Mx hub, p.21
MX Hub, page 21
Again, Kayo was caught off-guard. He’d just willingly marked himself with her fur, but he didn’t pursue her. He acted aloof, as if he was the one in charge of where and when things might happen.
Zander looked over the side of the sled. “And we’re here.”
Selda was laughing in his ear. She was delighted at what he’d done— she hadn’t told him to— but he’d just flummoxed and intrigued Kayo with that simple move. She told him what he’d done as the sled slowed.
Well, that’s the point. I’ve let her know that I’m interested, but that I’m not the one being toyed with. She is, Zander thought back at Selda.
That little trick did that in spades, Selda snickered. Be on your guard. She might get a little more aggressive with her attention now.
Affirmative.
Kayo had recovered by the time the sled landed, her eyes fixed on Zander’s broad back. Her mind spun with ideas of how to push him into trying to do more so she could flip the tables on him.
Zander was the first one out, already heading for the door. The others followed him, with Crish the last in line beside Arlizarista. Crish’s eyes tracked from Zander to Kayo, then back.
Chapter Twenty-seven
The lobby of the gym looked more like a business center than Zander expected. He didn’t let that stop him; he walked straight up to the desk where a man made of stone sat. “Zander Greaves. I should have arrangements made already.”
The man looked him over for a moment. “What are you?” he asked curiously.
“I could ask the same thing,” Zander shot back. “But think of me as a Terran, but Shifted.”
“Oh, I heard there was a Shifted on the Hub. I’m a Gargoyle, to answer your question. Let me look you up.”
Zander waited as the Gargoyle tapped through his datapad, taking the moment to study the new alien race. Gray-scaled skin, maybe made of stone, but possibly not. The wings folded against his back made Zander wonder if they were actually useful. If the man was made of stone, then having wings would be idiotic. His face was stern, and he had two small rows of horns dotting his temples, running back and then down to his ridged spine.
Not made of stone per se, but their skin is as hard as granite. However, they’re extremely light like a bird, and yes, they can fly. They also have fire breath; records say about three feet in length, hot enough to melt steel, Selda whispered to him.
Zander thanked her silently as he waited. The more he knew, the less likely he was to start trouble unintentionally.
“Here we are. Zander Greaves,” the Gargoyle said. “Single day passes for five. Take the door on the right. One of the workers there will get you started. I just need the balance due.”
Zander pulled out his datapad, tapping it to the terminal that the receptionist had gestured toward. “Thanks.”
“Our pleasure. Welcome to Stressed Relaxation. If you wish to arrange for additional visits, I’ll be here all day. I’m Lintel.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Zander nodded. “Come on, gang.”
Lintel watched them all go with curiosity. If there had been another one of them, he’d have thought they were a squad of pilots— that was the only time he saw similar groups. Shaking his head, he decided to look into the Shifted on the Hub, wanting to verify if this person was what he said.
The next room was a locker room. Zander nodded at that; getting undressed on the way in and dressed on the way out made sense. A sleek, black-furred Animaz appeared around a bank of lockers. She prowled toward them, and Zander was mildly amused at his mental word choice, considering she was a panther.
“Newcomers?” the Animaz woman asked.
“For today, at least,” Zander chuckled. “We’ll be working out as a unit. Can you help get us situated?”
“That’s my job,” the woman smiled, her muzzle pulling back to show teeth. “Five of you? It’d be best to put you over in the group section. Follow me.”
They followed her through the locker room, taken to a spot where lockers were grouped into sets of six. She led them to a specific set, touched a control panel, and then nodded. “They’re open. Just make sure to register them before you close the doors. Each will have two towels inside. We ask that you wipe down the equipment after use— the clean bots will zip in behind you to make sure they’re clean, but be courteous. Once you’re inside the gym, the pools can be found through the doors in the far back. If you want a private group pool, just flag down any of us.” She motioned to the black and yellow one-piece swimsuit she wore. “Our names are visibly displayed.” She pointed to the word “Sartum” written across her chest.
Lean and cute, Selda purred in his ear. I know you aren’t a furry, though.
“Thank you,” Zander said as he opened one of the doors. “Any restrictions we should know about?”
“Just the standard ones: no fighting, no arguing over equipment, and the like. If anyone starts trouble, just flag one of us down.”
“Got it. Thanks.”
She gave him a long look, then nodded and walked off.
“Weird, but not unexpected,” Zander chuckled as he began to strip.
“She probably smelled Sagerie and Lavella on you,” Rasisar said. “Animaz normally have exceptional senses.”
“Oh? Wondering why two very different races would be covering me?”
“Yes, it is… unusual,” Crish said.
“Three,” Kayo said, her tails covering Zander’s back from neck to thigh as she walked past him.
“Only two who’ve slept with him,” Crish said pointedly. “Your light touches would be muted under theirs.”
Kayo blinked, surprised that Crish was being so outspoken, but also because she knew Crish was likely right. “I’m sure it’ll be three soon enough. For those of us who do that kind of thing, that is.”
Crish turned away from her, stripping off their outfit with a bit more force than necessary. That kind of comment didn’t normally matter to them, but it stung this time, and Crish knew why.
“Really?” Arlizarista asked sweetly, though clearly falsely, too. “Do you think the captain will make a move, or Ping? It obviously won’t be someone who just teases him.”
Kayo’s eye twitched at how easily the Elf dismissed her. “Well, it won’t be someone he’d have to pick up to kiss.”
Arlizarista’s face burned. “K-k-kiss? No Elf would kiss him.”
“I’m sure he could find one,” Kayo smirked as she stripped down. “The receptionist at Maverick looked interested in him.”
“Tone it down,” Zander said firmly. “It sounds like it’s going to start getting personal. We should be able to keep it light.”
“Yes, sir,” Crish said. They were down to just their undergarments, wearing only a pair of shorts like Zander.
“I found it amusing,” Rasisar chuckled.
“If that’s what you want,” Kayo smirked, happy she’d got the last word in. Her bra and panties were more boy shorts and sports bra than sexy underwear, but that made sense, as it was the normal undergarments for female pilots.
“She called me short…” Arlizarista grumbled, down to identical clothing as Kayo.
“That’s a fact,” Kayo said simply.
“Enough. And Arlizarista, it’s not your fault we’re all too tall,” Zander said evenly, laughing inside.
“What? I mean… yes. Sensible people know when to stop growing,” she said quickly.
Kayo snorted, but didn’t refute the statement.
“Okay, we’re working on everything today since we’re not on the ship,” Zander said, heading for the doors to the gym itself. “We’ll start with the shoulders and work our way down.”
“Gladly,” Kayo whispered from behind him.
“Exercise,” Zander snorted.
“Pity, but maybe later,” Kayo laughed as they entered the main room.
It was just like Dreams’ gym, but on steroids. A lot of pieces of identical equipment for each muscle group filled the large space. The machinery was clearly marked out with walking spaces between them to make it easier for everyone to get around.
Zander looked over the room. A few dozen people were working out, mostly alone or in pairs, but a couple of three-people groups caught his attention, especially the two threesomes of Dwarves chatting with each other from nearby machines. Possibly another squad. Just keep them in mind, he told himself as he led his group to the machines he wanted to use.
~*~*~
Things went well to start with, as everyone was focused. The previous trash-talk was replaced with encouraging trash-talk, helping push each other. But as they worked out, Zander was aware that Kayo was brushing against him more often than normal.
Oh, she is, Selda agreed. Her scent is high, too. I think she wants to clearly mark you. This is beyond the light shit she was doing before.
The fact she couldn’t be scented on me? Zander asked.
That, and I think the implication that you’d take another before her ticked her competitiveness.
Hmm… What do you think? Slow play?
That would be terrible for her. Yes, we should.
Fine. Nudge me when needed, Zander said.
When she goes to rub her tails against you again, brush them away, but gently, and all the way down their length, Selda giggled.
The next hour was one of cat and mouse with Zander and Kayo. She kept trying to mark him, and he repeatedly brushed her tails away, instead. Every time Kayo would pause, shiver a little, then act like it hadn’t happened.
Zander did notice that Crish and Arlizarista didn’t encourage Kayo as much, and while their trash-talk was nearing the line again, the Kitsune didn’t seem to notice. It was as they were finishing up that there was another bump.
“Let me find one of the workers,” Zander said, finishing his final set before the others. “I’ll see if they have a room with heated and cool pools for groups. Finish strong.”
He headed toward the nearest worker, who happened to be Sartum, but his path took him near the other large group: the two sets of three Dwarves had combined into a group of six. One of them got up to stand in his way.
Zander stared down at the shorter, broad-shouldered alien. The Dwarf had a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee with the thickest mutton chops Zander had ever seen. A clear line had been cut between them for a mask to seal. “You need something?” Zander asked bluntly.
“Heard you and your squad,” the Dwarf smirked. “Must be hard being down one-and-a-half pilots.”
Zander laughed. “I don’t know. I mean, your squad has you, so it has to be about the same.”
“Easy there,” the Dwarf said, holding up a hand. “You must not know who we are. Sure, we’re not in our uniforms, but still. You’d have to be new to the Hub to not know us.”
“Well, it’s true that I’m new to the Hub,” Zander said. “Only been here a week, give or take. I’ll bite. Who are you?”
“Smaztil Hammish, leader of the Proud Axe’s pilots.” It was delivered with confidence, as if Smaztil expected Zander to recognize it.
“Hammish?” Zander asked with mock awe.
“Ah, there you go,” Smaztil chuckled. “Glad to see—”
“Never heard of you,” Zander shrugged. “Now, excuse me. I was going to that employee over there to ask a question.” He indicated Sartum, who was standing nearby.
“You’ve never heard of me?” Smaztil looked affronted, his voice rising slightly. “Been under a rock for the last two years?”
“Nope. Just in my old universe,” Zander said flatly. “Now, excuse me.”
“Shifted?” one of the others with Smaztil asked.
“See? At least one of you can put the obvious together. For the last time, you’re in my way.” Zander saw Sartum take notice and come toward them.
Smaztil stepped forward, his voice low, “In your way? Look, you ugly alien, I’ve killed more Entoma than any other pilot in the last two years!”
“Bet your mecha killed them, not you,” Zander grinned, “because I’ve killed more Entoma without a mecha than you ever have.”
“Is there a problem?” Sartum asked.
Smaztil was staring at Zander like he was an idiot. “No problem,” he said slowly. “I’m not going to deal with a bad liar.”
Zander started to laugh. “Just because you can’t accept facts doesn’t make it a lie. Sartum, do you have a room with hot and cold pools for a group?”
“We do,” Sartum said. “Let’s gather your friends and I will lead you.”
“Thanks,” Zander said, turning to walk away.
“You never gave your name!” Smaztil snapped.
“You never asked,” Zander said, but kept walking. “You can look up Zander Greaves, Fractured Dreams’ lead pilot.”
As they walked away, another of the Dwarves blinked, as he recognized the name of the ship. It had docked not long ago and had loaded up a simulation run that couldn’t be real. He started talking to Smaztil while Zander and his squad trailed Sartum.
Chapter Twenty-eight
The pools were mostly relaxing. Kayo swam a bit closer to him than normal, letting her tails or fingers touch him incidentally. Zander made sure to stroke her tails when they touched him, but otherwise ignored her provocations. Selda was chortling as she watched Kayo get spun up over his lack of overt gestures back.
Zander excused himself when they finished at the gym; he had to get back to Fractured Dreams. Arlizarista headed back to the hotel to work on her music while the others went to Maverick to do more training. Zander was glad that the other squad wasn’t around when they left, because he didn’t want to deal with the Dwarves again.
Ping smiled when he appeared on the bridge. “Good morning, Zander. How was your evening?”
Zander smirked at her tone. “I’m thinking it wasn’t as fun as yours. I haven’t checked in with Sage, though, so I could be wrong.”
Ping just continued smiling. “The captain, Vorsa, Melvo, Urvin, and the potential hires are set up in the galley.”
“Big enough space that everyone can sit easily. That makes sense,” Zander nodded. “I’ll head that way.”
“Sage did tell me that she’d finish her work today,” Ping said.
“We’ll be at the hotel if you slip away and want to see us,” Zander told her, pausing by the door. “Your choice. See you later.”
Ping watched him go, her tongue flickering farther out than she normally let it. She sampled his scent and the scents mingled on him. Another smile came to her as she rocked slightly in place.
Zander hustled to the galley, hearing Veldiami explaining that the training leader would be there shortly. Stepping into the room, Zander grinned at the twelve prospects. It wasn’t a friendly grin— it was the grin of an evil man with bad intentions.
“Sorry for the delay, Captain.”
Veldiami looked over her shoulder and nodded. “Zander, these are the ones who think they have what it takes to be part of the crew. We have four slots open and twelve candidates to pick from.”
“That means they’ll have to prove why they’re the best options for us,” Zander chuckled darkly. “Well, maybe we’ll find two in this group. I’m not sure four of them will meet the minimum requirements.”
That caused a stir among the assembled people. Vorsa was behind the potential recruits, his lips twitching as he listened to Zander. The pilot was acting like Vorsa himself would if he was the one to test these people.
“We’ll be running you in groups of five. The leaders will either be Melvo, Urvin, or myself,” Zander said firmly. “This means you’ll run with each of us once; the simulations will be different each time. We want to see how you deal with different scenarios. Once we’re done, you’ll be given time to rest while we pare down the group. If we have more than four of you that show yourselves as worthy, then we might need to run another simulation to let you show us why you’re better than the others.”
Vorsa wondered why he wasn’t being included in the testing— Veldiami had said he would be.
Zander met the Fire Giant’s eyes. “Vorsa, for my simulation, I want you to command the assaulting group opposite mine. Come at the fresh meat with everything you have. You’ll have dedicated Assembly security under you.”
Vorsa chuckled. “Your group will be slaughtered every time.”
“Good. Seeing how they react under extreme duress will be helpful. Don’t feel bad when I repel your attempts, though.”
