Replicant: The Kithran Regenesis, Book 2 Read online

  “Really?” Lux dangled the NED before she shoved it into the tight opening at the throat of her black flight suit. “I’m the pilot, so you won’t be going anywhere until I know more. Maska needs to be in a bed in the med pod and…” She frowned. “Kei, do you know anything about Replicant bodies or forced shifts?”

  He pushed his braid over his shoulder, shook his head. “No, but I can tap the database and send a vidscan to people who do. If he needs major medical attention, we’ll take him where he needs to go.”

  I crossed my arms. “None of you seems to understand me here. You will not be taking my prisoner anywhere but where I say.”

  “Shut up, Jarana.” Lux stepped close. “You used some kind of unauthorized device on one of our crew. I have more jurisdiction here, and we’ll see who stepped over the line. Trust me, I won’t hesitate to send your ass to jail if it turns out this thing is illegal.”

  “It’s not.” I shrugged. “But suit yourself. I’m a legal Tracker, and once we’re sure he’s okay, he’s mine.”

  Chapter Four

  First thing I did was disable the ship. No one was sneaking off planet with my prisoner. The removal of three key wires shut the electrical system down flat. Heading toward the med pod, I tried to ignore the explosion of glowing color on the other side of the dome walls. Kithran plants thrived on moonlight, soaking it in and turning leaves and flowers into luminescent hues that ignited the night sky. Nothing on any other planet came close.

  Then I hit a tunnel I knew well.

  Too well.

  Halting midstride, I held my breath and tried not to blink, suddenly terrified that if I closed my eyes, I’d see ghostly images of a six-year-old me playing chase with my sisters through the tunnel systems. I slowly walked through the tube-like area and discovered I didn’t have to close my eyes at all.

  Wisps of memories drifted past—spectral little-girl giggles and tiny, phantom bells that we’d tied in our long, red hair. This time, I couldn’t help but squeeze my eyes shut tight. The ache in my chest turned white hot, spearing my lungs, stinging the backs of my eyes. I stopped long enough to pull up the section of floor that hid a compartment. I didn’t even look inside, just shoved the wires in, closed it and left the tunnel.

  Lux was annoyingly smart. She’d find the problem, but hopefully it would buy me some time.

  My heart was pounding when I got to the med pod, and I halted down from the open door because everyone stood inside the pod, watching Kei. Everyone except Erik, who hovered in the doorway. He stared at the Replicant, expression unreadable. My own recent upsurge of emotions strangled me as it clawed for release, and I suddenly didn’t want to deal with any of these people. I turned and strode toward the living quarters, figuring I’d just hold my palm to each door panel until I found the one coded to me. I made it around the corner before I was grabbed, spun and shoved against the dome side.

  I met Erik’s furious blue eyes as he leaned his body against mine and wrapped his hand around my throat. I poked him in the side with my gun before he could blink. “Strangling me isn’t going to solve the problem.”

  “I’m not planning to strangle you, just keep you still long enough to hear what I have to say. Put the gun away.”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “Take your hand off my throat.”

  He did, but he didn’t back off. I lowered the gun but kept it in my hand.

  “Look,” I said, voice low. “You can be angry with me, but it doesn’t change the fact that your Maska is an escaped prisoner and it’s my job to find him and bring him in.” The heat from his body seeped into me with relentless determination. A raw, answering need built low in my body. My breasts actually started to feel heavy, to ache. My reaction to him was so powerful—too powerful. It didn’t make sense. But then, it was coming in on the tail of potent anguish. The strongest urge to spread my legs hit me.

  I needed the distraction. I gave in.

  He groaned, his pupils dilating as his gaze dropped to my mouth.

  I licked my lips, shifted against his body as my blood ran hot, burning me from the inside out.

  Erik suddenly let go and backed away from me. “I don’t understand my reaction to you. All these years and I’ve reacted to exactly two people with this kind of intensity, and I shouldn’t be feeling this toward you. Not now…not ever.”

  I had to work to focus because my body had gone into mating mode so fast, it left me dizzy. “Yeah, it’s not my norm either.”

  “I don’t even like you.” He shook his head. “You come in and strip my world completely. You did it without mercy and, according to Egan, without the knowledge of what that device could have done to my f…to Maska.” He ran fingers through his hair, leaving blond strands to stand straight up on top of his head again. His voice suddenly went hoarse, his eyes bleak. “I don’t even know this person I’ve lived with for over a year. My entire life is a lie, and here I stand with my dick hard for a woman who, as far as I can tell, doesn’t give a shit about anyone or anything but her own agenda.”

  “It’s not an agenda, it’s my job. My. Job. I track down the worst of the worst.” I took two steps, put my gun back in the sling on my hip, and this time I wrapped my fingers around his thick throat. Immediately, his pulse jumped under my palm, and like that, my crotch was wet. Not damp. Uncomfortably wet. “There is some kind of fire here, and I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t interested in exploring it. But you need to understand that Amunet is a bad person or he wouldn’t have been at Bastilleen.”

  “Call him Maska—at least until we figure this out. And a few minutes ago, Maska wasn’t even a he.”

  “I know.” I let go, stroking his neck as I pulled my fingers away. “Regardless, whatever he is, he was yours and has been awhile, so his well-being should be on your radar.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t ever tell me what should be on my radar. Ever.” He started to walk away, stopped and looked at me over one broad shoulder. “Stay away from Maska.”

  My lips twisted. “Not gonna happen. Deal with it.” I patted my gun. “Better make your peace with the Replicant, because the minute he’s mobile, I’m taking him where he belongs.”

  He opened his mouth, then surprised the hell out of me by grinning. “You’re such a bitch. Wish I didn’t find that so damned hot.”

  I watched him walk away, completely sure of one thing. This man wasn’t like anyone I’d ever met.

  Shaking my head, I moved in the direction of the living pods, my knees still shaky. No wonder the Replicant had taken on a permanent female form. For a minute there, my reaction to Erik had taken away the painful memories of my lost family.

  Two days later, Maska—I’d found it easier just to refer to him this way with all the angry friends he had on planet—was still in a coma. The med pod was surprisingly full of good equipment for such a small crew. There were two wireless vitals devices, two comfy-looking hospital beds and wall-to-wall cabinets.

  “His vitals are fine. Everything is where it should be in a Replicant body. I don’t know why he isn’t waking up.” Kei frowned as he brushed a strand of thick, ropy black hair off Maska’s face. “I can’t get over looking at this face after looking at the other one for so long. Rugged yet stunning. And these lips—ever seen such a gorgeous mouth on a person?”

  “Yeah. Lux.”

  “True.” He grinned. “Strangely, as a woman, Maska’s mouth was the same, full and smooth, plump. On this harsher face, it’s intriguing. And that tattoo is sexy.”

  “No, it’s not. It’s a damned prison tattoo.” Kei was chattering too much and too fast.

  “I like the intricate swirl, and this part below looks like a dagger.” Kei leaned over to peer at Maska’s ear. “And did you see the piercings on this ear? It’s just the one ear. I wonder where they all went when he was in his other form.”

  Or maybe this was Kei’s normal behavior. He kind of reminded me of Egan. “They can take many forms—it’s not like that other form is the only one.”

&
nbsp; The corner of his mouth turned up. “But it was a nice one.”

  I leaned against the wall, crossed my arms. “I need him to wake up.”

  “Something is keeping him in this state. The forced shift must have been so traumatic; he has to recover.”

  Yeah, I felt bad about it. Couldn’t help it. I lived for tracking the prisoners down, especially the Replicants, but I didn’t like to hurt anyone physically. I’d had to use force in the past, but they usually started it. Maska had just stood there with those big, dark eyes and begged me not to ruin his new life.

  I am shit.

  Shit—but also kind of a mess. I’d spent hours roaming what was left of my home city and chipped in on tunnel repairs because anything was better than the nightmares about my parents and my sisters. Horrible nightmares where they weren’t killed in the explosions and they suffered. In my dreams, I’m always chained up in the damned cargo hold of that ship…but I can hear them screaming.

  Closing my hands into fists, I stared down at the Replicant, glad the anger and resentment were winning out over the shame of my handling of him. “I can strap him into a bed and take him back like that. They have excellent medical facilities on Bastilleen. They have to with so many violent offenders.”

  The medic shook his head. “No. We don’t know enough and it’s risky. He needs to be kept still and monitored day and night.”

  I got the same annoying chatter from everyone on this planet. Everyone except Erik, who’d locked himself into the only empty living pod with a month’s supply of Fagra wine.

  Kei pulled the thin sheet higher on Maska. “I just can’t wrap my head around him staying in a female form for that long.”

  “He was hiding. It’s not strange if you look at it that way.”

  “Yeah, a prisoner, you said. But he’s also been a good friend. To all of us.” Kei shook his head, met my gaze straight on. “There is no way the person I know could have done something bad enough to warrant Bastilleen.”

  “He must have. The eye tattoo is proof enough.”

  “I saw the look in her…his eyes when he saw you. He knew exactly who you are and why you’re here. That was quite a bit of proof there.” He turned and began fiddling with crap on the counter. He shifted a box, a tube-type thing and a canister of something I did recognize, swabs. “Have you seen Erik?”

  “No.” Here we go again.

  “I can’t imagine the kind of betrayal he must feel. I want to yell at you for being so ruthless about this, but you were only doing your job and he did run. But for Erik to find out like that—it’s just awful.”

  “It fucking sucked.” Lux strode into the room, her sharp features scrunched in a way that did nothing for her. She had black smears all over her Earth jeans and white T-shirt.

  I squinted. One smear had a distinct hand shape. The woman had turned into a slut. Not that I blamed her. Just the thought of being in the middle of a Kol and Egan sandwich made my mouth dry.

  She dangled the NED. “No one has ever seen or heard of one of these things. Is it black market?”

  The corner of my mouth lifted. “Not exactly. Just new and extremely expensive, so be careful with it.”

  “How expensive?”

  “Let’s just say two full bounties were barely enough.” I held out my hand. “You found out it’s not illegal, so hand it over.”

  She dropped it into my hand. “Don’t suppose you can do any more damage with it now.” She sprawled in the chair next to the bed and eyed the Replicant. “Has he responded at all?”

  Kei shook his head.

  “Could we force him to wake up? Just to make sure he’s okay?”

  Kei kept shaking his head. “Forcing his body to do something else it isn’t ready for might make things worse. I’m sure he’ll wake up when he’s recovered. I’ve been reading up on Replicants, and they’re a fascinating race. They can’t shift into animals, only other humanoid species close to their own. They also have an amazing ability to regenerate tissue, so they live long lives.”

  Lux looked up at me. “So, since you can’t leave yet, you might as well make yourself useful and join the mining team.”

  “I signed on as a mechanic.”

  “No, you signed on as a liar. Besides, we’re doing repairs on that section of tunnel. I’m not sure why The Company told you we were operational.”

  “You didn’t seem surprised on the supply station.”

  “I also thought you were moving here permanently and would have plenty of time to get to the ship rebuilding. But we could use some help with Egan’s robotics, if you have any talent in that area.”

  “Not much, but I’m sure Egan can find something for me to do.”

  The grin Lux gave me should have been warning on that one.

  Chapter Five

  I understood the grin within two hours of donning my fitted blue microsuit. I’d had to purchase the suit from The Company after signing on, and damned if they hadn’t sold me a defective helmet. The suit was pretty cool for the most part. It had a skin layer covered with a hard torso shell. The life support system sent breathable air to every part of the suit, even the gloves. I’d have to get the helmet replaced, because while I could hear, I couldn’t send out messages.

  Egan’s fury with me still burned strong, so he’d put me on what had to be the worst job on planet. Don’t think he expected me to excel at it, though. It was my job to spot robot malfunctions and repair them before they became a problem. But that’s not what made this the worst job.

  It was Egan’s one-way ticket to my ear.

  “The Jarana I knew never would have used an untested device on a person. She didn’t wear black leather and act like a bitch either.”

  The Jarana you knew was naive and knew nothing of the world, my old friend.

  “Maska has been on this planet a long time. I’ve had countless dinners with her, worked beside her in the mines, and I can assure you, she or he isn’t capable of doing something that would have put him at Bastilleen. This just doesn’t make sense. Do you even research your victims before you tag them?”

  I would have answered if I could. Truth is, I always researched my tags, but this one had been a different case. In fact, I’d been suspicious of the administrators on Bastilleen when it came to Maska. The one who’d sent me the specifics said the Replicant had escaped and had no other information on him. The former administrator had been fired for misconduct.

  “What happened to you, Jarana? What happened after you left Kithra?”

  I didn’t leave. Closing my eyes, I fought off the instant return of seething resentment that burned like a living flame in my body. I didn’t leave. I was taken.

  Normally, I talked to no one about my past or anything that had happened to me since the Kithra explosions. At one time, Egan would have been someone I could talk to. But no longer. Besides, even if I’d wanted to talk about it, I couldn’t. I’d never been able to get the words past my lips. Just thinking about that time I’d spent chained up in that Replicant’s ship made me break out in a cold sweat.

  Being here, on Kithra, affected me in ways I couldn’t possibly have expected. Sleep eluded me, and I’d taken to prowling the limited space available with so few pods and tunnels repaired.

  “Tired of hearing my voice already?”

  Yes. But this time, I turned to the camera, knowing he could see me, and nodded. He stared back or, rather, glared. I just shrugged and turned back to watch the closest robotic arm. This job sucked.

  “You need to search out Erik and apologize.”

  For doing my job? Don’t think so.

  When Egan didn’t continue, I turned to catch him looking over his shoulder. In the next instant, a sensual grin tugged the corner of his lips before Lux straddled his lap and plastered her mouth on his. She speared her long fingers into his hair, clinging to him like she hadn’t seen him in weeks, even though I’d caught them in an embrace just the night before. Egan reached out blindly toward the buttons to turn off the sc
reen, and by the time it went black, I was laughing. And flushed. Those two put off so many sparks, I was surprised the room didn't ignite.

  I worked late. Didn’t have anything else to do. When a Gwinarian I didn’t know replaced Egan’s face in the vidscreen, I just nodded and kept working. I replaced loose screws, gaskets. I oiled and I pulled out rocks that got stuck in the wrong places. Egan’s designs were brilliant, and if The Company could manufacture hundreds of these things, they’d be able to mine Kithra at the rate they had in the past. Sadness stopped me momentarily when I remembered that at one time, my people had worked down here. I had too. We all took shifts, and though the work was hard, the laughter and shared food...and the rewards had been worth it.

  The crippling sense of loss nearly sent me to my knees. Gasping, I squeezed my eyes shut and focused on the here and now, focused on my body, my breathing. Dropping my tool belt on the ground, I walked toward the exit. I need a shower, food and whiskey.

  I had no intention of doing what Egan wanted, but after my shower, I headed toward the empty living pod where Erik had taken up temporary residence. Egan had told me straight out the man was too torn up to be in the quarters he’d shared with Maska. On the way, I ran into Kol, Egan and Lux…or I spotted them at the end of the tunnel and stopped to eavesdrop.

  Unfortunately, I could barely hear them, could only see Lux had her hands on her jean-clad hips as she delivered what looked like a hissed earful to her men. When she lifted her finger, Kol moved, backing her into the dome wall. In the next instant, his hands were cupping her cheeks, his fingers sliding into her hair as he slanted his mouth over hers. Egan, laughing, leaned on the wall nearby.

  The kiss was hot, carnal and sent fire zinging through my veins.

  My eyes flared wide when Kol suddenly reached out and fisted Egan’s T-shirt, pulling the taller man to him with easy strength. He transferred the kiss. One of them groaned loudly, I couldn’t tell which one, and then Lux was stumbling toward the tunnel that led to the mining pod they’d kept as their living quarters. “Gods! Hurry up.”