Obsolete (Terran Times Second Wave Book 24) Read online

  Other salvagers and masters were showing up and getting their vacuum suits and helmets.

  Everyone checked the seals on everyone else’s suits. It was a tradition that kept them at the highest safety rating of all salvage stations. It was a nice statistic.

  The klaxon went off, and the salvagers headed to their stations. Olena headed to her bay and got ready to enter the airlock that would take her to her workspace for the day.

  The light went purple and everyone stepped forward into their assigned spaces.

  Olena linked her suit to one of the charged tanks and clipped it to the leg of her outer suit. Her helmet was a tight dome around her head, and it provided an analytical display that assisted her in identifying the objects she was looking at.

  The light in the airlock changed to blue, and she stepped out into her workspace where the load of the day was being delivered encased in ice that she would have to dissolve before she could get to the technology inside.

  It always felt odd to be exposed to the cold of space, even through her suit, but when the delivery was completed and the doors slid shut, she missed the light of the stars.

  When the seals were in place and the room warmed up, she pushed the pallet into position for heating. With the slow movements she had practiced, she put the leads onto each side of the twisted metal block, and she ran power through it to make it heat itself.

  The water coursed into the grating in the floor and, from there, into tanks and sterilizers. Nothing would be wasted.

  She checked the rest of her equipment while the block thawed and brought the safety scanners online. When the ice had melted, she turned off the power and unclipped the leads. Olena put on her tool belt before she fired up her cutting torch and got to work easing into the block of metal in search of salvageable parts.

  The tangle of metal and wiring was foreign to her, and even her helmet was having a problem with it. Origin unknown kept coming up on her screen.

  A voice suddenly came through her helmet. “Salvager, what are you seeing?”

  “I just got inside, but I can see nine couplings suitable for drive placement, metres of reusable wiring and the metal is graded for hull repairs. You have made a good score here, Scavenger.”

  The low, relieved sigh was more of a growl in her ear, but she kept working. She freed the couplings and put them in the bin for refurbishment into shiny and new items.

  Working in the gloves had required a bit of a learning curve, but the tight fabric let her work almost as easily as if she wasn’t wearing anything.

  Olena spent the better part of her morning peeling her way into the wad of metal, prying away the plates and twisted wire that kept her from the centre of the structure. She was sure it was a structure. The organization of the wiring was definitely part of a propulsion system. She didn’t care who had built it; the inner workings were fascinating.

  The inner portion of the helmet warned her with a yellow flare that her air was low. A huge ball of ice still remained inside the ship, so she figured it was a good idea to set it to melt while she went for lunch and a new canister.

  She clipped on the wires, left the hard capsule and sent the salvaged parts to the processing centre where other salvagers would clean and prep the tech for reuse. She turned on the power to melt the inner core and headed off for lunch. The scavenger would get their payday and Olena would get a portion of the profit. Her account was growing by leaps and bounds. She would be a master sooner than she thought.

  One bland liquid lunch later, she chugged down the last of her tea and returned to her workspace. The last of the object should be melted, and she would be able to see what was at the centre of the Easter egg.

  She checked the yield of water and was impressed with how dense the ice casing had been. There was enough there to earn her every body mod she wanted in the next two years. She had her eyes on a nice optical enhancement that would help her switch from ten times magnification to standard with a flick of her lids.

  For two hours after her shift, she planned for what she wanted to become and all of the choices she was making would make her life as a salvager easier. When she looked into her own future, she saw a workshop with as much scrapped and useless bits as she could manage. She could make great things, wonderful and unimagined things, she just needed the place and parts to do it.

  Olena turned off and uncoupled the electrical unit.

  She paused when she looked back at the metal and her scanners lit up. “What the hell is that?”

  An electrical signal was coming from within the wreckage.

  Control came online. “Salvager Olena, what is your status?”

  “I am reading an electrical signature from within the wreck. Is my signal clear?”

  “Wreck? We identified it as an engine compartment.”

  “Negative. It is a derelict pod of some sort. My recordings verify that it is a wreck of a self-contained unit for a maximum of four passengers.”

  She smirked a little as she approached the wreck and made her way inside again. They had been trying to keep her off any of the expensive salvages. While she was given the status of an experienced member of their profession, they had no trust for her skills and no reason to give her an assignment that would elevate her financial profile.

  Since it was an accident, she was going to make full use of it. She was going to get every piece of saleable technology out of this wreck and that meant whatever had absorbed the energy from the thawing unit.

  The low bier with no obvious openings was what she found inside the chamber that had been coated in ice. She looked over the eight-foot expanse, seeking the passive entry point and trying to scan to see what was beneath the surface.

  She moved her gloved hands along the edge of the bier and sought anything different. On her third pass, she must have triggered something, because a seam appeared in the solid metal surface. There was a hiss of gas, and light began to spill from the rapidly widening crevice.

  Olena stepped back as radiation levels rose, preparing to sound an alarm if they exceeded the safety protocols. When a hand shot out of the light, she did what instinct told her to do—she slammed the lid on the hand and ran like hell.

  Chapter Three

  “Control, there is a living being in the wreckage. Requesting security, medical and atmosphere in this work area.” She muttered it as she turned off her equipment before heading to the airlock.

  The atmosphere flooded the chamber, and she winced. It was going to be docked from her pay.

  The hot-pink glow flooded the room; antibacterial light streamed in as she waited for the creature in the bier to make its way out and attack her. It was the residue of too many horror movies in her youth, but she had never experienced the impulse to flee before.

  When the lock chimed and security and medical came in, she went out. She was neither prepared, nor willing to deal with what she had just woken up. She hoped that whatever was inside there was happy to have something to breathe. It was going to cost her.

  She staggered into the dispatch area and watched from the monitors. The wide hole she had carved in the hull was large enough for the security officers to make their way into the centre. The lid of the bier was off, and a glowing being levitated out to settle on the floor. The bright light on his skin slowly faded.

  Olena pulled off her helmet and watched the security officers slowly lower their weapons as the man began to speak.

  She didn’t recognize the language, but the officers in front of him responded to it. They holstered their weapons, and they escorted the very tall and extremely naked man out to where the medical teams were waiting. The medical officers ran scans, but Olena didn’t get to see the outcome.

  The scavenger who had brought in the pod came up to her with his feathers ruffled. “They said you were bad luck.”

  She sighed. “Anyone would have let him out. It was your luck that you brought in occupied salvage. You had it long before I was assigned to it.”

  He clacked his beak and turned away, disgruntled.

  Olena wished she was able to take the hit and accept her so-called responsibility, but she wasn’t going to let the rumour of bad luck destroy her career before it got started. Her abilities were the only thing she was really capable of fighting for.

  Being a woman on the station and being a salvager were dual sins. They couldn’t deny that she was competent, but they didn’t have to like it.

  She headed to the dispatcher and nodded. “I am guessing that I am off direct salvage for the rest of the day.”

  He nodded. “Be back tomorrow when we find out what you have woken up.”

  “I will check the duty roster.”

  “Good plan.” He nodded his head. “Go get some rest. You look like hell.”

  She sighed and turned away, muttering, “I always look like this.”

  Her long strides took her back to the suit room where she put her protective gear in her locker. The skinsuit remained uncomfortable as she headed back to her quarters where she deactivated and peeled out of it with a sense of complete relief.

  As she hung the skinsuit in the cleaner and took another gel shower, she smirked as she imagined that all those folks on Earth who were against masturbation should try living in a skinsuit for a while. There was nothing like having something crawl into your nether regions to give you a respect for the freedoms of your body. She hadn’t felt like touching herself much before she arrived, but since she had landed, the manual contact had not only reassured her that the skinsuit hadn’t damaged her, but it had eased the feeling of solitude for a few minutes.

  With the rest of the day off, she watched the station news vids before getting back to her studies. Now that she had seen more of it, she was looking for something, anything to link the
pod she had opened to a species she could identify.

  She sat on her bed in a loose robe and continued her examination of the module components and her search for their origins.

  * * * *

  Brin Tai Wekk followed the Hrath medics with a sense of confusion. They were not the ones who had woken him. Their minds did not reach for his, and their bodies did not summon his with soft demand.

  “Where is the one who woke me?” His words were in Lomitol, but his mind forced the translation.

  The medic leading the way glanced back. “I will find her as soon as we have assured your health.”

  Brin nodded. “Good. I am in excellent health.”

  “Of course. We simply need to assure ourselves that there is no liability. She should never have woken you without authorization.”

  He flexed his hand. “She didn’t physically wake me, but she does have excellent reflexes.”

  They entered medical, and he took a seat on the exam bed. The scans were minimally invasive.

  “We need to provide you with clothing, and perhaps you could give us your name, sir?”

  He smiled slowly. “I can craft my own clothing.”

  He gathered sheets into a draped skirt that hung to mid-calf, and with a flick of his thoughts, it changed to a deep burgundy. The covering on the exam bed was dropped to the ground, and he stepped on it as it separated and transformed into knee-high boots. He was very well covered for his station. An ex-Avatar was not something that was common in the universe.

  “My name is Brin Tai Wekk, former Avatar of Lomit.”

  The Hrath medic clicked his beak. “That is impossible. Lomit exploded. We are next to the asteroid field that is composed of large pieces of that world.”

  “I am what I am. Now, show me to the female that woke me, or I will seek her out.”

  The medic flinched. “I am unsure of her location. You would be better off going through the control office.”

  Brin sighed. “Fine. I will seek her out.”

  He moved through the halls of the station, past members of four distinct species. His target was none of those. Her mind was bright, and it sparked with excitement the moment she found something new. He needed that. His time as Avatar had dulled his senses, and with no world to bond to, he needed a compatible mind. The woman who had woken him was what he needed to drain the power and balance his mind.

  He just needed to find her.

  * * * *

  The knocking at her door brought her out of her study of the wiring composition of most Nyal colony ships.

  Her small room didn’t come with any extras, including a screen so she could see who was on the other side of the door. A strange excitement burned in her when she reached out to open the door.

  She stumbled backward and stared at the seven-foot tall figure that entered her tiny bit of personal space.

  He was no longer naked, but somehow, the long skirt he wore draped and tucked to let his legs move freely was a little worse. It drew all of her attention to his abs and carried it up to his shoulders.

  “Hello. Are you lost?” It was a ridiculous question given that he had found her small room in the lowest ranking of the station quarters.

  His smile was slow, and she took in the gold-green glow of his skin, the leopard-like pine-green spots and the waves of rich emerald hair that cascaded down his back.

  He spoke softly, and she heard the words translated as he said them. “I am happy to have found you. I have something that I must give you.”

  She leaned back when he approached, but her legs were against the bed and she had nowhere to go. He reached out and lifted her up to him, kissing her thoroughly without warning.

  Olena gasped as an electric shock ran from his tongue to hers. She moaned as it spread through the rest of her body in a wave of pleasurable fire.

  The light behind her eyes took over, and when he pulled back, it took her a while before her lids were willing to open. His midnight eyes were smiling at her. No pupil, no whites, just solid black. It should have been disturbing, but her instinct was to curl back to him and continue the kiss.

  He smiled, and his strange language rippled over her. “I wish I had had time to ease you into your situation, but I am confident you will come to accept it in time.”

  “What? Who are you?”

  He grinned, showing sharp teeth that had somehow escaped her notice. “Brin Tai Wekk, former Avatar of Lomit. The world is gone, but I live on with all the powers granted to me. I required a companion, and you were a very suitable match. You are now bound to me.”

  Olena scowled. “I don’t understand.”

  He looked around. “Is there somewhere else we may speak? I am afraid that the bed is not the best way to tease me right now.”

  She tried to jerk back, but he was still holding her. “I am not teasing. This is my room. My only room. I am not trying to seduce you. I don’t even know who you are?”

  He set her on her feet. “I am the man who has slept eons waiting for you. Finally, you came, and now, I am here to answer your call.”

  She grimaced. “Horseshit.”

  He paused and laughed. “You prefer honesty?”

  “It usually helps me deal with things.”

  “I was waiting for a mind I could share my burden with so that I would not immolate within hours of my rising. There is a world waiting for me, but I must have a companion or death and destruction will follow in my wake.”

  Her tone was whiny, and she knew it, but she said, “But I just got here.”

  His lips twitched, and he started to laugh. “I will need to gain access to the com centre to call us a ride.”

  “Us?”

  “I am taking you with me.”

  “You can’t.” She reared back. Technically, she had no rights, no freedoms, no ability to choose where she lived. She wasn’t assigned to the Alliance where she could be guaranteed recognition. She wasn’t even in actual Imperium space. She was nowhere that she could get help.

  “I can and I will. You will get used to the idea when the power begins to bloom in you. You will need a planet beneath your feet.”

  She put her hand to her abdomen and was brought to the awareness that her robe had opened sometime after his arrival. She jerked it closed, and he sighed in disappointment.

  “Come with me. I need to make that call.” He beckoned her to enter his personal space and stand next to him.

  “I need to get dressed. Please wait outside.”

  He shook his head. “No. I will soon know all of you and you all of me. There is no time for false modesty.”

  She scowled and grabbed her work suit, slipping it up under her robe before she turned her back to him and dropped the one luxury item she had brought with her from Earth. The sleeves fought her, but she managed to get them over her shoulders and the closure done up before she grabbed her boots and stepped into them.

  “That is an unattractive costume.”

  She felt like sticking her tongue out at him, but she wasn’t sure how his species would take that. “It is my only option. The robe is for inside my quarters only.”

  With her body clothed decently, she nodded toward the still-open door. “Let’s go.”

  He bent to clear the doorway, and he waited for her on the other side of the threshold. When she followed him into the hall and she closed her door, she got the strange feeling that it was for the last time.

  Chapter Four

  Olena was bemused as she watched Brin Tai Wekk order the Hrath around and get what he asked for every time. The fear in their eyes was obvious.

  She sat back and tried to feel anything different inside her. She was aroused, but then, he was the nicest thing to look at that she had seen in months. Even back on Earth, she had been too absorbed in her work to go looking for a relationship.

  When she realised what she was thinking, she stopped lazing casually and sat upright. The last time she had a relationship, it had lasted fifteen years until her cat had died. Sparks had been a great cat and her best buddy. When he died, she hadn’t wanted to replace him with anything or anyone else. Now, her hormonal brain was trying to figure out how to fit Brin Tai Wekk into her life in a manner that would cause the least disruption. Olena’s logic centre knew that there was no chance that she wouldn’t be disrupted. He had already begun the process.