Clouds Read online

  Cotton came behind Kita and handed her Dawn. “Go back to the shuttle. You’re in no condition to lead. I will send someone when the station is secure.”

  Kita nodded and put her swords away.

  Kita stood alone while her soldiers prepared to blow the command center door. Cotton had taken over running the operation, but instead of going back to the shuttle Kita turned herself invisible and followed feeling she wasn’t a danger to them. As Kita waited for the door to blow, she tried to sort out what was going on in her head.

  On the way here she had searched her memories for any signs, she’d missed something about herself, but couldn’t find anything. No hint of why this hidden hate, anger, and pain had been released. She didn’t realize one person could harbor so much. She thought she should be scared or worried but instead, in her heart, she loved it. It heightened all her senses and made her mind razor sharp. She felt it spread to her limbs like ice flowing through her veins. It felt like it would erupt from her at any second. She felt more alive than ever.

  “Ready Princess,” the Major croaked.

  “Everyone back,” Cotton ordered. “After the blast, you and your soldiers will go in and secure the room.”

  Kita wrinkled her nose. She didn’t like being left out. The Toeak with the detonator pressed the button. She phased to the door and extended her heat shield to protect against the blast. Sorry sweetheart. This is my operation.

  The door to the command center flew across the room like a missile just missing the Zitki’s station commander but hit two of his aides. Before the team could recover Kita turned visible and bound through the hole swords drawn.

  “This station belongs to me,” Kita roared. “I want the long-range communications trans-receiver turned on, now.”

  “Zitki is a free station. We’ll never submit to you,” the Commander replied while reaching for his pistol.

  Before the Diamock could draw his pistol Dawn tapped his hand on the wrist.

  “I’m not planning on staying long Commander. I just want what I’m looking for. Help me find her and I’ll be on my way.”

  “Never. We don’t help pirate thugs like you.”

  “You better start,” Kita replied with a smile. The hate and other emotional energy surged through her, and it felt good.

  “We won’t hand over anyone to you. Everyone aboard Zitki Station is under our protection.”

  An evil smile crossed Kita’s lips.

  “Commander,” said Cotton as she came through the door. “This Aurorian we seek is vital. We will pay for the damages, and she will not come to any harm. We just need to talk to her.” She gave Kita a dirty look.

  Kita stuck out her tongue as a reply. She turned her attention back toward the Commander. This fool wasn’t going to stand in her way. There are much better ways of getting results. She lunged at the Commander driving her swords between the bony plates his chest. She lifted him up and let him dangle from her blades.

  “Kita!” Cotton exclaimed.

  “Negotiations are over, Commander. I gave you a chance.”

  “What are you doing Kita? We don’t behave like this,” Cotton snarled as she grabbed Kita’s arm.

  Kita used her wing to push Cotton’s arm aside. “Why not? We’ve already attacked the station.”

  “To catch the Aurorian by surprise. This was the last resort. You said so yourself,” said Cotton.

  “And I won’t fail,” Kita replied with a menacing glare. She looked at the room of stunned technicians. “Open the trans-receiver and allow my ship to access your systems or else.”

  Kita waited impatiently for them to move. “Well?”

  “We—We don’t have the code,” replied a technician.

  Kita scowled. Restricting the use of their long-range communications gear was one of the ways Zitki Station protected itself. If you had no door, no one could break in. Raph had been trying for over a month, but they never left the gear on long enough for him to get in very far. All they wanted was a station schematic and access to the security system to track the Aurorian. When the remote access plan failed, they’d devised this hit-and-run operation. Now they’d come too far, and Kita wasn’t about to let all her peoples’ hard work go to waste. She glared at the Commander. “Are you going to tell me?”

  “To the Void with you,” the Commander spat back through clenched teeth.

  “Kita stop this,” Cotton ordered.

  Kita turned and looked at Cotton, flames burning brightly in her eyes. “Make me.”

  Cotton drew her axar. A long halberd with an electronic blade and a spear on the opposite end. “I don’t know what game you’re playing Kita, but it ends now.”

  Kita blew her fiancée a kiss. At the same time, Kita’s heat shield expanded pushing Cotton backward.

  “Alone at last,” Kita cooed to the Commander. “If you won’t tell me I’ll make you tell me.”

  “There’s nothing you can do to me that will make me betray my station,” the Commander replied.

  With a swift motion, Kita withdrew Dusk and Dawn, and the Commander collapsed to the ground. Kita put her swords away, reached down, and yanked the Diamock to his feet. She ran her hand along the side of his head, dragging her fingers along the flat quills that made up the crown on his head like a headband. She grabbed the one that came off his temple and began to bend it outward.

  “I know this hurts you,” Kita said in a soft, sultry voice. That unquenchable desire for blood and pain rushed to join her volatile emotional mixture. She felt her hand tremble in delight. Part of her felt like it was her first time again. She didn’t know what to expect, but she couldn’t wait.

  The Commander stifled a cry as the quill bent. Kita slowly applied pressure. It passed forty-five degrees and snapped like a dry twig. The Commander howled in pain, reflexively grabbing at the damaged appendage. Kita felt the tension inside her build. She wanted release so badly. Not even sex left her feeling this pent up.

  Pushing his hand away, she watched the orange blood collect and drip from the bottom of the broken appendage. She ran her finger along the jagged edge, collecting a pool of blood. Dropping the Commander to the floor, she held up her finger to study the blood for a long moment. She watched, transfixed as the light reflected off it. Inside her, the urge grew, and she knew what she had to do. She popped her finger into her mouth and let the blood hit her tongue. It was like an explosion of light that started in her mouth and radiated through her body. She shivered uncontrollably as the waves of pleasure washed over her.

  Kita let out a cat-like roar and shook her head back and forth. “By the Crushing Depths, that’s good.” She purred as her body relaxed for the first time in months. Looking down at the Commander with a sinister grin, she placed the heel of her hand against the side of his neck and injected him with a drug that immobilized him, but let him feel everything. After pulling Dusk from her back, she knelt over the wounded Diamock. With a swift stroke, she cut off his uniform top. She looked at one of the small armored plates on his stomach and licked her lips. She wiggled the tip of Dusk between the plate and muscle and began to pry.

  The Angels Sheppard and Valor flew in through the destroyed door. They landed next to Cotton.

  “What’s wrong?” Sheppard demanded, opening the visor to her combat helmet while keeping her assault rifle pointed at the station personnel in the room.

  Cotton explained what had happened and what she’d seen.

  Sheppard huffed. “About damn time. I knew the other shoe had to drop eventually. I’m surprised she’s been able to keep this charade up for this long.”

  “What charade?” Cotton demanded.

  “Your fiancée, the rich bitch you love so much is much more than that. She’s an evil, psychotic mass murderer who gets off on torturing people up.”

  “That puts it in the most negative light possible,” Snowy rebuked as she came through the door. The anthropomorphic war cat walked toward them, her long tail lashing behind her.

  “What are
you doing here?” Sheppard demanded.

  “I thought I might be needed when Cotton reported Kita berserked. I see I’m right.”

  “And neither of you bothered to tell me?” Cotton yelled.

  “I’m sorry,” Snowy replied with a sigh. “Sheppard and I knew of course but weren’t allowed to tell you in case we caused it to reemerge. Unfortunately, it looks like it came back on its own.”

  “What came back?” Cotton snarled.

  Snowy turned to the Verisom with a dower look. “Her bloodlust. Kita is more than a gifted leader and assassin. Since the age of twelve, she’s been a killer. The blood, the torture, it gives her a release like sex. And it’s only gotten worse as she’s aged.”

  “Why wasn’t I allowed to know?” said Cotton.

  “You’ll have to ask Kita’s jailors,” replied Sheppard.

  “I thought you were her captor,” snapped Cotton.

  “Kita has a few captors,” said Snowy sadly. “They’re hoping that after stripping Kita down to nothing Kita would emerge as someone…”

  “Who isn’t the God of Evil,” Sheppard finished.

  Cotton rolled her eyes. “I almost believed you.”

  “It’s true!” Valor interjected drifting upward to be eye to eye with the Verisom. “Kita’s sister, Tina, showed me what Kita was like and what she was. It’s so sad. Kita’s seemed so happy the last two years.”

  “Regardless if you believe us or not, we need to get her out of there before we’re picking that Diamock up with a sponge and a spoon,” said Sheppard. She walked to the edge of Kita’s heat shield and put her hands on her hips. “Kita!” she barked in an authoritative and formal voice. “Stop and let me in.”

  Kita looked up to see the group of Angels looking at her. She looked down at the Commander. “Saved by a pretty face.” She dug her finger into the stab wound in his chest. She pulled it out dripping with his blood. She ran her tongue up her finger before popping it into her mouth. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and numbness climbed upward from her feet. She lost control of her heat shield, and it collapsed.

  Sheppard threw herself at Kita. Phasing to one side, Kita kicked Sheppard in the ribs sending her crashing into a desk.

  “I’m in such a good mood, Sheppard. Why do you want to ruin it?” Kita asked with a loving smile.

  “Did you get the code?” Snowy asked Kita, ignoring Sheppard.

  Kita grinned and gave it to Snowy.

  The big cat turned to the technicians in the room. “Who’s in charge of the trans-receiver?”

  A Zentonian raised his hand.

  “Get it online and let our ship connect,” Snowy ordered. “We only want access to the security systems and schematics of the station. The quicker you make that available, the quicker we will leave. The rest of you, tell security to return to their duty stations. Our people are only setting up a tracking device. We’re not here to take anything just to find someone.” She ordered a status report from the other groups setting up the tracking receivers.

  Hawke, Defiance, and Zentix reported they’d reached their positions and were holding.

  “Ours is in place,” said Valor.

  Snowy took a small pad off her belt and started tapping on the screen. “I’m ready. We just need access to the station’s computer system. I—” She looked at Kita and found her looming over the Commander. “Kita, leave him alone. You’ve had your fun.”

  Kita turned and returned a glare. “Why? It’s not like he’s going to make it. He might as well be useful.”

  “He has been useful. He gave us what we wanted to know. Let him die.”

  Kita sneered, knelt down, and dug a finger into a gaping hole left by her removing one of the Diamock’s chest plates. She could see his lung struggling to expand.

  Snowy phased next to Kita and struck her in the back of the head. Kita flew over the Commander and landed against a computer console. Before she could get up, Snowy was next to her and kicked her under the chin sending Kita upward. Snowy reached out and caught Kita by the jaw.

  “It’s over!” she yelled.

  Kita let out a long snarl and shoved Snowy in the chest. Snowy turned the shove into a flip, her long tail tickling Kita’s nose as it went by. She landed and snapped her claws out. Kita already had Dusk and Dawn drawn. They eyed each other for a long moment, before lunging at each other.

  They went back and forth trading blow for blow. Twists and flips met spins and jumps as they bounced around. The sound of blades and claws rang through the room as soldiers and technicians dove for cover.

  Cotton extended her axar and took a step toward the combatants, but Valor stretched out an armored wing to stop her.

  “Don’t do it. They’ll tear you apart,” Sheppard warned.

  “I have beaten Kita. I can beat Snowy,” Cotton rebuffed. “I’m not afraid of them.”

  “You should be,” said Sheppard. “This isn’t a real fight. They’re not even going full speed.”

  “What do you mean?” Cotton said watching the sparring match go by in a flash.

  “It’s a…a—”

  Snowy landed near them as a fireball splashed off her harmlessly. She raised her arms and pointed her claws at Kita. Jagged bolts of lightning shot across the room striking Kita in the chest. Jerking from the electricity, Dusk and Dawn fell from Kita’s hands. Snowy snapped in her claws, phased over, and caught Kita before she fell. She clutched Kita in a tight embrace and cradled Kita while stroking her face until her eyes opened. She stood Kita up, took her face in her hands, and kissed Kita. Lightly at first but it quickly became deeper.

  “—mating ritual,” Sheppard finished with a grimace.

  “Kita!” Cotton screamed causing everyone in the room to turn and look at her. She stormed over and grabbed Snowy by the shoulder.

  Without breaking her kiss with Kita, Snowy extended a claw and touched it to Cotton’s armor. There was a loud electrical pop, and Verisom shot across the room.

  “Damn. Is it open season on Kita?” Defiance asked as she glided into the room. She looked down at Cotton and smirked.

  “You don’t want in the middle of this,” warned Sheppard.

  “So says you. I’m not scared,” said Defiance.

  “If anyone’s got dibs on Kita, it’s me,” said Valor as her helmet retracted.

  “You had your chance and lost it to long ears,” said Defiance.

  “Kita is not free. She’s mine,” said Cotton as she got up.

  “You might want to tell Snowy,” Defiance said with a grin.

  “The trans-receiver is operational,” a Zentonian yelled while ignoring the strange behavior of his occupiers.

  “Excellent. Thank you,” said Sheppard. She contacted Raph and gave him permission to proceed.

  “It’s a shame the kid’s not here. He’d love to see that,” Defiance quipped with a nod at Kita and Snowy.

  “I’m making a vid. I’ll show it to him,” said Valor.

  Sheppard let out a long sigh. “I guess I should go split them up. We need to get ready to catch the Aurorian.” She walked over to Kita and Snowy. Carefully, she put a hand on each of their shoulders. “Excuse me, ladies, but we need to go.”

  Snowy split from Kita and looked deep into Kita’s eyes. “I’ve missed that flame,” she whispered.

  “Me too,” Kita gulped.

  Snowy smiled and patted Kita’s cheek. “I love you… the real you.”

  “I love you,” Kita smiled. She caught Snowy’s hand and kissed her palm.

  “Come on, both of you. We’ll sort this out later,” Sheppard urged.

  Kita nodded. Her eyes lingered on Snowy’s before looking over at Cotton and grimacing inwardly. She would have some serious explaining to do. But she couldn’t deny how she felt about Snowy, and now Snowy was interested… again. For how long this time? Or a better question, how long will I stay interested in Snowy? She caught a look from Defiance. Someone else is interested too. Still, my first loyalty is to Cotton. I’ll hav
e to see how long it’ll last.

  Kita led Snowy and Sheppard back to the others.

  “What in the frozen frost is going on, Kita?” Cotton snapped.

  Kita raised a hand. “Nothing, if you let it be but we’ll talk later. Right now I want the Aurorian.”

  “I’m not going to let you brush me off like I’m some common girl.”

  Kita ignored her. “Everyone go back to your station. Once we have the Aurorian’s location, we’ll move people in to capture her. Snowy, you’ll stay here to coordinate everyone. Everyone else, get moving.”

  She marshaled them to the door. Cotton refused to follow. Kita shrugged. She waved the Toeak Major to her.

  “Stay here and protect Snowy and Cotton.”

  “Yes, Captain.”

  Kita turned and ducked out the door.

  Not seeing the Toeaks leaving with Kita and the others, Cotton wanted to know why. There could be more Gronks around. “Why aren’t you going with her?” Cotton demanded of the Major.

  “She ordered us to say.”

  “Go with her. She’s bound to get into trouble.”

  The Major looked at Cotton, then the door. He shook his head and ordered his remaining Toeaks to take up guard positions around the room as Kita had ordered.

  Cotton stomped her foot in frustration.

  “Problems?” said Snowy.

  “Shut up,” Cotton snarled. “I knew you’d be trouble.”

  Snowy shrugged. “I’m not interested in taking your place. Kita and I don’t do well for long. I might just borrow her for a bit.”

  “You are not touching her.”

  “I don’t have to touch her to get what I want from her, but that is a nice extra. If you haven’t figured it out, the rules about Kita have changed. She’s got her moxie back, and she remembers more of who she really is. You’re going to have to learn to adapt or get left behind. I suggest you break it off now and give Sheppard back her ship.”

  “Never. Kita is mine.”

  “I can tell you two things. One, you can’t bend Kita to your will. She’s a force of nature: you bend to her. Two, you’ll never be able to bend to be what Kita wants. I couldn’t. You can’t. I only know of one person who could, and Kita made her that way.”