Ignite by Tana Stone
Chapter Seven
Kalex
I lowered myself into the rear seat in the fighter’s cockpit, pulling the safety straps across my chest. It had been a long time since I’d flown in such a small vessel, but instead of making me feel claustrophobic, the close quarters were comforting. I breathed in the scent of engine fuel as I savored the sounds of the hangar bay—the clanging of tools on metal, the roar of engines firing, the voices raised to shouts to be heard over the cacophony.
The rest of the Island might be sleek and polished, with white corridors, pulsing, colored lights, and strange music wafting through the air, but at least the hangar bay felt like a real ship. The floor was unpainted and stained by fuel, and the beams high in the vaulted ceiling were exposed. Whenever I got homesick for an Inferno Force battleship, this was where I came.
Jax plopped down behind me, his pilot’s seat facing away from me. Drexian fighters were designed for the second flier to operate weapons from behind, and the 360-degree view of the clear cockpit dome made it a tactical advantage to have the second shooter facing any rear threats. We couldn’t see each other, but we could easily hear each other even before activating the helmet comms connection.
“So how rusty are you, Captain?” Jax asked, clearly enjoying teasing his fellow Inferno Force warrior.
“I hear it’s like riding a Felaris hover bike. You never forget.”
Jax sighed. “Felaris.”
“Are you wistful for the hover bikes, or the pleasurers?”
“There’s nothing like a night with a pair of Felaris twins.” Jax strapped himself in and pulled down the cockpit dome.
“No arguments from me, there.” Instead of pulling my thoughts away from the nights I’d spent being pleasured by two eager and talented Felaris females, I allowed my wind to wander to the raucous evenings when my Inferno Force crew docked at a pleasure planet. Anything to keep my mind off Zoey.
“Kalex?”
Jax’s voice finally snatched me back to reality, and I noticed that he’d powered up the engines, the noise rumbling into my bones and sending anticipation skittering through me.
“Sorry. I got lost thinking about those talented females of Felaris.”
Jax laughed loudly, the sound filling the compact cockpit. “We might just be going on a fly-about, but I do need you focused.”
I cleared my throat and shifted in the seat, glancing down at the readouts on my console and gripping the control stick. “Systems fully functional back here, and my mind is wholly focused on our flight.”
“Glad to hear it, Cap.” Jax flipped a few more switches and the rear dampeners disengaged, as our ship started to move toward the gaping mouth at the end of the hangar bay that led into space.
Before I could say anything else, the ship rocketed forward, and I was thrust forward, against my restraints. The force of us barreling across the hangar bay and bursting through the energy field into space made it impossible for me to talk and even a challenge to breathe. Once we’d breached the ship and had vaulted into the blackness of space, Jax eased up on the thrusters.
I drew in a breath. “You always take off like that?”
“I have to make sure my combat takeoffs and landings don’t get rusty.”
“Does that mean we’ll be coming in hot when we return?” I asked, not sure whether I liked the thought of a hard landing that would rattle my teeth, or if I dreaded it.
“Let’s see how we do out here, first,” Jax said. “You might not need the combat landing.”
I bristled at this. “You think I need a reminder of combat?”
“Isn’t that why you’ve been so restless and miserable lately?” Jax banked us hard around the side of the station, our fighter flying so close to the transparent hull that I spotted workers on scaffolding and Drexians in dark uniforms crossing suspended walkways.
“I’m not miserable,” I insisted. “But I am anxious to get back to Inferno Force. I wasn’t built to be a babysitter.”
“Is that what you think of this mission? Babysitting?”
“What would you call it? We’re watching over a building project. Inferno Force was never intended for this. We’re the fiercest warriors in the fleet.”
“Which tells you how important this station is to the empire.”
“I think you mean how important the human females are,” I corrected him, bitterness dripping from my words.
“Personally, I’m not interested in a tribute,” Jax said. “But I thought you’d be first in line. You enjoy women as much as any warrior I’ve ever known. Is it because they only have two breasts instead of three, because I’ve heard that the two they do have are quite—”
“It’s not that they only have two breasts,” I said, not wanting to hear Jax wax poetic about breasts. “It’s that The Reveal is destabilizing the empire. Now our focus is totally on the brides, when it should be on eliminating the Kronock threat. They’ve only gone quiet. They haven’t disappeared.”
“I agree with you there. The Kronock going dark is never a good thing. When I was first assigned to fly patrols, I was sure we’d see some action.”
“You thought the Kronock would attack this station?”
“What better way to strike a blow to our empire than to destroy our newest station before it’s even complete?” Jax let out a breath. “But the skies have been as quiet as a ship’s graveyard out here. Most days it’s so dull I have to fight to stay alert.”
“You’ve just described every day on the station for me.”
Jax swung our fighter around, and made another pass alongside the side of the station, this time taking us fully around to the other side. From outside, the station looked almost idyllic—all glossy, white surfaces and gleaming chrome. It was a far cry from the battered, iron Inferno Force battleships, but I’d take one of those dented hunks of metal any day.
“It won’t be so boring when the tributes arrive,” he said. “That should shake things up.”
“By that time, I should be gone. I’m only acting captain, remember. I never signed on to do this for good.”
“High Command must have thought the Kronock would strike, too. That’s why they outfitted this place with so many Inferno Force warriors. Once the security systems are fully operational, I’m sure you’ll be replaced with a peacetime captain.” Jax flipped our fighter upside down so that our cockpit dome was almost brushing the clear hull of the station as we flew up one long side. “And they won’t need so many fighter patrols.”
“Then we can both get back to Inferno Force,” I said, as the blood rushed to my head. “Unless you intend to stay for the tributes.”
Jax snorted out a derisive noise, as he righted our fighter and put some distance between us and the station. “Not me. Give me a pleasurer any day. But I think we’re the only Drexians on the station who think that. You have seen how our fellow warriors have reacted to the human females on board, haven’t you?”
“You mean the women who’re part of the station construction team?” My hackles rose when I realized that included Zoey. “They aren’t tribute brides.”
“That’s what makes them even more desirable to our Drexian brothers. They’re forbidden.”
“Forbidden?”
“The fraternization rule has never been an issue for us before, but I’m pretty sure High Command wouldn’t look kindly on our warriors fucking their way through the carefully selected scientists and crew.”
The thought of any of my Drexian crew fucking Zoey made me clench my teeth. “I don’t think they would.”
“The first thing I’m doing once this tour is over is finding myself the kinkiest pleasure house in the galaxy, and not leaving for a full lunar cycle.”
That didn’t sound so bad. Before I could tell Jax that I’d be doing the same, our consoles started beeping. I glanced down at the readouts and flashing red lights illuminating the cockpit.
“An energy anomaly,” I said, touching a finger to the console.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve picked up a fluctuation in energy levels in space.”
“Really? You’ve never reported it.”
“It’s usually a blip and then it disappears.” As if on cue, the red lights stopped blinking and the readouts returned to normal levels. “See? I assumed it has something to do with the construction and the amounts of energy we’re using to set up the holographic interfaces.”
I nodded, though my eyes didn’t leave the console. “That would explain it. And it doesn’t happen often?”
“Only a handful of times, total. And it’s never been connected to anything else. No other readings change before or after, which makes me think it’s either a glitch, or a natural result of the space construction.”
“I don’t know enough about space construction to say if that’s what we’re looking at.”
“You could always talk to the foreman,” Jax said. “Or even better, that astro-architect. If you want to, I could talk to her.”
Zoey might make me crazy, but the thought of Jax with her made me want to hit something. Even if he did claim disinterest in human females. “I’ll talk to her.”
“Suit yourself, Captain,” Jax muttered, spinning the ship around and heading back toward the hangar bay entrance at full speed.
We rocketed into the station and hit down hard before he engaged the dampeners to slow us. I wasn’t pleased with the new revelation, although my pulse did quicken at the thought of talking to Zoey again so soon. So much for purging her from my mind.