Beyond Meridian (Men In Space 1) by C.C. Bridges

Author:C.C. Bridges [Bridges, C.C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Karl sat on the floor of the engine room, tongue poking out of his mouth while he concentrated. He focused on the tiny welding pen sealing the final crack on Itchy’s casing. The poor little bot had been stepped on by one of the bastards who’d searched the ship and had his casing cracked. Luckily his memory circuits were all intact and all Karl needed to repair were two of his legs and replace the outer shell.

After a moment, he pulled away. That was as good as he was going to get without a robotics lab. Karl touched the reset button and flipped the case closed. Itchy’s eye cameras blinked, making a whirring noise, before turning and regarding Karl. The little bot chirped and clapped his two new legs together happily.

“C’mon, let’s show you to Raine.” Karl pushed himself up and headed toward Raine’s quarters. He made one quick check of the engine panel before he left, frowning at the numbers. They would probably need to stop for repairs sooner rather than later, although Karl didn’t know if they could while in the Confed or if the privateers would catch up with them.

So much for his rescue of Sam. He closed his eyes, swallowing down the sudden pain that thought brought. All wasn’t lost yet, he reminded himself. Raine wouldn’t want to stay any longer in the Confed than he had to.

Raine’s door was closed when Karl reached it. He debated not bothering the man, but he did want to make a report on the status of the ship. He hit the chime, figuring Raine would tell him to fuck off if he were sleeping.

It took Raine some time to respond. “What?” Karl swallowed. “I fixed Itchy,” he called through the closed door. It slid open, and Karl’s jaw dropped in horror.

Raine sat on his bed, his guitar draped across his lap. However, he wasn’t playing it this time. All the strings had been torn off, hanging from the end in coiled knots. The rest of his room had been trashed. His antiques, once carefully displayed, now lay smashed and jumbled on the floor.

“Oh, Raine.” Karl entered the room, careful not to step on anything. Itchy followed, chirping as he crawled up on the bed next to Raine. “I’m sorry. We’ll fix it, whatever we can.”

“It shouldn’t matter,” Raine said, not looking up, one thumb caressing the finish on the guitar. “I got the ship back. She’s more valuable than anything else.”

Yes, but this was Raine’s home, his sanctuary. Karl considered himself lucky to have seen it at all. He sat next to Raine, lifting the broken guitar and setting it off to the side carefully. He put his hand on Raine’s shoulder, offering what little comfort he could.

He didn’t expect for Raine to turn and kiss him, fitting his lips to Karl’s with urgent intent.

Karl lifted his hand, maybe to push Raine away. Instead he caught it in Raine’s long hair, drawing him closer so he could devour his mouth.

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