but I'm betting that she's putting out for him.... just it ain't going to be money. See how she's built?”

  “Motherfucker, she's older than your mother!”

  “Yeah well, my mother never looked like that. Seriously, she's stacked! Getting out of the boat last night... fuck man, I think I saw fur!”

  Kelbara leans over, whispering. “What do you want to do?”

  “Call in the cavalry,” I whisper back, taking out my communicator and opening it carefully. There's a small text pad on the screen, and I quickly type out my message. Have found fort with multiplexing antenna and Tauria. Send full attack to this location.

  I hit the message send button, and watch nervously for a minute before there's a reply. Understood. Get out of there, will evac you as soon as fort is destroyed. Provide assistance as you can. T.

  “Time to go,” I whisper, looking up at the patrol. They're still a good distance away, talking amongst each other so much they can't hear us. Still, I don't want to move unless we have to.

  “Fuck man, this is bullshit. There's no approach over here!”

  “Yeah well, Ambaris said to check it out, we check it out. That fucker's a pro, and he's scary as fuck too.”

  “We're far enough from the base, they won't see shit. I say we head back. I got a bottle of brandy with my name on it back in my room.”

  “Shit man, why didn't you say so? Let's go!”

  The patrol moves off, and I look at Kelbara, nodding. “Okay, now we move out, nice and quiet. Get back to the boat, they said they'll evac us once the fort's taken out. Until then, we provide spotting or other assistance as we can.”

  Kelbara nods, then leans in, kissing me hotly before looking into my eyes. “Wherever you go sir, I'll follow you to the heaven and stars.”

  “I might hold you to that. Let's go.”

  Chapter 11

  Kelbara

  We're about halfway back to the boat when three large explosions rip through the morning air, a crumping sound that I've heard only a few times before, but is still unmistakable. “That's the mines!”

  “Stay down, get quiet,” Jensen says, looking around. “If the mines have gone off, they'll be on alert now, they know something's here. Come on, change of plans. We need to get eyes on the fort, help out with the attack.”

  Jensen kneels down and consults the nav flexi, pointing to a spot on the map. “This ridgeline looks over the whole fort area. We can
provide intel to any units coming in. Let's go.”

  We turn left, going uphill almost immediately, the slope getting steeper and steeper as we go. About halfway up I can see the tops of the fort, but we keep going until we can see all the way down. Dozens of men scurry around, but I can tell they're moving meaningfully, not with the sort of panic that I'd hoped. The patrol might have been a bunch of lazy idiots, but they're ready to fight now. “Maybe we shouldn't have mined the river.”

  “Nothing we can do about it now, and it seemed like a good idea at the time,” Jensen says. He sounds different than before, more decisive. Before, he was thinking about his moves, taking factors that I can't begin to understand into account. Now.... now he's going by his instincts and his training, and I take a half second to admit that he's even sexier now before I let my own training and instincts take over. This is a fight, and I'm a fighter.

  We reach a nearly vertical wall, and Jensen looks for a path upward, considering it for a moment before he shakes his head. “We spot from here. Use the binocs, relay me information.”

  I nod, kneeling next to a tree that's sticking out of the ground at nearly a forty-five-degree angle from the ground, giving me both a grip and some concealment. Jensen takes out his communicator, turning it on. “Jensen to Tauren, come in.”

  “I'm here Jensen. The attack is launching in ten minutes. What's your situation?”

  “They know we're here, some mines we put in the river just went off. We've got.... at least a couple dozen men on the ground, so far no air units have launched. The multiplexing antenna is incomplete. I don't think they've been able to transmit.”

  “Understood. What is your position?”

  “We have over watch on the compound. I'm forwarding you imagery right now.”

  Jensen fiddles with his communicator, and I know that the small camera built into it is now sending a real time image to King Tauren. “I'm seeing some old fashioned land type vehicles being prepared. Kelbara?”