Forget Me Not

By Mikala Ash

…Dread raked its way through her chest…
"The wreckage was fused solid. There was no hope."
"Felis, what are you saying?"
"He's dead, Holly. Maxim's gone!"

Maxim Dollavera dead?

Spaceport Adana goes into mourning for their fallen hero, but Holly Barberossa refuses to believe he's gone. She wears a Forget-Me-Not pheromone pendant to constantly remind her of the love of her life. She keeps herself busy by reporting on the stalled trial of the traitor, Riz Gitto, who she and Maxim had been instrumental in bringing to justice.

The judge, Kasamee Kee, enlists Silas Archimedes, a private eye, to protect Holly without her knowledge while she uses her as bait to flush out the conspirators, chief among them the glamorous socialite and suspected pirate Mischa and her new slave, the very sexy Murukan.

Can Holly solve the mystery of Maxim's disappearance? Despite her undying love for Maxim, will Holly succumb to the charms of Silas or the mysterious Murukan, who strangely reminds her of her lost lover?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Changeling Press
• Release date: Jan 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780304800964

Book preview

lover?

Prologue

"In yet another delaying maneuver, counsel for the accused has applied to the IAC High Court to challenge the right of the local Adana authorities to try the case. A decision on that motion, the twenty-third delaying tactic used by the defense so far, is expected to be made in three days. Meanwhile, the prosecution has applied for a no confidence hearing into the competence of the presiding judge, His Honor Milton Hashinger-Smythe. More on this intriguing and increasingly long-winded case as it comes to hand. This is Holly Barberossa signing off for the Adana Observer."

Holly snapped her smartcam shut with an emphatic click. It had been a long, long night. The interminable hearing into the Riz Gitto treason case had once again gone on into the early hours, and Holly rankled at the necessity to change her circadian rhythm to cope. It had taken her so long to get her frenetic work style synchronized with Adana’s twenty-four hour society as it was, to once again alter the settings of her body clock would be sheer hell.

Especially now that she was alone. Holly lifted the turquoise Forget-Me-Not pendant to her nose. She inhaled deeply. Maxim Dollavera’s lusty pheromones flooded her nostrils, careered along her receptor neurons and smashed into her olfactory bulbs like a quantum torpedo.

Instantly, her body warmed with a wash of lust that hardened her nipples as if Maxim himself was kissing them. Between her thighs a sultry heat surged into the pit of her belly, giving birth to that bittersweet throb of desire.

Though Maxim had been gone only three weeks, she missed him like she would an amputated limb; his absence was a persistent ache that could only be cured by his return. The emptiness inside her grew each day, and it became a greater chore to motivate herself in the mornings when she awoke in a lonely bed. As compensation she gave herself several more hits of the Forget-Me-Not.

The crystals were embedded with Maxim’s scent which she’d collected from a discarded shirt the day after he’d left for the Carnassian Void. When activated by a gentle touch, the pendant emitted a few precious molecules that could, in her heartsick mind, evoke his very presence.

With her pussy throbbing with unsatisfied desire, she once again questioned her decision not to accompany him on his scavenging run into that seldom visited but rich sector of the galaxy’s outer rim, where extinct alien species were rumored to have left their treasures, and shattered planets held mineral wealth beyond imagining.

She’d argued that, as a reporter who had been instrumental in Riz Gitto’s failure to take over Adana, she was duty bound to see the case through to its conclusion, and the argument had been prolonged and tense. She felt a bit of a fool now that Maxim’s prediction that the case would be bogged down for months, even years, had proven correct. He’d argued that, if they wanted him as witness any time soon, Judge Hashinger-Smythe would not have granted him permission to leave in the first place.

Holly hated parting on bad terms but she vowed to make it up to him when he returned. As much as she disliked leaving work unfinished, she decided she’d agree to go on his next trip, wherever he wanted and for however long. That would please him and assuage her regret at the same time, not to mention avoid this horrendous loneliness.

God, I miss you.

He’d said the trip would be only for a month, but he left in such a huff that she wouldn’t be surprised if he stayed away longer just to teach her a lesson. Not that she thought he could ever do something so infantile and she kicked herself for being churlish. He would be away for as long as his mission required and not a minute longer. She knew, in the deepest part of her soul, that regardless of the manner of their parting, Maxim missed her as much as she did him. The fact that he left her sub-space messages every day …just to say hi, proved that.

Holly entered the Observer office and gave Roberta a cheery wave. The alien entity, currently residing within a robot body, returned her greeting with an empty manikin smile. Morning, Holly.

Holly was always surprised at how satisfied the ancient and incorporeal alien seemed to be, living inside a robot’s clumsy body and working as the Adana Observer front office receptionist. She seemed to be enjoying her relationship with Maxim’s best friend, the hunky leonine Felis, though Holly knew that an organic body would be much appreciated as Roberta had once remarked, It would be nice to feel an orgasm the way humans do.

Holly and Maxim had investigated the legality of growing an organic body in a regeneration clinic, the source cells harvested from the Adana Funereal Recycling Plant, but found it to be illegal on Adana. Maxim said that there were other worlds where the procedure did not violate local laws, and they had put on hold the decision while they wrestled with the ethical issues and the significant legal difficulties of creating an identity for Roberta so she could return to Adana, if she so wished.

How is he today? Holly indicated Vinnie’s door with a tilt of her head.

No change, Roberta said. He is a troubled person.

You got that right. After the former secretary’s arrest for collaborating with Riz Gitto in last year’s failed coup, her boss Vinnie Mostoloff had been down in the chops worse than a depressed Mendovian hound. He had lusted after Vesty for ages and to discover he’d been used by such a pernicious personality had hit him hard.

Holly swept into his office and threw herself into the visitor’s chair. Hey there, boss!

Vinnie gazed morosely at her from beneath hooded brows. Any word from Maxim?

She sighed forlornly. Not for a few days. Maxim’s sudden silence bothered her. A dim disquiet had been growing in her gut when last night’s call didn’t eventuate. She’d sent her own sub-space dispatch but there had as yet been no reply. She didn’t like it. Maxim was a consummate pilot but still she worried about him. The black, the spacer term for the deep dark between the stars, held many dangers that have no respect for human skill or ingenuity.

When is he due back? Vinnie asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.

Not for another month, Holly said and sighed again. She noticed she had been doing that a lot lately, sighing loud enough for others to hear. She’d never been so lonely before in her life and the feeling was quite disturbing. He said in his last transmission that he and Felis had found an asteroid with a duridium deposit, whatever that is.

Money, Vinnie said gruffly, but seemed to relax at the news. He may be longer if that’s the case. Duridium is in demand all across the galaxy. It’s likely you’ll both be very rich, Holly.

Don’t worry, boss. I won’t leave you even if I am dripping in gemstones.

He grunted and she guessed what he thought of the probability of that happening, though Holly suspected there had been something else on his mind. He seemed more preoccupied than usual. She didn’t like the sound of this duridium stuff. If Maxim and Felis had made a big find they might be away longer than they had planned. She didn’t know how she’d survive.

I’m glad he’s safe, Vinnie continued. I’ve just heard there was a passenger ship disaster just outside the Carnassian Void.

Holly felt that buzz of excitement whenever there was the merest scent of a story but before she could process that bit of information there came a commotion from outside the office door. Roberta cried out and then the door was flung open. Holly stood up and gazed at the intruder. It was, unaccountably, Felis, who should be out there, beyond Adana’s walls, in the black with Maxim. She automatically glanced over his shoulder expecting to see her love, but Felis was alone.

There was something very wrong with his appearance. The usually immaculate leonine was disheveled and grimy. His golden fur had not been cleaned for days and the fur around his big eyes was matted as if… as if…

Roberta tried to embrace him but the big leonine didn’t