Penny had no idea that little voice inside her was about to be answered in a big way—a way that would change her life forever. If she had known, she probably would have done a lot of things differently.
But at that moment all she knew was that they had to get the ship fixed and try to get on with their expedition.
Five
Rive opened the service hatch to expose the engine and they got to work on the propulsion system.
It turned out the system had thrown a rod, which in this context seemed to mean that a long metal tube had buckled and broken. Rive announced he would need to print a new one in pieces and then put it together and replace it.
“It’s complicated but it can be done,” he said decisively. “It’s just going to take a few days.”
“Should we call the Mother Ship and let them know we’ve run into trouble?” Y’lla asked a bit anxiously.
Rive frowned.
“No need, darling. I don’t like to worry Commander Sylvan for nothing.”
Penny wished he would put in a call anyway—it would have made her feel better to know that the Mother Ship knew they’d been having some problems.
Unfortunately, though Kindred males were so much better than human men in so many respects, it seemed they shared the trait of not wanting to ask for help. Maybe it was just a male ego thing that couldn’t be bred out, no matter how nice or kind or civilized a race was, Penny thought dryly.
“Well, I’m going to take a shower,” she said decisively, looking down at her hands. “I’ve got this black grease from the engine all over me.” She raised an eyebrow. “Er…unless you two would like to take one first?”
Because of water restraints on board, only one shower could be taken at a time. In fact, Rive and Y’lla made it a practice to shower together, as Y’lla had confided to Penny, for just this reason.
She rather doubted that water limits were the only reason they showered together. Honestly, the two of them would take any opportunity to make love and from the thumping and groaning she’d heard coming from their cabin—which could clearly be heard over the sound of water rushing—they were definitely doing more than showering in there.
But Rive shook his head.
“No thank you, Penelope. I still have a few more things to do down in the engine compartment before I’m ready to get cleaned up and start printing the new rod.”
“And I’ll stay with Rive and make sure he doesn’t get lonely,” Y’lla smiled seductively at her husband and gave him what she no doubt thought was a sly wink.
“That will be fine, darling.” He returned her look with interest. “You’re a dirty girl, you know,” he murmured to her, clearly forgetting that Penny could hear him. “But I bet I can make you even dirtier before we go get cleaned up.”
Penny had to fight not to roll her eyes. Who talked like that outside an erotic romance novel? And could they really not keep their hands off each other even when the two of them were covered in engine grease?
She had an idea she was about to find out if she didn’t beat a hasty retreat. Turning tail, she fled down the main corridor, back to her room with its tiny bathroom—or “fresher” as the Kindred called it. She would doubtless have plenty of time to take a long, leisurely shower while her two shipmates screwed each other’s brains out.
They weren’t quiet about it either. As she washed her hands and started to get out of the tight black warm-skin, which she’d been wearing all this time, Penny heard the moaning begin.
The thing about Rive and Y’lla, she thought, was that Rive was every bit as vocal as his wife when they made love. Of course, Penny had had her share of roommates in college and grad school who were screamers, but all of them had been girls. She’d never heard a man shout and carry on every bit as much as his female lover when they went at it. But Rive and Y’lla were truly in a class by themselves.
“Gods!” Penny clearly heard Rive groan. “You’re so tight, my darling! Your sweet little pussy massages my shaft just right.”
“And you’re so big and hard!” Y’lla moaned right back. “Oh Goddess, Rive, I fall in love with you all over again every time you fill me!”
Good grief! This time Penny did roll her eyes. She knew full well that the Kindred formed a mental link with their mate once the two of them bonded. Couldn’t her shipmates have kept their lovemaking silent by thinking the pornographic things they were shouting at the top of their lungs?
Apparently not. Either the two of them had totally forgotten about her presence on the ship again, or they were complete exhibitionists—which was entirely possible, come to think of it.
Penny turned on the shower to try and drown them out, but it didn’t do any good.
“Pound me!” Y’lla was wailing. “Fuck me hard, Rive! Make me yours all over again! Fill me with your seed!”
“Not yet, my darling,” he growled back. “I’m not done pleasuring you yet. First I want to—”
And then the sound of their voices abruptly cut off.
Penny frowned in surprise. What was going on? After a solid week of making love out loud, had her two shipmates finally decided to keep it down? But why would Rive stop shouting in the middle of a sentence like that?
She turned off the shower, which had just begun to get steamy, in order to hear better. But there was no thumping or bumping or slapping or squelching or any of the other loud physical sounds she associated with being forced to overhear Rive and Y’lla’s lovemaking.
What was going on with them?
Whatever it is, it’s their business, Penny told herself firmly. I’m just going to take my shower and wait a little while to be sure they’re done before I go back out there.
But the sudden silence was unnerving. There was no sound at all coming from the front of the ship—not even the constant soft humming of the auxiliary motor which never stopped running.
What was going on?
Penny told herself she didn’t want to know—didn’t want to see. Despite being forced to overhear her shipmates’ lovemaking for the past week, she was not an eavesdropper or a voyeur.
But something was wrong—she just knew it. She felt it.
What could it be?
This is a dangerous station—Kat and Commander Sylvan both said so, she reminded herself. What if some evil person snuck in and killed them both and they’re in the ship with me right now?
But she hadn’t heard the shuttle’s side door open or the sound of any kind of weapon discharging. So what was going on?
At last Penny’s anxiety overcame her desperate urge not to catch her shipmates in flagrante delicto. Slipping back into her warm-skin and boots, she quietly opened her cabin door and peered cautiously out into the hallway.
She would just go a little way down the hallway, she promised herself. She would take a quick peek and try not to see too much—just to be sure that Rive and Y’lla were all right.
Walking as quietly as she could in her thick boots, Penny made her way towards the front of the ship. It was harder to be quiet than usual because every noise she made seemed to echo in the sudden silence. She couldn’t even hear any breathing sounds coming from her shipmates. What in the world was going on?