Page 37 of Stalker
“Ah, Neely,” he said softly when their lips parted. “You’ve brought more love into my life than I ever dreamed possible. I have so much love for you that I can’t even express it all in words.”
“I feel it… too… Stalker. I never… believed I would find anyone to love as much as I love you.”
There were no more words as he took her mouth in another passionate kiss, thrusting harder and faster until he took them both to orgasm together, pumping his hot essence into her womb. It was pure ecstasy in the mists of the shower.
They stayed like that, kissing and caressing for a long time before Stalker turned the shower full-on, and they washed each other. After they finished and dried, Stalker scooped Neely into his arms and carried her to the bed.
After covering her with the sheet, he went to the kitchen to bring her something to eat and drink. When he came back a few minutes later, she was asleep with a little smile on her lips that made him smile, too.
Chapter Twenty
The next day, Stalker and Neely went back to Blackwood’s former residence to work on the downed Mesaarkan flyers. Stalker received permission to confiscate and salvage the planes for personal use at his expense.
Stalker was familiar with that model because his team had stolen them more than once to return to their pickup location from assigned operations. Cramming six cyborgs in a four-passenger plane was a tight fit but better than being left behind.
The flyer that crashed through the house’s upper story was only good for parts. The second of the three downed only needed a new power relay, and the third had a blown engine.
Stalker ran a comprehensive search on the AI net and found access to a repair manual for flyers written in Mesaarkan. In all the years he spent fighting and stalking them, he and many other cyborgs were fluent in the spoken and written language.
The power relay on the wreck was undamaged, so Stalker pulled it apart and retrieved the part. That took longer than removing the damaged part and replacing it in the other plane.
Neely helped where she could, mostly handing him tools he needed as he asked for them. She had done basic maintenance on her own plane, but the Mesaarkan design was different than anything she had seen before. Stalker explained the various parts and how they worked to propel the vehicle.
The internal diagnostics confirmed the plane was flight worthy when he finished the repair. Next, he loaded a translation program to reset the language to English to make it easier for Neely to transfer her pilot skills to the alien flyer. Lastly, he registered the plane with the Enclave and the shuttle port in New Chicago to avoid having it identified and shot down as an enemy aircraft.
Because Stalker had flown a similar alien craft before, he piloted their first test flight after the repairs. He went through every step with Neely, explaining the differences between her flyer and the controls for flying and landing the Mesaarkan craft.
He landed the flyer by Blackwood’s house and switched places with Neely, so she could take it up. She only had to ask Stalker to remind her of the locations of a couple controls. Neely flew north once they were in the air, maxing out the speed and testing evasive maneuvers.
By the time she slowed and turned around, they had almost reached San Francisco.
“Wow, this thing is fast, way faster than my old flyer!” Neely exclaimed.
“Yes, the propulsion system is fifty-eight-point four two percent more powerful than your old model,” Stalker commented.
“How did you get them to let us keep it?”
“I just listed how we could use it on the job, in addition for personal use. We just need to maintain it, which we can do by salvaging the other two for parts. This flyer is better than any they can offer us, and we will use it for work at no charge to them.”
“Does it bother you that a salvaged alien plane is better than we can buy here?”
“Not really. We still have the technology, but it will be a few years before we have the means to build any here.”
“I wonder how many people were sold to get the three flyers.”
“Four thousand six hundred and fifty-three in the last ten years…. Over six-billion credits worth.”
“OMG! I thought the Mesaarkans hated humans. What do you think they are doing with them?”
“Whatever they wish,” Stalker said grimly. “It could be anything from pets to science experiments, enslaved people, breeders, or sex objects. They may be genetically compatible with humans. Speculation goes from there to horrific. They are skillful torturers who can inflict excruciating pain with minimal damage.”
“Colton Price was in the war. How could he sell humans to the enemy?” Neely asked.
“I can’t even guess. All I got from the Federation indicated that he was a double agent investigating human trafficking. His wife Tessa was under Devlin White’s protection when she disappeared before Price returned from the war. She disappeared when the fleet was stretched thin enough that she could have been smuggled offworld. Or Devlin killed her in one of his twisted games.”
“Devlin probably got off easy. They’d probably have sent him to the prison planet. I don’t think he would have fared well,” Neely commented.
“Price will end up there if he’s ever caught.”
