Chapter 54
Chee
She missed her gun. She knew she should have brought it.
She had debated seriously packing it to bring along with her.
Technically, weapons were on the banned list of things you could take off Earth when you immigrated out, but Hyde told her she could bring whatever she wanted.
She had considered her gun for a long time.
However, she decided not to do it. Concluding, after some debate, that a simple, old-fashioned, Earth style gun wouldn’t do anything out in space.
And sure, a human gun wouldn’t work on alien armor designed to absorb laser fire, some strong enough to absorb plasma fire.
But Rinnicks was wearing a skintight, silver dress that had about as much bullet proof ability as the air between them.
And her gun was also more familiar in her hand. If it was her own gun she had hidden in her helmet, she wouldn’t have hesitated to put a bullet between her eyes.
But she wasn’t as confident about her aim with Trove’s pistol. Not only was it not familiar in her hands, having only shot it a few times, but she didn’t have the experience with it that she would want to be comfortable shooting that close to her mate’s head.
So, she extended a small mercy.
Step away from him, and she ended it quickly.
Get her filthy, undeserving, rapist hands off her male, and Chee would end her without making this harder or more painful.
She’d prefer Trove’s safety over her revenge, so she made the offer.
Rinnicks was going to die here.
But she had control over how it would happen.
Though, apparently, Rinnicks didn’t appreciate her mercy.
Shaking Trove’s head, the tips of her claws cut into Trove’s neck. Little beads of dark, dark red blood welled up. One of them trickled down his shiny black skin – that color thanks to the satin pillows he was leaning against, with just a bit of green where Rinnicks was behind him.
Chee hated her color on Trove. She despised that this bitch touched him.
“Let him go,” she said again, calmly, taking a step to the side.
Getting a better angle.
Not on her head though. There was no good angle there that Chee would believe was an acceptable risk towards Trove.
“I will kill him! Leave or I rip out his throat!” Rinnicks screamed.
Chee dropped her helmet.
The gun she held within was already pointing right at Rinnicks’ leg.
The helmet knocked against the ground.
Her pistol shot with such a quiet, satisfying sound.
But not nearly as satisfying as Rinnicks’ cry of shocked agony.
Rinnicks was a very wealthy female. She was not used to being inconvenienced, much less being in any sort of pain. To people like that, pain was all the worse for being unfamiliar.
Her grip on Trove loosened. Trove slammed his head back and to the side.
He didn’t have much range or ability to get a good hit, but the clacking of their skulls together still resonated in the air.
Followed a moment later by Rinnicks hitting the ground, bleeding and screaming and reaching for her knee.
Well, the shattered, melted remains of her knee.
Rinnicks hid behind Trove as best she could, but she had only been hiding her vital organs. More the pity for her. At least, if Chee had hit her there, she might have died faster.
But Chee had given her warning, and Rinnicks didn’t take the deal.
Stepping in closer, Chee was able to aim better this time.
Rinnicks’ other knee met the same fate as the first. The laser fire from the pistol didn’t explode like a metal bullet, but that didn’t mean it didn’t do just as much damage.
Unlike a bullet that caused a smaller entry wound but a larger exit wound, the laser fire ate through the front of her knee but did almost no damage to the back.
As a result, there were gaping, burned holes where both of her knees had been, but they weren’t blown clean off.
Rinnicks wasn’t screaming anymore. She was gasping, gaping, staring at her second knee, like she almost couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her brain wasn’t capable of registering exactly how much damage her body had suffered, so it was shutting down.
It was a familiar look. Chee had seen it on her uncle’s face when he looked down at the knife her father repeatedly drove into his chest.
Fascinating, really, how similar they were for being so different.
Chee stood over her, watching carelessly as Rinnicks came to terms with her injuries.
Not that she could accept them, but long enough for her to feel the pain of them.
Chee wanted to make sure she suffered for what she had done to Trove.
For what she had probably done to others.
And maybe she suffered a bit for what others had done to Trove as well, but Chee wasn’t sorry for that.
If she didn’t want to be put down like a rapist, she shouldn’t be one.
The next shot went through Rinnicks’ hand.
Rinnicks screamed, falling back, trying to crawl away. Looking at Chee with terror in her eyes. But so used to other people doing things for her, she didn’t even really try to escape. She was just shaking and screaming.
Chee sighed, shooting her in the opposite shoulder. With that source of stability gone, she collapsed completely. Screaming. Begging incoherently. Broken just that quickly. All her power, all her control, stripped away just like that.
Chee turned, looking back at Trove. Completely unconcerned about Rinnicks.
Her mate, bleeding from his neck and arm, just smiled at her. His expression so tender and warm, it was like she was reciting sweet poetry to him.
“Are you okay?” Chee asked seriously.
“I’m fine,” he said simply. “Enjoying myself. Don’t stop on my account.”
“You could at least pretend this is serious.”
“Ah, sorry,” he cleared his throat and slumped back. “Please… save me…”
Chee rolled her eyes and shook her head before looking back at Rinnicks. She was limp, having passed out entirely. The pain was too much. It certainly wasn’t the blood loss since the laser fire also did double duty by cauterizing the wound.
Chee raised her gun and fired one last time, aiming for the head.
And just like that, Rinnicks was dead.
She locked the pistol back into safe mode but didn’t let it go. She didn’t know if someone else might come and she wasn’t going to be caught off guard. She then turned to her mate who was, once again, smiling at her so happily.
“Focus. How do I get you out of this?”
He gestured with his head. “Magcuff control is on that table right there. Should be a button on it that will unlock these.”
The buttons were marked with symbols that, on the whole, she didn’t recognize. But the button with a circle breaking apart seemed to be the most obvious contender. And when Chee pressed it, sure enough, the cuffs broke apart, freeing Trove without them breaking off from the bed.
She was considering if she should toss the controller or take it with her – she wasn’t sure if she needed to worry about fingerprints or something. Or maybe glove prints since she was in an envirosuit.
Before she could make a decision, however, Trove was suddenly there.
She called out, grabbing onto him reflexively, and dropping the controller as he swept her up in the air.
He had both arms bounded around her hips, holding her up above him as she balanced one hand on his shoulders, the other automatically holding out the gun so she didn’t actually shoot him.
The sheet was a long, silky black skirt messily tucked around his waist.
He beamed up at her so proudly.
“What a vicious, wicked female you are,” he said like he couldn’t imagine anything better.
She blinked then snickered. “I don’t know why I expected less of you.”
He bounced her up, and before she could do more than let out a short cry of surprise, he caught her again.
This time grabbing a handful of her butt with both hands.
A big grin spread over her face. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
I loved watching you kill for me. You were an absolute vision.
Ruthless and cold and violent. Perfection.
You are the most perfect of females. I loved it. I love you.”
Chee let out a cry of dismay.
“What?”
“You don’t get to say romantic stuff like that with a dead body right there!”
“Oh.” He looked confused but suggested, “I can step out in the hall if that makes it better?”
“That is not-!” She cut herself off, letting out a long sigh. She didn’t know what she expected from him.
Sure, she was a big proponent of murder as self-defense if the situation warranted it, but she didn’t think that was something to treat like a sweet gesture of romance. It was a serious, terrible thing and should only be made as a choice when there wasn’t another option.
Okay, maybe Chee had taken a little too much satisfaction in doing so, and the torture beforehand wasn’t strictly necessary, but…
She had lost her point. Especially looking at Trove’s happy face, beaming up at her so proudly, so lovingly.
She adjusted her hands, holding him by the face. Smiling at him in return.
“Yes, you can take me into the hallway to tell me,” she said, figuring that was probably the best compromise considering his past.
“I should warn you,” Alred suddenly said, his voice coming from the console by the door again, “that you both are about to get into trouble.”
“Huh?” Trove looked confused.
But the unspoken question was answered almost immediately when the door to the room slid open and Tanin was there.
Their captain, in his envirosuit, looked as calm and unflappable as ever. His quills were pressed to his head, broadcasting just how unconcerned he was. He looked around the room, taking notice of Trove and his barely concealed nudity, Chee held in his arms, and the corpse cooling on the floor.
And he glared at Trove.
“I did not give you permission to kill anyone.”
“I didn’t do it!” Trove protested immediately. “I was locked up the whole time!”
“Oh, yeah, that was me,” Chee grimaced. “Sorry. Was I supposed to ask permission?”
Tanin looked annoyed. “Remind me to go over the rules with you, Chee, for being part of the crew. No more killing without my permission.”
Chee opened her mouth, hesitated, frowned, then sighed.
“What?” Trove asked.
“I don’t know. Just… objectively a weird statement. Don’t forget to ask permission from dad before killing, I guess.”
Trove laughed as he left the room, still carrying her.