Lana's Comet (Outer Settlement Agency) by Lyn Brittan Page A

head and could almost picture his grin when he said, “I’ll need more than that. You’re huge.”
    Laughter rippled through the group, but this was all taking too long apparently. Voices raised, tempers flared and someone’s hand cinched around her throat. Its owner, a man with roiling breath, bumped his miniscule penis against her bum. “I ain’t picky. You’ll do.”
    She probably should have waited for Cyprus to give the go ahead, but she’d be damned if she let this unwashed animal get away with touching her again. She hooked her foot, took out his knee and smashed the rat bastard’s kidney to kingdom come – a perfect Vesuvian Night...
    “Down!”
    She ducked at Cyprus’s shout and the rancid smell of her singeing hair. That was a little too close.
    A series of thuds and grunts had her reaching out for a wall. “Cyprus? CYPRUS!”
    “Busy at the moment.”
    More scuffling and a shadow fell upon her. She kicked like a crazy woman, putting every stitch of power into her leg. It worked.
    Unfortunately.
    Cyprus strung together a chain of swears between groans.
    “Sorry.”
    “It’s fine. You did the right thing. Two are out cold and the third, well, the third deserved what he got.” He pressed something into her palm – a weapon – and she maneuvered her fingers away from the trigger. “I’m going to drag them over to our shuttle and vent it.”
    “What about oxygen? They may not be alive when backup comes.”
    “I’m heartbroken over it. Listen, I’m busted up. I can only move them one at a time. If anything stirs while I’m gone, start spraying.”
    *****
    H e dumped the last goon and made his way over to Lana, who still weaved the weapon in all directions. “Just me. How are your eyes?”
    She let go of the gun, along with the check she’d had over her emotions. “I need you,” and her head dropped to his chest as she cried. “If I don’t get to a medipod soon, it’ll be too late.”
    “So I’ll get you there.”
    “I know. You haven’t let me down yet.”
    “But I have. Lana, I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you—”
    “You had a job to do. You’re also a jerk, but your heart is in the right place.”
    “Even for a clone?”
    “Don’t start.”
    “I’m kidding.”
    “Right.”
    He shifted, but didn’t break contact, keeping one hand wrapped around her waist while the other tried to make sense of the non-standard communications system. The screen beeped, and then blinked to life. “We have an incoming message.”
    “Are you going to answer it?”
    “I don’t have a choice. If OSA picked up our distress call, it could be them. If we say nothing they’re liable to shoot first, thinking we’re the bad guys.” He flipped the switch and prayed for familiar faces.
    Well...he got ‘em...
    And they all stared back at him in open-mouthed surprise. All three of them: the two well dress men they’d fought with that night in the 22 nd and one very slackjawed Michi Yoshisumi.
    The smaller thug – and that being completely relative – pointed at the screen. “It’s them, the two that got away from us. What are you doing on my cousin’s ship? Clash? Where are you boy?”
    Cyprus chuckled under his breath. “And I thought my name was bad. Who names a baby Clash?”
    “Where is my cousin?”
    “None of your concern,” Lana interrupted. He kissed her. One, because he wanted to, but two, as an excuse to put his hand on the back of her head and angle it in the right direction.
    Another look of surprise from the Yoshisumi girl, but still, she kept quiet.
    Clash’s cousin cracked his knuckles and leaned back in his chair. “Either you produce my cousin, or I blow you out of the sky. See, I’ve known that boy my whole life. You’d have to kill him to take his ship. Hell, I’ve tried to kill ‘em to take it. So I’ll ask one more time. Clash or your life, Mr....”
    Cyprus didn’t reveal his name. The whole thing was beyond insane. If they survived this, he’d add the