Driven Read online

  Del nodded abruptly and let her step out of his embrace. Awkwardness filled the space between them and he cleared his throat to cover up the silence. "I'd better go. You going to be okay?"

  She nodded, even though she bit her lip, and lifted her chin. "It might surprise you, Del, but I've been taking care of myself for a number of years."

  He grinned at that. "I know."

  Linna took his hand, squeezed it. "Whatever happens..." She trailed off, seeming uncertain. She took a deep breath. "I just want you to know I'm here for you. For whatever you might need."

  Now something else grew between them, something hot and heavy and full of promise. She licked her lips and all at once Del was reminded of the taste of her. His cock stirred and he dropped her hand.

  "Same here," he said, and knew his answer was way less than what he wanted to say, but stupidity locked up his tongue.

  "You'd better go."

  He looked out into the narrow hall. "Yeah. You need me, you find me, okay?"

  She nodded firmly. "Yes. And if you need me..."

  Before spending the past two days with her he couldn't have imagined a situation where a woman could help him, but after watching Linna kick some major ass, Del knew he could count on her for almost anything. Too much of everything actually. "Yeah."

  Without another word, and without looking back, he left her there and went down the hall toward the crew berth. It was much the same as the other few ships he'd been on. Three rows of narrow bunks, three high, with little more than walking space between them. Rough blankets piled at the foot of the beds, and flat, stained pillows. The space stank of sweat and sour breath, and Del closed his eyes briefly at the stench.

  "You'll bunk there," said a different man than either of the two who'd led them aboard the ship. "You'll have your time with her whenever she wants it. We usually split it up pretty evenly, unless she makes a special request."

  The man continued, outlining other courses of duty, meal times, crew privileges, but Del stopped him. "What do you mean, time with her?"

  The man stopped and looked surprised. "There's nine of us. We each gets a night with her. Unless she wants you more'n that, which might be possible, depending."

  "Her? The captain?"

  "Yeah." The man shook his head. "Ain't they tole you about this ship, man?"

  Del's stomach clenched. "You mean she's hooked all of you to her?"

  "Sheol, yeah! What the hell did you think, man? Captain Lunavoss won't take on any crew member she can't get her pleasure from. I'd have thought she'd made that pretty clear."

  Del shook his head. "I knew it was a possibility. I didn't know it was a requirement."

  The man grinned, showing crooked, stained teeth. "You the one who came on board with that doxy?"

  "She's not a doxy."

  "Whatever." The man shrugged. "Cap'n wouldn't take you on if you was behsherit to someone else. She'll be likely to call for you tonight. I'd be ready, if I was you."

  "And if refuse?"

  His answer seemed to strike the man funny, because he burst into guffaws of laughter. "You can't refuse the cap'n. That's mutiny, man. That can get you thrown off this bucket of bolts faster'n warp speed."

  Del toward the door, intent on finding Linna and getting off this ship right away. He would find work for both of them, or for only him if it was necessary to support her, but he wasn't going to bind himself to that zona Lunavoss. Not for anything. Not even to get off this planet.

  Before he could leave the crew berth, the ship shuddered, and he felt the distinctive stomach-dropping thud of lift-off. The whir of the turbines buzzed in his ears. He stumbled and reached for the wall to hold himself upright. In another moment, the ship bucked through the upper atmosphere and the ride smoothed. The grav-boosters kicked in, making him feel momentarily too heavy before they adjusted to outer space.

  "Harah."

  "You got a problem?" the crewman asked curiously. "It ain't so bad, you know. Sharing her. She treats us right, keeps us in work, doesn't make too many demands on us. One thing about Cap'n, I'll give 'er this. She likes her bedroom antics, yeah, but she's more than happy to leave a man alone between times. Hell, I'd be a ship monkey if I wasn't here, but this way I get laid regular, at least."

  Del wiped a hand across his head and closed his eyes again. "Doesn't interest me, man. I just want passage on this ship. I don't want to work on it the rest of my life."

  The crewman shrugged. "Then I guess you shoulda found another ship. She's gonna want you tonight. She usually wants the new ones right away."

  Del turned to look at the man. "Any time she hasn't wanted the new one right away?"

  "Not that I can think. Not unless he was sick or something."

  Del wiped a hand over his head again, thinking. "How long until the first port?"

  "You mean you signed on without even knowing our route?"

  "We wanted to get Offworld as soon as we could. It doesn't matter where."

  The man snorted. "We've got a delivery of artisilk and computer chips for a merchant in Yarushalim. You hit the jackpot, man. You're going home."

  Chapter 7

  Linna couldn't remember the last time she'd actually washed a dish. Out of necessity, eating had been a something she did alone, and living in the SexKennels meant she hadn't had the chance to accumulate many personal belongings. Even when she'd lived in her own house with Daniel, they'd had servbots to do all the cleaning.

  "You grab it like this," said the woman in front of the sink as she held up a wad of soapy material. "Ain't you never seen a sponge before?"

  "Of course I've seen a sponge," Linna replied calmly. "I just never used one."

  The frowzy blonde missing several teeth frowned and made a loud exclamation in a language Linna didn't understand before switching to Universal. "What the hell?"

  Linna took the sponge. "It's okay. I think I can figure it out."

  The woman, who'd introduced herself as Garlinda, stepped aside in the narrow galley, but only barely. Her shoulder brushed Linna's. Oddly, the woman leaned over and sniffed.

  "What?" asked Linna, frustrated.

  "You smell like metal. You a metal head?"

  Linna shook her head with a sigh. "My head's made of bone and skin, just like yours."

  "Not like mine," Garlinda said with a cackle. She reached up to her temple and pressed. Her head opened up like a jewelry box, exposing the mass of tissue, blood, veins beneath. Her brain lay in her skull. It pulsed.

  Linna swallowed heavily. "That looks painful."

  With a shrug, her companion reattached her head. "Naw. Just more convenient that way, for when I want to change brains."

  Linna wasn't sure she really wanted to know, but she couldn't help asking. "Change brains?"

  "You Earthers," said the woman with a sneer. "Only born with one brain. Awfully stupid, if you ask me. What happens if the one you got gets ruined? Or you use it too much and wear it out?"

  "I never heard of anyone wearing out their brain," Linna said wryly. "But if something bad happens to your brain, and you have the right amount of money, you can get a new one. Sort of."

  "That happen to you?" Garlinda sniffed again, wrinkling her nose.

  "Sort of."

  Garlinda sniffed and pointed at the sink. "Well, metal head, those dishes don't wash themself, and Cap'n Lunavoss gets a bit testy if everything on this ship don't run to her specifications."

  Linna thought of the tall, exotic-looking woman. "Lunavoss likes things her way, huh?"

  "Captain Lunavoss," emphasized Garlinda. "Even her boys don't get to call her just by her name. It's Cap'n to them, and Cap'n to you."

  Linna scrubbed furiously at the stack of metal dishes in the sink. "I'll make sure to remember that."

  "See that you do." Garlinda grinned again. "Work's hard on the Oss, but she pays fair, and she treats her crew fair, too. Even the doxies get treated right."

  "I can't imagine they have much work to do." Linna stacked more d