Defending Hippotigris by Smith, T.L. (intellectual books to read txt) 📕

it when I finally reached my Kazan limit, probably trying to urge Batista back. How I, or my other self, put up with this for so long baffled me, but we were as close as any two sisters could ever be. Surviving all our childhood escapades.

Now we were on a new escapade together. Dizzi Lizzi, Darin’ Sharan and … Remy. I cringed to think what she named him. I gave her a shove inside her cabin, with strict orders to be on time, better yet, fifteen minutes early.

In our room, I did another full sweep and rechecked my list. Normally I was too well organized to give it a second thought. Normally I only packed for me. Normally I didn’t have another personality in my head. “Well, we’re ready with an hour to kill.”

“Really?” Remy came up behind me, his arms pinned mine down. “In that case, I know exactly how to use it up.”

“Remy, come on…”  I struggled against his intentions, until his lips went straight to a weak point in the curve of my neck. There went the coin, along with my knees. There went his hands, and there went what was left of my will as the Batista he knew surfaced.

He had his own evil snicker, when he knew he got his way, even more evil when he knew he’d drawn out the wife side of me. In this lighter gravity, he easily carried me to the bunk barely wide enough for two, and made good use of the tight space and our spare time.

He left me scurrying to regain my Kazan side and get dressed again. LR didn’t like uniforms, so I opted for jeans and a little white undershirt. Only my ball cap had name and rank on it. I pulled it on as the door buzzed. Remy already had our duffle bags over his shoulders.

Lizzy stood outside. “What took you so long?”

I tried to ignore the heat in my cheeks as I glanced at my watch. Fifteen minutes. “Ready to meet your first aliens? Where’s your bag? Need help with it?”

“Nooo…”  She waved me off. “A sweet young thing came and got it.” She grinned at Remy standing behind me. “Hope you got enough of her. Last time I went camping, it wasn’t very private. Everybody hears everything.”

I pushed her out the door. “We’re not sleeping in lean-tos.” I pointed her aft. “Before we leave, I need to know you understand the rules.”

Lizzy looked up at me with her ‘I’m smarter than you give me credit for’ glance. “I know this is important. Once we hit dirt, Loosey Lizzy will be temporarily retired.”

An unexpected wave of relief rushed over me, Batista telling me she meant every word. When had I stopped trusting her to do the right thing? Was it just living split in two for so long? I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “I’m sure this adventure will be worth the sacrifice.”

We reached the shuttle with almost ten minutes to spare. Lizzy popped up behind members of the team waiting on the ramp. A few of the men flinched. Several of the women grinned, including the one checking off our duffel bags.

Remy noticed. “What is it you women think is so funny? I’d think you’d be throwing a fit with her inappropriate conduct.”

“Major. Do you realize how many years, centuries, we’ve put up with the reverse?” She resisted a total eye roll. “To us, she’s cute, funny and makes them feel totally… adolescent. To them, she’s the fox and they’re the chickens. Best of all, she’s a civilian and under the circumstances no one can charge her with sexual harassment.”

“Well, I hope you don’t have a guy in the crew, unless you’re comfortable letting her screw with… his head.” Remy tossed our scanned and tagged bags in the cargo container.

“He wishes. Lizzy stays away from the ones spoken for.” Being the last of the away party, she closed the container and gave the handler permission to load. “All aboard!” She shooed us up the ramp.

We made our way to the front of the shuttle. Lizzy had already seized a seat directly across from Schaeffer. We took the other two lead seats. I looked back at the contingent. “It’s too soon for rotations. Why we upping our presence?”

Schaeffer spun his chair towards me. “Your leaving caused a change in their behavior. Hopefully your return will bring a calming response. We need to be prepared, either way. You just worry about getting the LR cooperating again.”

“What about me, Dick?” Lizzy chirped. “What do you expect me to do?”

Schaeffer shifted his eyes her direction. “Behave and keep the colonel happy.”

Tick, tick, tick. I inhaled as the machine in Lizzy’s head went into free-spin. Remy rubbed between his eyes as her mouth opened. “Shara don’t swing that way, unless you’re talking about yourself. In that case you can blow…”

“Lizzy!”

“What?” Her fists clenched in frustration. “We’re not on the ground yet.”

“Shut up or I’ll lock you up myself.” I tipped my head back to the crew, hoping Schaeffer had engaged white noise. Lizzy spun her chair around to face the window.

Schaeffer frowned. Maybe he was reconsidering bringing Lizzy along. He looked over at Remy. “If you’ll excuse us...” It wasn’t a request.

Schaeffer tapped controls on his armrest and closed the curtain of white noise to surround just the two of us. “I appreciate you taming her, but not at your expense. She’s family and until you’re fully integrated, I need you focused.” He glanced at Lizzy pouting. “She’s here, use her. If she’s busy she’ll stay out of trouble.”

“I don’t know, Schaef. She’s still got a serious score to settle. I’d watch your back, among other body parts.”

His eye twitched again. “You let me worry about my body parts.”

Somehow that was reassuring to both sides of my head. Despite how I razzed Schaeffer, he was a partner I trusted and could predict. If he wasn’t worried about her, I shouldn’t be either. I did my best