"Right?"

"Triotians are too much for anyone's equilibrium."

She didn't sound happy about it, which enabled Dax to grin instead of blush. "At the moment," he said casually as he quickly dressed, including his shirt this time, "I've come to favor blue-eyed, black haired Arellians."

When he was finished, he straightened and looked at Califa, who was fastening the front of the flight suit. She had to tug at it to get it to close over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. And now that he knew exactly how those soft, full curves felt in his hands, Dax felt his body tighten.

d.a.m.ning the stubbornness of a body that couldn't seem to get the message that it was nigh on to crippling itself in this vicious cycle of unrelieved desire, he yanked his gaze upward to her face. She finished and met his eyes. He lifted a brow. She took a quick breath, and nodded. Dax walked to the door and opened it himself. Rina peered into the room anxiously.

"Did you think she would kill me?" Dax teased the girl as she came in and the door closed behind her; may Rina never know how close that is to the truth, Dax swore silently.

"It was on my list of possibilities," Rina admitted, staring at him. "Right after you killing her."

Dax grinned, and indicated Califa with a sweeping gesture. "As you can see, we're both alive."

At his grin, Rina's eyes widened. Her gaze shifted from Califa to Dax, and back again. Califa kept her eyes lowered. After a moment Rina turned back to Dax, "Are you...all right?"

There was a galaxy of concern in her young voice, and Dax felt the tug of guilt. It was past time to stop indulging himself in his own sorrows. "I'm fine, little one. I just had...some things to think about."

She looked slightly placated, but no less curious. "What things? They must have been pretty awful, for you to go demented like that."

Dax's keen ears picked up Califa's quick intake of breath, and senses that still seemed highly attuned to her registered her sudden tension.

"I'll tell you, when I've worked them out," he promised Rina. Then added, "I'm sorry if I worried you."

Rina looked up at him. "I didn't know what to do."

The quiet helplessness in her voice ripped at Dax. He hadn't heard her sound like that since he'd found her huddled in that cave. He hugged her suddenly, fiercely.

"You didn't have to do anything, little one. It's not your job to be my keeper."

"Someone needs to be." She returned his embrace with the strength that sometimes surprised him. Then she released him and stepped back to look at him. "But I didn't do a very good job. Nor did Roxton. You wouldn't speak to either of us."

He hadn't been capable of speaking, Dax thought. He'd been mired in a swamp of shock, pain, and guilt so deep he'd barely been aware of anything but his own misery. Nothing had had the power to get through to him. Except the woman whose words had cast him into the mora.s.s in the first place.

Without realizing it he had looked at Califa. Rina followed his gaze. Califa stood quietly, eyes still lowered. It reminded him of the submissive slave, and he wanted to shake her.

"I should have believed you," Rina said to Califa, startling her into looking up to meet the girl's eyes, "when you said you could make him angry."

"I seem to have the knack," she said, her voice low.

"For that as well as other things," Dax growled. Then, when he saw the hint of pink rise in her cheeks, he asked softly, "Is that why you came here? To make me angry?"

She met his gaze then, levelly, with the steadiness he'd come to admire. This was the Califa who pulled at him, who could tighten his body with a look, who had made him risk the torment he knew was inevitable just for the pleasure of holding her naked against him.

"I came to make you talk," she said. "Before the words choked you."

He didn't miss the implication that she had come to him for nothing more than that; but then he'd hardly thought she'd come with the idea of seducing him. Contrary to whatever the reputation the esteemed Major Claxton might have had, his snowfox knew herself now, and she would not give herself so freely.

Yet she had. To him. And despite the agony his perverse body put him through, she had given him a greater pleasure than he'd ever known. For a fleeting moment he wondered whether, if his body had chosen this time to cooperate, he would have survived it.

"I suppose I should thank you," Rina said to Califa, not sounding as if she liked the idea.

"I would rather you didn't," Califa returned quietly, "if you don't truly want to."

Dax guessed the reason for the girl's hesitation. When he spoke, it was to Rina, but his gaze never left Califa.

"I've never told you what to think, Rina. I won't now. But I will tell you this. I believe Califa has come to hate the Coalition as we have. I cannot tell you to forgive her for what she was. Only you can decide that, and I'm not sure I can do that myself, yet."

Califa winced at the brutal honesty, but she didn't look away. She held his gaze evenly, her shoulders squared with the courage that called to something deep inside him.

"But neither will I subject her to danger because of it. The fact that she was a Coalition officer will remain between us, Roxton and Nelcar, those who already know it."

Califa closed her eyes as she drew in a deep, relieved breath. When she opened them again, she gave him a look that made him want to send Rina away and climb right back in that bunk with her, never mind the frustration.

Abruptly, Dax shifted his gaze to Rina.

"Understand, little one?"

The girl nodded. Then, in an unconscious mimicking of Califa's own steady, square-shouldered nerve, she lifted her head and met Califa's eyes.

"I do truly want to thank you. For bringing him back. I was afraid for him."

"I know," Califa said softly. "So was I."

Something flashed between the two females, a softening in Rina, a quiet understanding in Califa. Dax shifted his feet, uncomfortable with being the subject of conversation. And with being referred to as if he wasn't even here. Something slaves were used to, he supposed; he didn't much care for it. And this was but a tiny taste of that life. His admiration for Califa's determination in surviving it grew another notch, along with the warm feeling that had begun to expand in him when she'd admitted she was worried about him.

"Rina! What in Hades is going on?"

Dax sighed as Roxton's bellow nearly rattled the door. Then he realized he should be grateful Rina had come first; Roxton no doubt would have burst right in with no warning. He called to the first mate to come in, suppressing a wry smile as the door slid open to reveal Roxton still looking startled that he had answered.

"Well," the man said as he came in, tugging at his beard, "it's about time. Back with us, now, are you?"

He nodded. Then, contritely, responding to the relief on the older man's face, he added, "Sorry, Rox."

"Hmmph." The crusty first mate waved off the apology. "Man needs to think, sometimes." Then he glanced at Califa and grinned. "But if I'd known she'd shake you out of it so fast, I'd have sent her myself."

Dax scowled at Roxton, but it was mainly to conceal the surge of new warmth that filled him at this further proof that Califa had come to him on her own.

"Welcome back, son," Roxton said with a laugh.

"To where?" Dax realized he had no idea where they were. They hadn't really had a plan for after the raid on Boreas.

"We're in Sector Gamma Twelve at the moment," Roxton told him. "It seemed like a good place to wait."

For me to come out of my cloud, Dax thought, although his old friend didn't say it. But it was a good place, isolated, off both the shipping lanes and the usual path for Coalition patrols.

"What's next?" Rina asked eagerly, forgetting the anxiety and distress of the past days with the resilience of the very young.

Dax shrugged. He looked at Roxton. "What do you think?"

"We could lie low, for a while, if you want. We've enough supplies to last a good long time. The crew wouldn't mind a bit of rest and revelling."

"Alpha Two it is, then."

Roxton nodded. Rina groaned. "I suppose this means I get to hide out while everyone else is having fun at the colony."

Roxton reached out and tousled the girl's golden hair. "Sorry, little one. The crew can blend in with the rowdies on Alpha Two, but you stand out like a peria among snailstones."

"Besides," Dax put in, "nothing's there but taprooms and Coalition crews on leave. Nothing for you except maybe a game of chaser, and I think you've had enough of that for now."

Rina flushed. "One little mistake," she muttered.

"Let me get this straight." They looked at Califa, who was staring at them in disbelief. "You're the most wanted skypirates in the system. They send warships after you. And you plan on parading under a squadron of Coalition noses?"

Dax grinned. "Why not? We always have."

Her eyes widened even further, and she let out a short, incredulous breath.

"It's safe enough," Roxton explained. "We go into the colony in shifts, just three or four at a time. Never the same groups, and always in different guises. No one notices, not among the din and confusion of that place."

"I know it's the rowdiest of Coalition outposts," Califa said, "but still"

"In their arrogance," Dax said smoothly, "the Coalition never thinks to look, as you said, beneath their noses. Especially in a place where the main concern of most visitors is drinking and"he glanced at Rina "other things."

"There is truth in that," Califa agreed, her expression telling Dax that she knew quite well that most of those who went to Alpha 2 had two things in mind; finding a wh.o.r.e and a drink, not necessarily in that order. Or in the case of the infamous Legion Club there, a slave and a drink. She shivered visibly, and Dax wondered if she was thinking that, were it not for Rina's garrulousness, and hence Dax's interference, she, too, could have wound up there, servicing the very forces she'd fought alongside.

"Still," she felt compelled to caution him, "there are others who come there for the archives. Shaylah's medical officer went there every time he got leave."

He knew it was true. Perversely, the most brawling of all Coalition outposts was also home to the most extensive of its archives, a ma.s.sive collection of records, doc.u.ments, and microbooks from all of the worlds that had been forced into the Coalition by threator factof annihilation. It was there, he recalled suddenly, that she had seen the dulcetpipe she had told him of, in the exhibit of treasures from the then newly conquered Trios.

"Watch yourself," Roxton warned Rina, sounding only half joking, "he's getting that look. He's up to something."

Dax pulled out of his thoughts, but not before promising himself to think over what had just occurred to him.

"Never mind," he said brusquely. He reached out and tweaked Rina's upturned nose. "Set course, navigator. We'll find something to amuse you when we get there." The girl brightened at the promise, and headed off for the bridge.

Roxton lingered, looking at Dax warily. "What are you scheming on?"

"Nothing."

"Sure. And you didn't intend to be n.o.ble and sacrifice yourself when you made that crazed strafing run on that Coalition warship."

Dax glanced at Califa; those words were too familiar. She lifted her brows in an expression of utter innocence.

"Are you two in collusion?" he asked sourly.

"I might consider it," Roxton said easily. "The lady seems to get things done."

Dax saw Califa's gaze fly to the old man's face, both surprise and pleasure displayed in her expression.

"Besides," the first mate added, chuckling, "anyone who can yell at you and get anything but a laugh has my respect."

She has mine, too, he almost said, but bit back the words. He'd meant what he'd said to Rina; he wasn't sure if he could forgiveor forgetCalifa's past, especially Dare. But he did respect her. He did admire her courage. And G.o.d knew he wanted her like he'd never wanted another woman. It came to him then, the realization of what he'd let himself in for. Having her around from now on was going to be a brand-new kind of torture.

"I'm going to get some food," he announced suddenly.

"Good idea," Roxton agreed, "but that's not going to distract me. What are you planning?"

Dax sighed; there were times he wondered how he'd ever been able to hide anything from the man.

"Nothing. Yet. Just thinking."

"About?"

He shrugged. "A little shopping of my own."

"Personal?" Roxton's surprise was evident. And no wonder; Dax couldn't remember the last time he'd gone after something for himself. He wasn't sure he was going to do it now, but the idea had appeared, full blown and tempting, and he wasn't sure he could resist it.

"Does shopping mean the same thing this time as it did last time?" Califa asked, eyeing Dax suspiciously.

He grinned at her, just to see the incredulity widen her eyes. It did.

"Rina was right," she cried in exasperated tones. "You do need a keeper."

She walked out of his quarters, head high. Dax was thankful she'd done it before he'd had the chance to ask her if she wanted the job.

Chapter 16.

Califa watched Rina switch the holograph disks. In a moment a new star system image replaced the one that had been hovering, all bodies in constant motion, over the table in their quarters for the past hour or so.

"How do you do that?" she asked as she watched the various...o...b..ts, and the streak of a comet that arced through the display at regular intervals. Rina adjusted the brightness of the display before she answered. The girl had apparently decided Dax was right, that Califa was as much against the Coalition as she, and had resumed talking to her. Califa felt surprisingly glad that she was no longer out in the cold with the little pixie.

"I just...look at it," Rina said.

Dax had told her Rina was what they called an "exact navigator," that rare person who could study a star system or a sector chart and commit it to memory for all-dimensional recall later, as if it were no more difficult than breathing.

At least, he'd told her that when he'd been speaking to her; he seemed once more to be avoiding her. She tried not to think about it, tried not to wonder if it was because she had failed to please him as he had so incredibly pleased her that night. He had said it didn't matter, that his lack of climax was a Triotian trait, but she wasn't at all certain. But then she recalled that WolfDare had had a reputation for endurance among those who used slaves, a reputation like Dax had among, according to the crew, most of the females in the system. Perhaps there was truth, then, in what Dax had said.

And he had, after all, sent the clothing she wore now, a loose shirt and comfortable, flowing trousers that fit her much better than Rina's flight suit. He'd found another of those, as well, that fit her better, somewhere in the stacks of crates and cases that were piled high in the cargo bay, awaiting off-loading at the storehouse.

But that didn't explain why he was avoiding her. Unless he was frightened by what happened between them, as she was. That seemed absurd, and she forced her mind back to Rina.