Sky Hunter by Chris Reher Page B

pounding.
    “ Nova?”
    She shook her head to banish the memory,
unable to recall what the head doctors at the base had told her to
do with it. At the time it hadn’t seemed so important to listen to
their advice. “We have to keep moving,” she said. “If we can scan
them, they can see us, too.” She snatched up the scanner and slung
it over her shoulder. “If we keep moving they might think we’re a
rebel patrol. We need to get back there.”
    “ Are you all right? I’m sorry if I…
startled you.”
    She shook her head, wishing for nothing more
than to go back a few seconds to feel his touch again. “No. You…
you didn’t. I’m sorry. Being silly. Jittery and tired.”
    “ We should try to leave the town. Find
a place to get some rest and then make our way around the foothills
to your base. You can’t go on like this. I’m barely able to stand
on my feet, either.”
    “ I have to see what’s happened at the
hospital. I won’t leave Reko to them. Or the others. Coria doesn’t
much like me, but she’s your friend. We have to try to help them
now that we have some weapons.” She pulled her gun from her belt
and headed for the door.
    “ Nova.”
    She turned back again.
    Djari took her arm to draw her close and this
time she did not flinch when he bent to kiss her softly. He touched
only her arms but Nova returned the kiss, letting the moment spin
out deliciously to banish the hate-filled night from their minds,
if only for a little while. More than that, she felt herself
respond to the closeness of their bodies, of wanting him to touch
her. The sudden and happy realization that this need had not been
destroyed by Captain Beryl, after all, allowed her to reach up to
wrap her arms around his neck.
    But when she felt his arms move around her
waist to draw her closer to this powerful body she pulled away at
once, the fear and memory a dash of cold water in her face. They
stared at each other for uncounted moments, neither sure of the
other.
    He finally cocked his head and gave her a
gentle smile. “Should I apologize?”
    “ Huh? No! I mean…”
    He raised a single finger to point toward
her. “Not going to shoot me, are you?”
    She looked down to see that she now gripped
her pistol close to her chest, one hand around the barrel, the
other ready to engage the trigger. She exhaled forcefully and
lowered the gun.
    “ This is what you look like scared,” he
observed. “But why?”
    She looked away and then up into his face
again, seeing only concern and curiosity. “I’m sorry. I… I got
hurt, not so long ago. It’s made me jumpy, I guess.”
    “ Boyfriend trouble in the military? Is
that allowed?”
    She shook her head. “Not that. Not a
boyfriend. I mean really hurt. On the base.”
    The soft smile faded from his lips. “On the
base?”
    She nodded.
    He took a step closer, slowly as if worried
that she might run away. He brushed her cheek with the tips of his
fingers. “You have nothing to fear from me,” he said. “You know
that, don’t you?”
    She nodded and reached up to cover his hand
with her own but then pulled away to open the door behind her.
Perhaps there was time for this later, when she could allow herself
to find out what his touch just now had meant. When she could admit
to herself how much she needed it. She ground her teeth and shoved
aside an overwhelming desire to hide in his embrace and, if even
for just a little while, forget that she ever set foot on this
planet. No time for any of this now.
    “ Let’s walk slow so we don’t look like
we’ve got something to hide on the scanners,” she said. “If we move
fairly at random we could get close to the hospital without being
noticed.” She paused to consider. “Actually, let’s not be seen by
anyone. Ours or theirs. If they did send Union patrols they’ll
think we’re rebels, too.”
    They made their way back to the edge of the
slum and the meandering route they took was as much the result of a
lack of compass as