The Glass Admiral Read online

  "LT..." The word swirled through the air between them; half whisper, half growl, drawing her attention to his eyes. "Back up."

  Saverna, looking into those reserved eyes, decided discretion was the better part of valor and backed away without a word.

  Moments later she found herself struggling once again with discretion as she attempted to press herself into the side of the shaft in order to create room for Kosuri to pass her. The relatively large size of the Admiral in comparison to the width of the shaft would have made for a tight fit even without her presence thrown into the mix and so despite her best efforts to prevent it she found herself more or less sliding down the front of his body as he moved forward.

  Despite his assurances and the strength he'd demonstrated in pulling himself into the shaft, Kosuri clearly found the one sided crab like motions required to move past her awkward and had to pause several times during the maneuver to regroup and make adjustments and it was during just such a time that discretion escaped her when without thinking she nudged his sidearm which was digging into her hip suggestively. "Is that your sidearm or are you just happy to see me?"

  As soon as the words escaped her mouth she regretted them; a regret that was further compounded by the quality of the silence that her question elicited from the Admiral.

  "Sorry—I—that was inappropriate." She told his chest.

  Another sigh. "Don't tiptoe around me LT." He told her quietly and pulled himself forward without leaving her to wonder what that meant.

  With a mental shrug she bookmarked the comment ‘Later’ and pulled the ventilation shaft closed. "So where are we going sir?" Reversing herself, she strapped the rifle Kosuri had given her across her back and crawled after him.

  "Where do you think LT?"

  Saverna rolled her eyes at the sardonic tone and barely refrained from giving the sarcastic answer hovering on the tip of her tongue. Better. Part. Of. Valor. "Bridge?" Impressively neutral.

  "Correct."

  After what felt like several kilometers of crawling later, Kosuri halted in front of another access panel. Saverna, who was by this time sweating under her cape and breastplate took in Kosuri's cool appearance with disfavor. Not a drop of sweat after all that. Inhuman.

  "This leads to the bridge galley." He nodded at the panel. "Off the main corridor and two corridors back."

  Saverna frowned. "That seems like an asinine place for a galley. Why would they...?" She trailed off at the Admiral's look. "Right. Retrofitting in all of its higgledy-piggledy glory."

  "Higgledy-piggledy..." Kosuri's expression morphed into something resembling bemusement before he shook his head and continued. "The retrofitting is serving us well today LT. Being out of the way and code locked it is highly unlikely that our boarders have taken control of it. It is, therefore, an auspicious place for us to exit."

  "Are there no exits onto the bridge proper?" I am supposed to be seeing to your safety after all and involving you in potential firefights seems to run counter to that.

  The atmosphere in the tunnel cooled as the admiral froze. "I am still a fleet officer Lieutenant whatever my physical shortcomings." He said with a great and deliberate evenness.

  Saverna ran a list of all the possible ways she could reply to that through her head but finally rejected every last one of them and settled for tucking away the knowledge of this sore spot away with a simple: "Yessir." And then when that didn't do anything to alleviate the atmospheric pressure: "But as your bat, I reserve the right to go first."

  "Body-woman LT."

  "Same thing sir."

  "It isn't the same..." He all but growled at her. "One is—“ He ran a hand through his hair and let out a huff of frustration. "Why is it that it always comes down to semantics with you?!"

  "Semantics make the world go round sir.“

  That earned her a look of disbelief. “We’re in space.”

  Shrugging in response, Saverna got to work unstrapping the phase rifle from her back and then after a moment's thought in which she determined that she wasn't willing to invite further discussion on her clothing by committing the ultimate sin of removing a piece of it—another piece of it, she spared a thought for her helm back in the Admiral's office—and running around in violation of dress regulations, particularly not in front of Kosuri, pulled her uniform cape back and tucked it into her belt. That accomplished, she pulled her side arm and crawled to the edge of the access hatch. "I suggest that you pull that hatch up as quietly as possible and after we see what we can see from here, I go down head first and clear the room if need be."

  "It's almost like you are in charge LT." Came Kosuri's dry comment.

  Saverna shrugged. "In matters involving your physical safety, I am in charge."

  "We’ll see LT."

  Weapon at the ready Saverna slid her head and shoulders through the ventilation shaft and made a sweep of the galley. As the admiral had predicted it was empty. Pulling herself back up into the shaft she nodded at Kosuri. “Clear.” And began the process of reversing herself to descend feet first this time into the galley. She had just lowered her feet into the room and balanced herself on her hands in preparation for the drop to the floor when the unmistakable sound of the galley door opening broke the silence. “Shit.” Flicking a quick glance at Kosuri she finished swinging herself over the shaft and dropped into the room. The admiral’s startled expression melded with the image of a man dressed in brown and black standing in front of closing galley door. Armed. She noted as she hit the ground low. And facing away from me. The moment she hit the ground she used her momentum to lunge forward and tackle the pirate. As they fell she heard his weapon clatter to the ground and thanked the powers that be that he’d been sweeping the room when she’d dropped and as a result had a looser grip on his weapon than he might otherwise have had.

  Instinct then had her scrambling up the pirate’s body to make use of her swiftly fading advantage of surprise to silence him before he could call for help. Pressing one hand to his mouth she pulled her ceremonial dagger from her belt and pressed it against his throat as she pulled herself astride his chest. “Scream and I’ll kill you.” She whisper-shouted at her captive.

  “Something tells me you’re a handful in bed.” A voice behind her told her she was too late with her warning and a moment later she felt a hand grab at the back of her uniform. Pushing forward with her knife hand with the intention of finishing off the pirate below her before dealing with the pirate behind her, Say abruptly found herself pushed off balance and scrambling to regain control of her captive as a great weight hit her from behind. Pushing back against the weight she stabilized herself in time to see her dagger sliding across the floor away from her and instinctively locked her hands together and brought them to bear on the pirate’s face. With a sickening thud the man’s head slammed back against the heavy metal decking and rendered him unconscious.

  Pushing herself off of the pirate and whirling to face the new opponent she was treated to the sight of Admiral Kosuri half on his back half propped against the galley cupboards with his arm around the second pirate’s neck. Though he was still struggling the mottled purple of his face indicated that the pirate was on the verge of losing consciousness. Seeing that Kosuri had things under control, Saverna made her way to the door, and, after ascertaining that the corridor was clear, used the electronic keypad to secure it.

  By the time she had done that and turned back to the admiral Kosuri was in the process of pushing the unconscious body of the pirate to the floor. Grabbing the countertop, he pulled himself to his feet and began pulling open cupboards and drawers. “We’ll need to tie them up and gag them.” He told her not looking up from his search.

  “Agreed.” Saverna studied the unconscious pirates. “We don’t need any repeat fights.” Stepping over her pirate she stooped to retrieve her dagger. Noting its cleanliness, she slipped it back into its sheath.

  “Ah.” Kosuri said with some satisfaction and held up a handful of plastic food tie fa
steners. “Don’t enjoy backtracking LT?” He asked as he made fast work of improvising the food ties into restraints.

  “No sir.” She took the restraints he offered and set to work binding the hands and feet of her pirate while Kosuri did the same with his. “Does anybody?”

  “Eh?” Kosuri looked up from where he was crouched over binding his pirate’s hands behind his back. “I suppose not.” Standing, he brushed absently at his temple and when his hand came away covered in blood swore softly. Saverna could sympathize. Now was not a good time. “We’ll need to do something about that.” She told him scanning the room for some sort of first aid kit. “Head wounds are a bitch with the bleeding and the last thing you need is to have blood interfering with your vision.” Finally locating what she needed in one of the cupboards she flipped it open on the counter and regarded the contents thoughtfully.

  “Bandage and tape.” Kosuri told her apparently sensing her dilemma. “My biochemistry isn’t compatible with any of the drugs in the kit. And I’m not sure you’re compatible with that laser scalpel.” He told her not without humor.

  “Okay.” Putting a mental pin in the issue of why the ship’s med kits weren’t equipped with anything suitable for the admiral’s physiology, Saverna grabbed some gauze and antiseptic then hesitated. “Is this okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay.” Saverna hooked one of the galley chairs with her foot and pulled it closer. “Have a seat. This will only take a couple of minutes.”

  Obligingly Kosuri lowered himself into the chair. To her surprise he held out his hand. “If you give me the gauze I can clean the wound myself.”

  Saverna dumped antiseptic onto the gauze. “Because the one who can’t see the wound is clearly the one who should be cleaning it?” Gauze coated to her satisfaction she stepped forward and pressed it against the wound. “I’m going to apply some pressure to see if we can get the bleeding slowed down. Let me know if it hurts.”

  To her surprise, the instant she pressed the gauze to the wound Kosuri closed his eyes and sucked in a breath.

  “Admiral?” Saverna hesitated. I’m barely touching you but without pressure this wound isn’t going to stop bleeding.

  “It’s fine LT. I’m fine.” He began to breathe deeply and regularly.

  “If I’m hurting you—”

  “You’re not hurting me.” His face took on a sunburned aspect. “Recessives do not engage in casual facial contact as a rule.” He told her steadily. “The skin is…sensitive.”

  Saverna frowned. “So I am hurting you.”

  “No.”

  “Then—?”

  “Then nothing. It is just—unexpected.”

  “I see.” Saverna said though she wasn’t sure she did. Something for later. She thought considering their situation. “It will just take a moment.” She said to fill the silence.

  Kosuri closed his eyes. “Good. We need to get to the bridge.”

  “I am aware.” She lifted the edge of the gauze and peered under it.

  “That wasn’t a criticism Lieutenant.” Kosuri winced as the gauze stuck and Saverna used a fingertip to try to dislodge the material without restarting the bleeding. She was so intent on getting the gauze free that it took her a moment to realize that the admiral had stopped breathing. “I’m sorry.” She said as she continued to pull and wiggle.

  “It’s not a problem Lieutenant.” Kosuri’s calm words were belied by his face which blazed a fiery red. Embarrassed by pain?

  The gauze finally free, Saverna grabbed a new piece from the med kit and taped it over the wound. That done she poured disinfectant on another piece of gauze and turned back to the admiral.

  “I’ll do that.” He told her and took the gauze before she could wipe away the blood that coated his cheek and neck.

  Without comment Saverna turned away to close the med kit and once that was done set about straightening her uniform. When she turned back to the admiral he’d regained his feet. Both the blood and color were gone from his face. He’ll need to wash his hair though. She noted as the light reflected off the blood in his hairline. “Bridge?”

  “Bridge.” Kosuri concurred tossing the bloody gauze onto the counter.

  2

  THEY’D MADE IT ABOUT HALFWAY TO the bridge without incident when the sound of voices alerted them to pirates coming their way. Positioned as they were in the middle of a corridor with nowhere to take cover and the pirates having the corner ahead, they’d be at a disadvantage in a fight. Saverna had dropped halfway to the ground intent on not presenting a conventional target when she felt Kosuri’s hand on her arm. He nodded at an access panel that he’d pulled open to reveal a storage locker. It was narrow and full of e-suits but infinitely better cover-wise than the floor of the corridor.

  Saverna scrambled as silently as possible through the door and pressed herself against the back wall between the suits to make space for the admiral. It was a tight squeeze—one that necessitated Saverna pulling him forward against her and then reaching around him to pull the panel shut. They froze waiting for the pirates to go past them.

  The voices neared and then stopped right outside the panel they were hiding. Instinctively, Saverna reached for Kosuri’s sidearm which was more accessible in their current position than her own. As soon as he felt her hand at his hip, Kosuri shifted to give her better access. Focussed as she was at getting a weapon in her hand and aimed at the door, she did not immediately recognize how intimately she was pressed against the admiral until she felt his chest and belly expand against her as he breathed.

  That gentle expansion also brought it to her attention that; braced as she was against the wall and using her grip round the admiral’s lower back to pull herself forward across his torso so she had a clear line of sight on the door; she was most likely putting a lot of strain on him. I wish I knew more about his injuries. Saverna risked a glance up at his face but was unable to discern much from the throat and lower jaw that was all she could see from her current position. Hoping the pirates would pass quickly, she held her position.

  As the moments ticked by and the pirates remained where they were however, Saverna felt compelled to do something and slowly shifted her weight more completely against the wall. To preserve her sightline on the door, she used the hand around Kosuri’s back to pull him in closer against her as she began to slide herself to her feet against the wall. After an initial hesitation that had her wondering, the admiral complied with her silent urging and pressed himself closer to her. Saverna had the somewhat surreal feeling of climbing his body as she slid up until she was once again entirely supported by her own feet and able to rest her cheek along the outside of Kosuri’s shoulder which allowed her to keep her eyes on the door.

  She was still able to feel him breathing first as an expansion of his chest and belly along her torso and then along her exposed skin as he turned his head and dropped it into the crook of her neck and got close to her ear. “Is that your saber or are you just happy to see me Lieutenant?”

  Surprised both by the repetition of her own words from the ventilation shaft and the wry tone Saverna instinctively turned her head to took at him only to brush her lips against the side of his face in an inadvertent kiss as he failed to pull back in time. Not, Saverna chastised herself with a mental eye-roll. That there is anywhere for him to pull back to, crammed as we are in here.

  Registering that Kosuri had stopped breathing in response to her accidental caress, Saverna started to turn her head back only to be stymied when he turned his own head and pressed a kiss against her jaw. Almost immediately a shiver ran from the point of contact to her core. Resisting, with effort the urge to turn her head and search out his mouth. Must focus on the door. She shifted herself slightly against him so that she could see him out of the corner of her eye. The shift in position reveled two things; the admiral’s rapidly growing erection and the mortified expression on his face. “I’m sorry.” He murmured.

  Saverna considered her own suddenly raging ho
rmones. “It’s just combat.”

  Kosuri closed his eyes briefly. “You’re feeling it too?”

  Saverna refusing to give in to embarrassment nodded and then wondered at the expression that bloomed on his face in reaction to that nod. Disbelief and…hope? “It happens.” She told him inwardly impressed at how her casual tone belied the storm of arousal rapidly growing within her. Saverna forced herself to return her attention to the door. She felt more than saw Kosuri settle his forehead against the wall above her head.

  With grim determination Saverna forced her attention away from Kosuri—away from the crook of his neck so near and so in need of nibbling; away from his jaw and ear so in need of nuzzling and away from his cock pressed full and hard against her belly; growing fuller and harder with every breath; so in need of riding—toward the door of the access panel and the pirates beyond it. She was not able to distract herself enough to prevent her nipples from pebbling against his chest as it moved against hers or to stop the deep throbbing between her legs and when Kosuri pushed against her in the barest imitation of a thrust she was barely able to stop the groan begging for escape as her body clenched in reaction.

  Reflexively bringing her free hand up to rest on his hip she froze when she felt Kosuri’s breath hitch in response. Worried she was hurting him, Saverna slid her hand up higher onto his flank. When Kosuri pushed against her in response she belatedly realized that his failure to breathe was a pleasure response. After a moment Kosuri let out his breath long and slow. Saverna resolutely resisted the urge to either move or turn her head to look at him. As she focussed on the sounds of the pirates moving past the panel door she was possessed with the sudden urge to run her hand back down his flank to his hip and then forward and down along the front of his uniform trousers until she could smooth her palm down along his rigid cock.