VirtuallyYours by Caroline McCall Page B

console. When this was over, he
and Charley had some serious talking to do.
     
    Charley kept watch on the corridor while Pete tried to
repair the communications system. How could she have reacted like that to him?
A single kiss was all it had taken for her treacherous body to forget that Pete
was off limits. They had been kidnapped by a bunch of mercenaries. The ship was
in danger of been blown apart by Fleet Command at any second and all she could
think about was the feel of his hands, the taste of his mouth. Snap out of
it, Maxwell, you have enough troubles .
    From the occasional expletive, Pete’s repair job obviously
wasn’t going well. Eventually he crawled out from under the console. “It’s no
good, they’ve smashed the power coupling and I can’t re-route it. There’s a
small black box in my kit bag, Charley. Can you fetch it?”
    She delved into his bag until her hand fastened on a smooth
metallic case. “This one?” Charley asked, waving it at him.
    Pete reached for the case and flipped it open. It looked
like a small medi-kit, with fine needles and cables. “You may want to look away
now.”
    “Why?”
    “Because the console may be out of power, but I’m not.” With
deft fingers, Pete linked the micro-cable to the broken console. “Sure you want
to see this?”
    Charley nodded. She knew that Pete was tech-enhanced, but to
see him like this felt strangely intimate. He brushed his dark hair away from
his right ear before inserting the cable into a small jack behind his ear. The
lights on the console flickered and then came on.
    “Does it hurt?”
    “Nah, it just makes me a little dizzy. It’s a temporary fix.
We’ll be lucky to get ten minutes out of it before my brain fries.”
    Pete looked at her shocked face and grinned. “I’m joking,
Charley.”
    Despite the damaged com unit, Karl Hayes’ voice came through
crisp and clear, and very relieved. “Thank God you’re okay, Pete. The base
looks like a battlefield. How are the others?”
    “Eric was injured, but he’ll live. We don’t have much time,
Karl. Professor Liston is alive and we’re headed for Tarsus Four with a party
of Vashtar mercenaries. There may be a stop along the way for food. They
haven’t brought dinner with them.”
    “Understood. I’ll contact Fleet Command and let them know.
You can probably expect trouble within a day or two. How are the others bearing
up?”
    The door at the far end of the corridor opened. “Kirez is
back,” Charley hissed.
    “I have to go, Karl.” Pete unplugged the cable and dimmed
the lights.
    Charley lay down on the mattress and Pete threw a possessive
arm across her. Lieutenant Kirez stood in the center of the doorway, casting a
shadow across the makeshift bed. Charley shut her eyes tight, terrified to
move. After a few moments, they heard footsteps in the corridor again and the
sound of a door opening and closing. Charley let out a deep breath.
    Pete returned to the console and Charley watched as he
carefully packed the black case. “Let’s get some sleep, Charley. Tomorrow we
start fighting back.”
    * * * * *
    Breakfast was another MRE, which tasted scarily similar to
the one from the previous night. Pete polished his off quickly, while Charley
grumbled as she tried to finish hers. “I don’t know how I’m going to eat this
stuff for a whole week.”
    “Maybe you won’t have to. Fleet Command will have every
starship in the quadrant looking for us, but we need to find a way of helping
them.”
    “What do you suggest?”
    Pete took a sip of bottled water. “If we’re ever getting off
this ship alive, we need Tin Man on our side.”
    “Marc wouldn’t harm us,” she protested. “He knew nothing
about the Vashtar.”
    “But his father did, Charley. Liston’s already sold out to
them.”
    He didn’t want to think about what would happen to Charley
when they got to Tarsus Four. The Vashtar would probably sell the ship and
pilot as a package. Much as he hated to admit it, he