Page 7 of Logic Broken

“Oh, were you a gladiator too?” she asked, her eyes roving over my body, lingering along my biceps, dipping down along my chest. I felt the sudden urge to flex and only barely managed to restrain myself from doing so, another sign that I was losing control of this body. I had to find data on this species, I had to figure out what was going on or I had no choice but to find a way to re-upload myself into the Vagabond again. The problem was, I wasn’t sure if I wanted that.

Touching my left wrist, I rubbed at one of the many faint scars that littered this body. “This body was a gladiator before I came to inhabit it,” I said. Jenny’s eyebrows went up, which I thought was amazing. I tried to mimic the expression with my own, waggling them back and forth when that worked. It made her laugh, and the sound of her mirth made my head tentacles twitch, reaching for her across the table.

“Ah, I see you’re experiencing another malfunction?” she teased. She surprised me by lifting up a hand to reach for them, allowing both tips to curl around her palm. I felt heat surge through my body in response, a sense of acceptance mixed with excitement. A lot of that heat was pooling in my groin, and my pants started to feel too tight, constricting me.

“I am,” I said, wide-eyed. Dropping my gaze down to my crotch, I could tell my cock had swollen beneath the fabric until it couldn’t anymore. “I believe I have inexplicably grown erect. This body normally only does that in the mornings.”

I didn’t think what I said was funny, but Jenny started laughing. Dropping her hand down to the table, she forced me to lean forward when my tentacles refused to let go of her. “Akri! You don’t say that stuff out loud! We just met.” Oh, that’s right, those were private things; I’d been told I couldn’t mention those in conversation.

Reaching down with one hand, I tried to adjust myself so it wouldn’t pinch quite so much. With my other hand, I started to try and pull my unruly head tentacles from Jenny’s hand. She had her palm open and facing up, the left one partially curled around her wrist and thumb, the other around her fingers.

“My apologies, I won’t mention it again,” I said to her while she was still giggling. At least it didn’t seem like I’d offended her; she seemed to think my discomfort was funny. Once I had my tentacles freed from her slender fingers, I made sure to keep them snugly behind my back while I continued eating, and Jenny did the same.

It wasn’t exactly cold inside the kitchen of this small diner, but Jenny was still keeping my coat tucked tightly around her shoulders. The long sleeves kept falling down over her hands when she picked up her food and she’d make this impatient little arm shake each time it happened. Focusing on the food and on our predicament helped me to forget about the latest part of my body disobeying me.

“So what is our next step?” she asked, mirroring my own train of thought. I knew what I was going to be doing next if it were up to me, but I wouldn’t take that step unless she was going to be with me. It seemed extremely irrational, and I still had no explanation for the sentiment, but I needed to stay with her. I needed to keep her safe.

I thought she had a very beautiful face, with her freckles and her hazel eyes. Her features were even, conforming to the golden ratio, so it made sense that I found her attractive. I just didn’t think that was what was driving this protective urge. I’d seen plenty of pretty females before and never felt a desire this potent.

“We need to get to the port. I have a lead on some information I need to get my hands on,” I said to her. I debated yet again how wise it was at this point to tell her that I was losing such catastrophic control over my body after the months of effort I’d put into controlling its violent urges. I wanted to protect her, and I had absolute faith that I would never hurt her, but telling her the truth might scare her off.

“Ooooh, a secret mission, huh?” she asked, stuffing the last bite of bread into her mouth and thoughtfully chewing as she stared at me across the table. As soon as she no longer needed her hands, she tucked them into the coat, curling her arms around her middle to preserve heat. Akrod could get cold at night, Ov’Korad was a desert planet, and the temperatures could drop steeply.

“It is not a secret, just mine,” I said, taking both our plates to the sink to put them in the cleanser. I urged Jenny off her seat and back into the main part of the dinner since there were comfortable benches there for her to lie down on for sleep. “I need to locate a supercomputer to decode some information,” I said though I refrained from indicating the green amulet dangling around my neck. Nor did I mention the extra risk I was taking by being on this particular planet just so I could be close to a certain scientist.

“I see, and you have a lead on that location?” she asked, sitting down on one of the benches. Her attention was on the pillows, assessing how comfortable she was going to be sleeping on them. Her shoulders did a little shimmy, and then my coat was falling from them; she was shrugging out of the heavy leather and holding it out to me.

“No, keep it. You are less suited to this cold than I am. I will be fine.” I indicated the long-sleeved shirt I was wearing. It was form-fitting and made of a thermal weave that retained heat. I wouldn’t feel the cold until the temperatures dropped much further. She didn’t protest, simply laid down and curled under my long coat as if it was a blanket. I could feel her eyes rove over my chest and that urge to flex a little struck me again. I felt a little like one of those birds, preening in the hopes of catching a mate.

“Yes, I do. Want to come with me?” I asked, my mouth getting away from me before I could stop myself. She looked as surprised by the question as I was, the arches of her eyebrows climbing up, her eyes snapping to mine.

“Huh, why would you want that? Wouldn’t I slow you down?” she said. Her assessment was astute; she would indeed slow me down. I knew I only wanted her to stay with me because I wanted to keep her safe, but I was ninety percent certain she would dislike that reasoning. Now what? I couldn’t lie…

“I like your company,” I said, “And it’s not like you’ve got anywhere to go right now, do you? If you stay with me, you can get a ride on the Vagabond when I call for them. You’d be safe.” I wished I could take back those last words, biting on the inside of my lip in frustration that they had just slipped out.

Jenny had settled back against the pillows, one arm beneath her head and her eyes closed. She was smiling gently, “Ah, you just want more time to enjoy my fabulous company, do you? Sure, I’ll tag along. It’s not like I haven’t got anything else to do. That’s very true.” She didn’t say she agreed to a ride on the Vagabond afterward, but I was counting this as a major achievement. She was going to stay with me for now.

She didn’t say anything else, and with her eyes closed, I felt like I could unabashedly take in her features. Only when I was certain she was safely asleep did I hook myself with the nav port in my tentacle to the computer system of the diner. I needed to get a handle on the situation in the city; I’d use the diner’s network as a stepping point.

I slid into a sitting position with my back against the counter, it forced me to sling my tentacle awkwardly over it to stay connected, but I could now work and watch Jenny at the same time. I was tired, my body a little bruised from the fight at the bar, but this needed to be done.

Once an image was out there, it was impossible to erase it completely, but I made damn sure law enforcement’s information on our case got scrambled. It wouldn’t stop them from hunting us, but it would slow them down. There was nothing I could do to stop this news from leaving the planet; it already had. No telling who had seen Jenny and me splashed all over Ov’Korad’s news.

Once I had done what I could, I unplugged with a shudder. My body was a little stiff and sore from sitting in one position on the floor for as long as I had, but all that discomfort faded in a rush when I saw Jenny shivering beneath my coat. She was cold. I could have turned up the heat inside the diner, but I didn’t want to mess with the system too much in case that would alert the owners.

I approached carefully, uncertain of what I was going to do. She seemed to sense my presence, her eyelids fluttering as they opened a little, the tip of her nose pink. When my tentacles reached for her, her body seemed to curl toward me. Suddenly I found myself with my arms full of human female, all my limbs tangled around her, and her face turning into my chest.

Frozen in place, I waited to see if she would wake up completely, but she simply tucked herself into my chest and kept on sleeping. I did not see any other option but to settle down on the pillows with her, my coat draped over us both. This was much warmer, and she smelled very good.

Vagabond

Chloe

Kitan dragged me onto the bridge by my hand, his booted feet thudding onto the metal deck with each hurried step he took. “Come on, we’ve got to get going!” he urged me, a wild grin on his face that I loved to see there. As soon as the ship had been hit with the news of Akri’s location, he’d been so excited he’d shifted into his hybrid-form, triple tails wagging. The fox-like snout made his grin even more pronounced, his gold eyes sparkling with joy.

I felt some of the same excitement. Akri had gone missing shortly after we had rescued Jakar and Meena, on the day they’d loudly and happily celebrated their mating. We’d been searching for him ever since and this was the first time we had an actual location to go to. The nav port at the back of my head almost seemed to tingle; soon I’d be plugging in so I could navigate us to our friend.

“Ov’Korad, how long will that take us?” Ziame asked as soon as we entered the bridge. The huge Lacerten male was standing in front of the Captain’s chair with his hands on his hips, gazing at the viewscreen at the front of the bridge. Someone had put the footage of Akri and the unknown human girl up on it. Probably Sunder, who was hovering over the communications console with his mate Aggy tucked beneath one wing.