Free Hero by Cheryl Brooks Page A

Actually, she was seeking a way to do just that, but Hidar didn't need to know it--yet.
    "My wings are very sensitive," Hidar admitted, rustling them gently. "But if you wish to stroke them..."
    "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Lerotan advised.
    "And why not?" Windura asked before Micayla could reply. "They're actually very attractive."
    "It's part of the Scorillian mating ritual," Lerotan replied. "It makes his dick hard--
    well, no, actually it just makes his dick pop out. It's always hard."
    Obviously viewing her as a more likely candidate than Micayla, Hidar sidled up
    to Windura, rustling his wings again. "Would you like to see it?"
    "Maybe later," Windura replied. "Nice wings, though." Glancing around, she
added, "I can look into your system anytime you like, Leroy. Got a tech station somewhere?"
    "Over there next to Trag," Lerotan said with a nod. "It's probably safe. Never saw him bite anyone, though he is a bit surly these days." He paused for a moment before adding, "What did you call me?"
    "Leroy," Windura replied. "Seems less formal than Lerotan. Do you mind? Or would you prefer that I call you Captain?"
    "Never mind." Lerotan sighed and shook his head. "And I thought it was just Terrans..."

    ***
Micayla found the frequency signature and sent out the message that a Zetithian
    female named Micayla Johnson had been found, which was odd since she had never
    considered herself to be lost. After that, she worked on familiarizing herself with some of Lerotan's other contacts. The designations were certainly colorful, as one might expect from an arms dealer--Gunrunner Gereg, Swordmaster Sakram, and so on--which led her to believe that no one ever used their real name in the weapons trade. She'd found Jack Tshevnoe listed as Jack of all Traders.
    From time to time she stole a glance at Trag. He was just sitting at his station with his back toward her, but she still felt like hissing at him. Weird. She didn't know enough about him to take an immediate dislike to him. And she didn't dislike him, it was just that from the first moment she'd seen him, even at a distance, he had affected her like no man ever had.
    Windura leaned over and said something to Trag that actually got a chuckle out of him, causing Micayla to experience a sharp pang of jealousy. It was difficult for her to joke around with men; everything had to be strictly business or they had a tendency to get the wrong idea. While this wasn't ordinarily a problem, Trag was actually from her homeworld! She had so many questions she didn't know where to begin, but she couldn't blame him for not sticking around to chat after she'd behaved so badly. She'd already apologized, but he still seemed angry; he hadn't said a word to her since they came on the bridge. Perhaps talking to this "Jack" would be easier.

    ***

    It was obvious that Micayla would have gladly continued her perusal of the ship's com system without interruption, but Lerotan felt that some further discussion was required. "So, Micayla," he began. "Tell me, did Grekkor say how he destroyed Zetith?"
    "No," Micayla replied. "Just that he had."
    "Too bad," Lerotan mused. "That information might come in handy sometime."
    "What?" Trag exploded, spinning around in his chair. "You know who did that?"
    "Oh," Lerotan said innocently. "I was forgetting. You didn't stick around for the rest of the story, did you?"
    His jibe was not lost on Trag, who replied with a mumbled, "No, I didn't."
    Satisfied that he had made his point, Lerotan continued, "Shifting an asteroid's trajectory would be tough." Tapping his leg with his tufted tail, he added, "I wonder if
they used explosives or just rammed it with a large starship. Either one would probably work, but explosives would be tricky on an asteroid with no oxygen atmosphere to
    support the explosion, and sacrificing a ship that big would be damned expensive."
    "Could have been more than one ship," Windura suggested. "They could have towed the asteroid with tractor