Chapter 13 Possession
Possession
He was insane. That was the only reasonable explanation for kissing Jace.
After he had told his mother that he would not use Jace’s--or his own, though that was unspoken--attraction to move the young man in any direction he’d still kissed Jace!
Kissed him! After spending the night evidently wound around him like some vine.
His lips still remembered the kiss. His right hand drifted up to them, but he jerked it down.
He should not be indulging in this--this--this…
he didn’t know what this was. Yet there was a certain pep in his step.
His mind whirled. His Xi and Xa sparked.
He hadn’t felt so hopeful in a long time though he could not exactly identify why, as his problems were just as they had been, except for Jace not being angry with him.
Happiness. This is unadulterated happiness.
At least it was when he wasn’t scolding himself for his actions. But it was done. He had kissed Jace. Jace had enthusiastically responded. They had determined to wait to pursue it until things with the Alliance had been worked out.
Can things be worked out? Without violence?
Though he could think of many reasons why things would not lead to a peaceful or fruitful conclusion, he found himself unwilling to think about them at this moment. He was most definitely insane.
The door to Jace’s quarters opened and he was face to face with a metallic skeleton with flaming red eyes that stood seven feet tall.
He went for his rahir, only to realize he didn’t have it.
He reached for his draagves, but he didn’t have that either.
He only had a momentary thought that such a monster should not have been allowed to get this far into the ship unless there had been a major malfunction with the Osiris.
But he was already moving. He struck out with one fist at its head while swinging around a leg to strike at the thing’s lower body.
His fist was caught in one of the metal clawed hands and his leg was blocked by the other with no difficulty.
“Khoth! What’s wrong?” A female voice, slightly higher pitched than most women he had dealt with, came out of the metallic maw.
Khoth froze. “G-Gehenna?!”
“Yes! You didn’t guess right away?” she asked, sounding absolutely astounded that he would not know her in this monstrous form.
“Ah… no,” he responded quietly as she released his fist.
“Well, you are not as up to date on human entertainment so you wouldn’t recognize the Terminator!” she cried with evident glee.
“Terminator? My understanding of that word is not one I would associate with you,” he stated.
“Oh, but it is! It fits me perfectly if you understand the story! Oh, it’s a wonderful story about good machines and bad machines. The good machines are so marvelous and defeat the bad machines and earn love from humanity!” she burbled.
He stared at the death’s head with its magma colored eyes that seemed to burn with malevolence. “I still do not understand what happened to your other body?”
“It alarmed people! They were afraid of me and I didn’t want that!” she informed him.
“And you think this form will not alarm them?” Khoth kept his voice neutral even as his gaze flickered over the steel limbs capable of crushing a human under its metal heel or the claw-like hands that could rip out a tender human heart.
He couldn’t imagine under any circumstances that humans would not be alarmed--if not terrified--by a grim looking, metal skeleton with flaming eyes.
“Oh, yes! You see in the movies the Terminator ended up being the good guy, like I said! He took care of John and Sarah Connor and--Jace! What do you think about my new body?” Gehenna asked with evident expectations of delight as Jace came up behind Khoth.
Jace got out a choked laugh. “The Terminator, huh? Well, uhm, that’s an interesting choice. I did wonder what you were going to come up with.”
Khoth’s heart began to beat faster at the sound of Jace’s voice.
He felt the warmth of Jace’s body as the young man slipped around him into the hallway so that they could stand side by side admiring Gehenna’s current form.
His cheeks blued and his heart thudded quickly in his chest at Jace’s renewed nearness.
I must get a hold of myself, Khoth told himself. We are to be colleagues. Friends. That is all.
Khoth curled his fingers towards his palms and dug his nails into the soft flesh there to anchor himself.
“You don’t like it, Jace?” Gehenna wailed. “I did so much research into my next form! I watched every Terminator film and read all the accompanying source material. I based my body on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800, or as it is also designated, the 101. How could you not find it wonderful?”
“Yes, I can see that.” Jace nodded.
“The T-800 is a good artificial intelligence. It is the one who develops emotions and saves the day multiple times. It cares for a young man who will rescue the future from evil!” Gehenna enthusiastically explained her choice with many punctuations of her metal arms flying in all directions, nearly punching walls and the ceiling several times.
“You’re right.” Jace nodded more vigorously. “I can definitely see that you thought this through. It’s just...”
“Exactly! Now, instead of being scared of me, humans will embrace me as their protector!” Gehenna saluted him. But she slowly lowered the hand and those red eyes seemed to burn with a greater intensity. “You do not seem to agree with my careful assessment of how this will go.”
Another laugh escaped Jace’s mouth but he quickly brought a hand up to cover it. “Oh, I think General Intoshkin will enjoy your new form greatly.”
“He will? Why especially him?” Gehenna asked suspiciously.
That sweet voice coming from this monstrous seven-foot tall behemoth was disconcerting.
“Because he’d love to have an army of Terminators at his disposal,” Jace told her. Then his forehead furrowed as he asked, “Could that be done?”
“Not from the Osiris,” Gehenna said. “But the Altaeth have many worlds yet unexplored where we might find something of use! My databases indicate quite a few though I do not have access to their defense grids to know the state they are in.”
Jace turned to Khoth. The young man was still wearing only those light, drawstring pants and no shirt.
His chest was a picture of perfection with highly defined muscles, golden skin, slightly darker nipples and a faint line of golden-brown hair running beneath the waistband of his pants.
Khoth knew human anatomy. There would be a thatch of curls between Jace’s legs and…
He dug his fingernails into his palms harder. He must keep control of himself!
“Wouldn’t robots like this be useful against the Khul especially? No chance of infection,” Jace pointed out. “And no deaths either.”
Khoth nodded. “We attempted using synthetics against the Khul, but we were not successful. We lost contact with them once they entered Khul ships. Even those programmed to act without direct control seemed to have malfunctioned and then they were returned to us.”
Jace frowned. “Returned?”
“Yes, they were reprogrammed and sent to large cities to be used as mobile bombs. We stopped using them after that,” Khoth answered. “But these synthetics were not Altaeth-make so perhaps something fashioned out of their technology would work better.”
“Gehenna was okay in the Hive,” Jace said, tapping his chin.
“Yes, I was great!” Gehenna pumped one of her huge arms into the air above her head, once again, nearly punching a hole in the ceiling.
“You were. So maybe we should look into using Altaeth-tech synthetics,” Jace suggested.
Khoth nodded. He didn’t trust himself to speak around Jace exactly at that moment. He found his voice wanted to drop an octave lower.
“Are you okay?” Jace touched his elbow briefly.
That slight touch through his suit sent a flare through his system.
“I am… I am adequate… for the tasks set ahead of me,” Khoth got out.
Jace’s eyebrows rose. “You are more adequate! Thaf’ell are superior.”
“You are teasing me,” Khoth remarked with a smile.
“Always.” Jace grinned back.
Khoth felt some of the tension ease. This was Jace. Not a stranger even as his body seemed to be acting differently now towards the young man. It was Jace who was sensible and serious and affectionate and kind and brave and...
It was the kiss. That is what is causing me to see him so differently or, not differently, but so much more intensely.
Khoth suddenly wished with all his might that he had waited to break off his friendship with Thammah.
He had never felt this way before, but he guessed she would have a greater understanding of these things.
Or, at least, she would snap him out of doing anything foolish. But her good advice was lost to him.
Nor could he confide the changes happening to him to anyone else than her.
Not even his father. Especially not his father.
Though he would soon lose the chance to talk to his father at all in the near future.
He had betrayed the Alliance. He would be exiled.
He wondered if he should tell his mother before the first formal meeting occurred.
Probably. But, despite these grim thoughts, he still felt buoyed by Jace’s presence.
Gehenna was looking between the two of them.
Her head cocked to the side. She clearly noticed something was different between them.
The metal face though was locked into a hideous grin so he couldn’t read what she felt about the matter, and he was rather grateful she didn’t say anything.
At least, she didn’t say anything out loud or to him.
“By the way, you do have your own quarters despite what the Osiris told you, Khoth. Let me take you to them. They’re just down the hallway here,” Jace said. “Right next to mine and across the hall from my parents.”