Chloe grinned.“Get used to it.There are a lot of normal Terrans, and then there are the not-normal ones.Guess where you are standing, Aken-Var?”
He smiled slowly.“Right in the middle of the unusual Terrans?”
Trin walked down the hall with a box in her hands.“Correct.We have more matches for the Hmrain than there are Hmrain, and a lot of other species have dipped into our gene pool historically.”
Geri snorted.“Very polite.Did you do it?”
Trin nodded.“I have tested it a bit, but since it’s a surprise for Margo, I thought we could go to the testing area and see what she can manage.”
Margo smiled.“There’s a pressie?”
Trin held up the box.“Yes, there is.Come with me so we don’t injure the base.”
Margo grinned and followed Trin.“A dangerous pressie?”
The other ladies were laughing and walking with them, and Aken-Var trailed behind.
Trin smirked.“Birun is meeting us there.”
Margo was getting excited.She hadn’t had a freely offered present in years.
She got the tutorial and aimed the metal tube away from the watchers.There were chunks of metal and wood on pilons around the space.
Trin backed up.“Ready when you are.”
Margo looked at the present, turned completely toward the targets, and hit the button.There was a hum in her hand, and she swept the invisible blade through the first target.It fell to the ground in two chunks, and Margo whooped and slashed and stabbed her way through the targets, taking the entire collection out in under a minute.
She was panting and turned off the tube.
“Trin, I am sweaty.Can I hug you?”
Trin laughed.“Sure.”
Margo walked over to the woman and bent to hug her.“Why did everyone shrink?”
Geri grinned and flung her arms wide.“C’mere, shorty.”
Margo looked up at her friend.“Aw, fuck.I forgot.”
The hug was warm, but Geri’s breasts hit her in the throat.“So, that’s awkward.”
Aken-Var smirked.“If embraces are on offer, I would love one.”
Margo looked at his expression.She shrugged.“Okay.”
She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his torso, holding him tight.She felt her body align with his, and when his arms came around her, she smiled as he held her tight and rubbed his jaw against her hair.
He rumbled a purr out of his chest while he held her, and it shook her everywhere they touched.
Chloe said, “Aken-Var, you are manhandling my pilot.She’s under contract to me or, rather, Dytura until we say otherwise.”
Aken-Var didn’t move.“No.She’s mine.”
Margo patted his back.“No, I am under contract.”
He started a more intense rumble.
“Let go now, or I will fight myself free, and neither of us will like the result.I still have that weapon Trin made in my hand.”
