Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Partners

HOLLOWAY

The Tharon mindmasker currently posing as FBI Agent Holloway, driving his brown sedan, was first on the scene two blocks from Red’s tavern. He double-parked by necessity and stepped out of his vehicle with his mental camouflage in full effect, then fired a wide radius mental scan. He detected no syren in that radius.

He had, despite his hurry, arrived too late.

Even though his quarry had escaped him, he was not entirely upset. This eruption still marked a positive development in his case. Over the past few months, both syrens had been careful not to reveal their locations. Between them, they had only fired their unique mind bursts three times. They had always been absent by the time hunters arrived.

They had captured the first syren almost by accident. There were only so many “college bars” to patrol, and she had accidentally made contact with an undercover Tharon posing a college student when she attempted to “hook up.” While both syrens were technically the same age—in effect, twins—their personalities could not be more different.

The syren they had captured—her most recent moniker had been Larika, one she devised for herself—was wildly reckless. It was her tendency to engage in hedonism and her unwillingness to settle for a single partner that had led to her capture. Most of her kind, at least the rogue ones, acted similarly.

The other twin, by comparison, was far more cautious and did not “sleep around.” That made her far more difficult to track. She was cautious in her movements and rarely visible during the day, and once she found a dependable partner, she used that partner exclusively.

This strong mind burst marked a departure from the more cautious syren’s routine. It had also been the most powerful burst thus far, suggesting she had fired it in desperation. If she was now desperate, it increased the chance she would make an additional mistake.

Holloway—while this was not actually his name, he found it easier to mindmask when thinking of himself as his cover—had assumed it would be weeks before they acquired a lead on the second siren, given her preference for taking a single partner and hiding with him. Perhaps, instead, she had only acquired a “one night stand.”

He took no pleasure in the desperation of his quarry—if anything, he empathized with her situation—but he had a job to complete.

Unregulated alien contact with the inhabitants of non-uplifted planets could not be allowed. Primitive species like humans were driven by greed, lust, and simple pleasures. That would allow the uplifted races to easily corrupt, ensnare, or enslave them.

A hint of the wonders and technology available to the galaxy at large was addictive, and a rogue syren was far from the only danger to the inhabitants of Earth. There were far worse threats. Humanity, flawed as it might be, still deserved protection, and it was the job of Holloway and the rest of his pod members to protect them from alien harm.

More out of curiosity than anything stronger, he scanned the line of parked human vehicles in the faint light of the overhead illumination lamps. Several spaces were empty, but the absence of those vehicles triggered his deductive instincts. It increased his suspicions that Leader Fitzkree, his superior, had the entire pod searching the wrong place.

 Less than five minutes had passed from the time the mental burst occurred until Agent Holloway had arrived. He had already been in the area, playing a “hunch” that this syren would seek out partners at local bars. Having a hunch rewarded was always a thrill.

Yet despite Holloway’s rapid arrival, even his long range scan had detected no trace of the fugitive syren. Had she fled on foot at full speed, it was possible she could have evaded his mental range before he arrived… but not probable.

Fitzkree would suggest this syren, lacking other resources, had reconfigured her human body for long distance running. Yet if she had enough energy to reconfigure herself and run, it suggested she had ensnared a new partner. What if that partner owned a vehicle?

If this syren now had access to vehicular transportation, that suggested he and his fellow hunters needed to vastly widen their search radius. It also explained how she had slipped out of their mind ring a night ago. She had been hibernating.

Any conscious syren who passed through the ring of their mental perimeter would have alerted them, but if she had been hibernating while riding in a vehicle driven by a partner, she would have passed through without being detected.

Holloway now believed she had done just that. He could see no other way she could have so easily escaped their ring. It was also why their search of local businesses had turned up nothing. Perhaps she had “hitchhiked”... as the humans put it... acquired a ride, and gone into hibernation as her partner drove her to his home.

Fitzkree had focused their pod inside the radius of their mental perimeter, a five mile radius around the squalid “Briar Oak” apartments. It would be difficult to convince his superior they should return to a wider search pattern, but Holloway would do his best. Perhaps he could lead Fitzkree into coming to this conclusion on his own.

Holloway had never been particular impressed with Fitzkree. While he would never publically question the role of a Tharon leader, who had been birthed a full two castes above him, he privately believed Fitzkree was not up to this task. His former pod leader had been far better at hunting fugitives, but even the best eventually needed to retire and proliferate.

Holloway had just finished his initial walk around when a second sedan appeared and Fitzkree—in the guise of Agent Thacker, Holloway’s superior—got out. They could discuss the possibility of the syren having a vehicle immediately. That would be efficient.

Fitzkree had also brought his pet “hound” which was not, of course, an actual canine. The four-legged creature was a carron, and while it was not intelligent enough to have a language, it could telepathically communicate with its master. That master was Fitzkree.

Fitzkree’s mental hail came at once. “Report.”

“The syren is gone,” Holloway mentally responded. “I believe she fled in a vehicle.”

“She cannot drive.”

“I believe she may have acquired a partner with a vehicle.”

“What evidence led you to this conclusion?”

This was the difficulty with working with Fitzkree. He demanded incontrovertible physical or spoken evidence before he would change his mind about anything. All Holloway had was his “hunch”, and he knew how Fitzkree despised those.

“Several vehicles are missing from the area where the burst occurred.”

“Countless humans are even now departing from all this area,” Fitzkree thought calmly. “It is ‘last call’. Focus on what we can see. Why did the syren fire the mind blast?”

Holloway remained patient. “She was defending herself or defending her partner.”

“What evidence leads you to conclude she has acquired another partner?”

Again this insistence on evidence. Any basic sapient being could look at what was right in front of them. Investigators had to intuit from what they found. “It would be her first goal.”

“I completed extensive mental sifts through the human known as ‘Ryan’,” Fitzkree thought calmly. “All his recollections of this syren, whom he named ‘Sarenia’, suggest that she remained with him and only him for over a month despite having ample opportunity to collect more suitable partners. Nothing in his mind suggests she partners as casually as the other one. She locates a single isolated partner, seduces them, and nests.”

“Perhaps that was merely Ryan’s impression of her.”

“Again, provide evidence. We do not work off blind supposition.”

The reprimand was clear. Holloway would not push further. Then, he spotted the blood. “I have found human blood, still fresh and near the mind burst. It may be from the conflict.”

“I am coming.”

Fitzkree hurried over with his carron, which grew excited as it caught the scent. It sniffed out the blood and soon found a trail of drops leading along the row of parked cars. That trail continued for several vehicles until it terminated abruptly. A car stood there.

“She patched him,” Holloway thought excitedly.

More mental frustration from Fitzkree. “Explain.”

“The blood trail ends here, but this vehicle has not moved. That suggests she decided her partner was bleeding too much and bound his wounds. They likely did this on the way to his vehicle, which was parked…” Holloway followed cars until he found a gap. “There.”

Fitzkree said nothing. He simply urged his carron down the row and mentally ordered it to sniff the space Holloway had indicated. The carron’s mental response confirmed the smells of gasoline, exhaust, and rubber, all recent, but moreover, it smelled a hint of the same human it had smelled in concert with the human blood.

The car in which the bleeding person departed had left in the last few minutes.

“There is much blood,” Fitzkree thought. “A human thus wounded would likely lose consciousness if they attempted to drive. I will have Yatrick search for recent accident reports.”

Fitzkree was right. Judging from the trail, the human had been losing blood rapidly, and would likely lose consciousness. Yet… what if the human had not driven at all?

What if the syren had?

“Preposterous.” Fitzkree, who shared a mental link with him as they investigated the crime scene, dismissed the thought before Holloway could produce it. “Nothing in our files suggest this syren is familiar with earth vehicles. She travels exclusively on foot.”

“They are excellent pilots.”

“These human craft are so primitive that similarities are non-existent.”

“But what if her new partner taught her to pilot one?”

“Setting aside that we still have no proof she has acquired a new partner, a human male would not be so foolish as to teach her how to operate his vehicle.”

This time, it was Holloway who did not follow Fitzkree’s thought. “It would be more efficient if they both drove.”

“But that would provide her independence, Holloway.” Fitzkree’s impatience was clear. “Let us suppose, for a moment, that she has ensnared another human male. She does so by offering unlimited sexual favors. He covets those. Teaching her to pilot his vehicle would allow her to leave him if she grew dissatisfied. Even a human could intuit this.”

Holloway did not entirely agree, but not for the reasons Fitzkree likely did. While humans were not uplifted—yet—he felt Fitzkree was allowing his uplifted prejudice to impair their search. Fitzkree believed all humans to be greedy and covetous, but that had not been Holloway’s impression at all. Some were quite kind, and many truly fell in love.

Then again, Holloway had been stationed on Earth for years now. He had been provided with multiple cycles to observe the intricacies of human behavior. He actually liked humans and found them interesting, the same way some humans were fans of dolphins or wolves.

Fitzkree had only taken over their pod two months ago, but Holloway knew better than to raise his concerns. The last time he had raised his concerns, his former superior had posted him out here. Next time, they might stick him somewhere even more remote.

Holloway would not push further tonight. “How would you like to proceed?”

“Setting aside the specifics of her escape method, this burst occurred outside our perimeter.  You and the others will fan out throughout the city and go about your daily patrols. Be covert and present. Just as the first syren stumbled in our grasp, so too will the second.”

“And if she comes to free her sister before then?”

Fitzkree mentally snorted. “Then she is even more foolish than these primitive humans.”

“Understood. Do you wish to ‘canvas’ with me?”

“I will leave that in your competent hands.” Fitzkree never enjoyed interacting with humans. “Report if you uncover anything of note.”

“Understood, Leader Fitzkree.”

Once his superior departed, Holloway took one additional survey of the area, paying particular attention to any bursts of strong emotion in the area. He was glad he did. He immediately detected a strong burst of human fear paired with loathing... and directed at him. Someone who was watching him was unusually wary of authority figures.

Could such a person also become a threat to a syren and her partner?

It was just a hunch. A scan of the woods located the mind as it fled the area on foot, but Holloway tempered his instincts to pursue. He was not allowed to interrogate humans without clear evidence they had run afoul of his quarry, and he did not have evidence. Not enough.

All he had was his hunch.

It was not enough to interrogate the human. Not if he did not offer his testimony willingly. Even so, Holloway took note of the human’s unique mental signature and mentally filed it away. If he encountered this human again, perhaps he could find an excuse to question him. And if the human was in some way involved with the syren...

They might just offer the clue he needed to find his fugitive.

 

***

 

CARTER

He woke to a warm morning that was made even warmer by the gorgeous raven-haired woman snuggled into the crook of his arm. She breathed evenly, and it was the first time he could recall coming awake when she slept. She’d passed out in front of him, of course, but that was an entirely different scenario.

He realized how much he wanted more mornings like this. Given the opportunity to simply stare at her, fresh affection overwhelmed him. How could he care so deeply for a woman after so short a time? One day? One date?

It wasn’t just the sex. The sex was mind-blowing, jaw-dropping, cock-thrilling bliss, but it couldn’t be just that which caused him to feel this way about her. It was all the other things, too. Her dirty jokes. Her mischievous smirk. Her cooking him breakfast.

It was the fact that she already truly cared about him. That was what had him hooked. Even the incredible way she fucked him was evidence of how much she cared.

She enjoyed sex, certainly, but she also went out of her way to please him. Pleasing him pleased her, and that was how he had always felt relationships worked best... from both sides. It was great to get laid but fantastic when he managed to leave his woman so satisfied she could barely stand.

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He still loved how much she enjoyed such simple pleasures—their afternoon drive, chocolate ice cream, what he’d done for her on the hood of his car—and he wanted to do so much more for her. He wanted to give so much to the woman he...

No. They weren’t there yet, or at least, he couldn’t trust they were there yet. He was still drunk on getting to know her and it was too soon for that word, but everything else he already loved about her suggested they were well on their way.

Assuming the Tharons didn’t get her. And he didn’t get stabbed to death.

He was still watching Allison when her eyes fluttered, then opened. A drowsy smile made her face even more beautiful as she seemed to become aware of him. That smile grew. She raised one hand and placed her fingers against his cheek.

“Good morning,” she said softly.

He grinned back. “Morning, sunshine.”

She yawned, then slid her fingers from his cheek to his chest and down across his midriff. They had slept naked and he was already hard as a rock—that was unavoidable when he woke up—and her contact tingled everywhere. She stopped at his middle.

“I would like to see how you are healing,” she said. “Please remain still.”

He relaxed. He felt nothing as what she’d called tendrils searched inside his body for damage, but she had likely numbed him again. A moment later she sighed happily, lifted her hand, and returned her fingers to his cheek.

“All seals are holding. Your healing proceeds well, though there is some inflammation.”

“Great,” Carter said. “So I have to work tonight, but we have the morning to—”

Her hungry kiss cut him off, and he forgot about talking as her hand descended again. It wrapped around his still naked cock. As she kissed him her hand stroked him, once more wet and slippery. He knew she was doing something to make it that way.

The moment he got a breath between kisses, he asked. “So can you just lube your hand?”

She giggled quietly. “I can make any part of me slick or wet. Would you like to investigate further?”

He groaned and relaxed against the bed. “Definitely. Later. Fuck.”

“I am doing my best.”

This morning, he simply relaxed and enjoyed her generosity. He wasn’t sure if it was telepathy or just him getting to know her better, but he knew she wanted him to let her do this. She had no desire but to please him. Letting her please him would make her happy.

It was certainly making him happy.

Not long after, she slid off him and made her way down the bed. Soon after that, as he gripped the sheets tight, she took care of his morning wood and everything that came with it. He was really glad she enjoyed that so much. Otherwise, he’d feel like he was taking advantage.

When she finished, she slid her way up his side and snuggled back into the crook of his arm again. She traced little circles on his chest for a moment with one finger, then adjusted enough to settle her head against his upper arm. She stared up at him and smiled.

“Thank you for breakfast.”

He laughed and tried to wrap an arm her, then gasped as it felt like the inside of his poked him with a knife. She sat up straight and watched with concern, and he could see he’d alarmed her. He raised a hand to assure her he was all right.

She settled again. “Don’t do that.”

“I won’t,” he promised her. “So. It’s morning, isn’t it? It’s been twenty-four hours.”

She nodded. “More or less.”

“My answer hasn’t changed. I still want you to stay here with me. I want to be your partner.”

She folded one arm beneath her, rested her head on her fist, and carefully slipped the other across his middle. “I believe you. Before I agree, I wish to make an argument.”

“Go ahead.”

“Yesterday night, I endangered you.”

“That’s on Tommy.”

“That is not my only failure. Please listen. Please do not interrupt again.”

He hated hearing her blame herself for something that obviously wasn’t her fault. Still, he respected that she wanted to explain herself. He wasn’t about to stop her.

“I have evaded the Tharons since I arrived because I was careful,” she continued calmly. “I did not go out to bars to carouse. I did not skip through a mall in the middle of the day staring at cute clothing. I took a partner who rarely traveled and moved only at night.”

She was probably talking about Ryan. Who didn’t deserve her and certainly hadn’t treated her anywhere near right. Carter almost said something, but refrained.

“With you I have grown careless. That is how they catch us and send us back. Once we abandon caution and embrace joy.”

“You deserve a little joy, Allie.”

“That is not pertinent to this discussion. The entirety of yesterday, from the moment you woke up until we went to sleep last night, was the best day I have ever experienced on Earth. You are the best partner I have ever experienced. I crave you.”

He couldn’t help but smile at that. “Same here.”

“And that is also why I must be so careful with you. My desire to be with you is almost overwhelming. If I allow it to govern me, it could get you hurt.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

“You were nearly stabbed to death last night.”

“So was Izzy,” Carter reminded her. “If you hadn’t been there with her, there’s a good chance those two assholes would have taken her out the back and done things I don’t want to think about. You saved her life, but you didn’t know her. You’d just met.”

“How is that pertinent? You also protected her.”

“It’s pertinent because Izzy was almost stabbed and murdered last night, and that had absolutely nothing to do with you or me. As horrible as it is to say, that sort of thing happens all the time on Earth.”

When she opened her mouth to say something, he gently touched her lips. Now, it was his turn to ask her not to interrupt.

“As you’ve pointed out, we’re sometimes a violent species. That doesn’t mean you’re responsible for our violence. Even if you could convince yourself it’s your fault Tommy stabbed me, what about when he went after Izzy? Is that your fault too?”

Allison said nothing. Her slow circles on his chest had ceased. Carter brushed her chin with one finger, momentarily overcome with affection for her, then lowered his hand. They were still talking. They needed to talk about this.

“Izzy’s alive because you were with us. I’m alive because you were with us. People get hurt and killed down here all the time, but it’s rare for them to be saved. You saved Izzy and you saved me. So let’s just look at the numbers.”

Still Allison listened.

“Statistically, as a human, how likely am I to be hurt and killed? Just on average?”

She snuggled closer. “Please don’t ask me things like that.”

“I wouldn’t normally, but run the numbers again with you with me. If you’re there to protect me, and heal me up when I get hurt, and mind blast folks. How’s that change things?”

She perked up and narrowed her eyes. “You are attempting to seduce me with math.”

He laughed at that. “So am I right or wrong? C’mon now. If we’re living together, and going on dates together, and partnered up, am I statistically more or less likely to live?”

“You are asking me to make a calculation without all the variables,” Allison reminded him tartly. “By partnering with you, we must also subtract the danger of Tharon abduction.”

“I’d bet the chance of dying from basic human stupidity, mine or someone else’s, outweighs any harm a Tharon could do. Run those numbers for me, Allie. First, how much better I’ll do with you with me. Then subtract the Tharon problem. What’s the result?”

She looked down his chest.

“I’m still coming out ahead, aren’t I?”

She sighed and stared up at him. “You would give this up. All this. You would run across the world with me.”

“If I have to? Absolutely. Because while I know it might get dangerous from time to time, after all of yesterday, I also know this.” He rubbed her arm. “I crave you.”

She blinked rapidly. Her lips pressed together as she made the cutest little gasp.

“I love how we are together. And while I can’t say that won’t change some day, it hasn’t yet. I want to see what happens next.”

Her light green eyes glistened as she held his gaze. “I cannot talk you out of this.”

“You cannot. Sorry about that.”

She moved close and kissed his arm, his chest, his chin. Finally, she kissed him on the lips, this time as gently as she had last night on the couch.

Only then did she pull back. “You have convinced me.”

Carter hoped the way her eyes glistened were good tears. They certainly looked to be. Allison traced her fingers along his cheek and leaned close.

“We will become partners, because you have made it absolutely impossible for me to resist your stubborn generosity and all your charms. I want you as my partner, Carter. I want this so much I ache in all my parts.”

She was having trouble with translating herself again. That was a good sign. Slowly, careful not to bother the alien seals inside his body, he eased his arms around her. He pulled her close as she melted against him, breathed against him. He still wanted every inch of her naked body, but he wanted to hold her more. At least in this moment.

Allison breathed happily in his arms before finally, reluctantly, resting her chin on his chest so she could stare up. “Now that we are partners, however, officially, I must reveal something I have kept from you since we met.”

“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”

“I do, and I am. Please understand that I did not reveal this before because I knew how you would react if you knew. I could not risk influencing your decision to partner with me.”

“You mean with anything other than all the freaky hot sex?”

Allison didn’t smile. “I have a problem. As my partner, she is now also your problem.”

“She?”

“My sister.”

He lifted his neck enough to stare at her in surprise. “You have a sister?

“Yes. And if we cannot discover a way to rescue her from the Tharons before the month is out, I may never see her again.”

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