Blake turned and strode away, purple boots barely making a sound on the packed-earth floor. Despite the money they had to throw at things, Tamas wanted the cavern kept as close to natural as possible. And whatever Tamas wanted, he got. The guy couldn’t look Kira in the eye without his face blooming deep red, but he had Blake and most of the Facility wrapped round his little finger. Amazing what cash did to a person’s popularity. Kira could vouch for that. Jogging to keep up, she fell in behind Eron, enjoying the view.
‘I fail to understand the necessity for my presence here, Technician,’ Eron said.
Kira wrinkled her nose. The nickname the aliens had given Blake was so fucking lame. It made Blake sound like some kind of rogue dentist. A rogue dentist who could walk superfast when she wanted to. Blake easily outpaced them across the chamber and ignored Eron’s question. He strode after Blake in slo-mo like an admonished toddler who doesn’t want to follow too close after mummy when she tells him to hurry up. He kept darting glances at the main door of the chamber. And at her. She could see the looks from where she hid behind her knotted shock of black hair. But he wasn’t exactly making goggly-eyes at her. When something irritated Eron, he would push his long silver locks behind his ears, over and over, despite the fact that they hadn’t come loose. His fingers were in overdrive right now.
‘All good there, big guy?’ Kira came out from her little hairy hidey-hole and drew alongside him. The guy actually flinched, shuffled away. Nice. How to make a girl feel good about herself. Ass.
‘I don’t understand why I am here,’ he said.
‘You and me both, gorgeous.’
Eron shrugged his narrow shoulders and fluttered fingertips to his lips. As if she were leaving a bad taste in his mouth. Jesus, they’d fucked around, not gotten married. Kira moved away, pulling Perry’s jacket tighter around her. Fair enough though really. Being put on lockdown by his uptight captain as punishment for sneaking off-site and playing with human pussy must have sucked. Captain Nex had kept Eron underground for over a month. After her happy time with Eron had become common knowledge amongst the other aliens, some of the looks cast her way could have killed her more dead than she’d been on the operating table three years ago.
The thud of Blake’s boots reverberated around the cavern. The near-deserted cavern.
Maybe that was why Blake had chosen this time to get her down here, while Captain Nex and his buddies were in their pray-pray session. Kira glanced around the chamber. There was a definite lack of any other living beings in the cavern. Or nonliving, for that matter. No trace of even one of the shit-scary metal cats usually lurking around here. Creepy fucking things. Robots with bodies like silver cheetahs, but headless. Who designs something like that? Fucked-up nerds, that’s who. Tamas and Blake had designed them a few years back for security, supposedly. So where was all the precious security now?
‘Okay.’ Kira stopped dead, the alcohol leaving her system far faster than she would have liked. ‘Back the truck up, sis. This load ain’t leaving till you spill. What the hell is going on?’
Eron - 5
The crispness in the air, the hum of last night’s energy, laced every breath Eron took. The very particles of oxygen were alive with it. Eron stared hard at Blake’s back – as much to show his disapproval at the summons as to give himself something to focus on other than Kira. ‘I believe that is not an altogether unreasonable question, Miss Beckworth. As I said, I do not see the necessity for my presence here.’
The elder Beckworth sister did not halt her rapid journey across the chamber, despite Kira’s demand for explanation. ‘I brought you here to provide safety, Eron,’ Blake said. ‘Your presence is a precaution only. And as you are currently out of favour, I’m counting on your discretion.’
A distinctly unpleasant doubt now wound its way through Eron’s mind. He had not questioned the biotechnician Gwen Weylen’s assurances that this visit had been approved by Captain Nex.
‘Seriously, Blake,’ Kira called, ‘I’m not following you. You’re acting even weirder than normal, and that’s too much weird for me.’
Eron’s smile reached his lips unbidden. He quickly tilted his head, ensuring Kira did not notice his amusement. It would not do to give her any opportunity to engage with him too deeply. When she drew too close, her presence released an unpredictability within him that Eron abhorred. He focused on the departing Technician. Cym, the Syranian medic, had expressed some concern about her health, and it was not difficult to understand why. The woman showed definite signs of undernourishment. But it did not hinder her pace. The Beckworths were not graced with height, yet Blake’s short legs were carrying her at a formidable speed across the chamber. In four more strides she would reach the first of three rectangular rooms which jutted out from the far wall of the cavern. The central room was the largest, and she was clearly headed for its unimposing door. Each room had a rather lack-lustre name: Tech Room One, Two, or Three.
‘I must ask that you divulge your plans, Miss Beckworth. I cannot be a part of –’ Eron flicked a sideways glance. Kira had abandoned her stance on staying still, and walked far too close. He should not even be in her vicinity, let alone alongside her. But all he could focus on was the jacket she wore. Obviously not her own.
‘Step one of the entire reason your people are here at all lies in that room over there.’ Blake pointed to the central tech room. ‘Azrael arrived last night. And no matter how much you bluster about protocol, I know you won’t leave, Eron. I know you want to see him. So let’s not
