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Chapter 9
When Karn wasn’t busydaydreaming about the different ways he’d like to kill Marcus, he thought about Ivy. What had she seen in this idiot human? How could she possibly be into that?
After Marcus’s surprise announcement that he intended to marry Ivy, Karn had spent the morning either ignoring him or sniping at him. He was so much better than this useless piece of space dust.
“All I’m saying is that marriage is hard work,” Strande said. He was now sober and had turned out to be a decent Mehab. He was also happy to chat, so Karn was forced to listen to Marcus brag about how successful he’d been on Earth and all the hot women he’d had.
“You don’t think it’s worth it?” Marcus asked.
“If you find the right female, it is. I would have married my girl if I’d gotten the chance. Well, we don’t call it marriage on my planet. It’s a bonding ceremony. It’s the same kind of thing. The headaches and hassle you get from being with just one female are worth it when you find the right one.”
“That’s what made me come here,” Marcus said. “I’ve dated loads of women, and they’ve all been fun. Ivy is different.”
Karn couldn’t resist. “Different how?”
“She doesn’t take any bullshit. She always kept me on my toes. When I stepped out of line, she’d let me know. Some girls let you do what you like and still come back for more. There’s no challenge in that. It’s like kicking a puppy.”
“You kick puppies?” Strande glared at him. “I have seen images of your Earth puppies. They are adorable.”
“No, not for real. What I meant was, some girls always come back, no matter how badly you treat them. They have no respect for themselves.”
“Not Ivy?” Karn felt a certain amount of smugness at that. She had seen sense and gotten rid of this fool.
“Ivy caught me in a nightclub with another girl,” Marcus said. “Honestly, all we were doing was dancing. It was a bit up close and personal, you know, bumping and grinding. She was a hot girl and had everything on display.”
Karn leaned forward. “What did Ivy do when she found you?”
“Punched me in the face.” Marcus rubbed his jaw. “It ached for days. It took me weeks to talk her around.”
Karn’s amusement died. “She came back to you?”
“Ivy saw it was an innocent mistake. The other girl had come on to me, and it was just dancing. It’s not like she caught me naked with her, balls deep while the girl screamed my name.”
“Would it have been more than dancing if Ivy hadn’t found you?”
“Who knows? But she did. Ivy kept me on the straight and narrow. She showed me I was doing the wrong thing. You’ve got to respect a woman for doing that.”
“If Ivy is the perfect one for you, why did she leave you behind on Earth?” Karn asked.
Marcus shrugged. “It was a simple misunderstanding. I told her I wanted to come into space. She said I couldn’t handle it.”
“Maybe you can’t,” Karn said.
“I’ve had no problems. I already have my space legs. I don’t know what all the fuss is about.”
“This could be a wasted journey.”
“How so?”
“You don’t think Ivy came here to get away from you?”
Marcus laughed. “No way. She’s crazy about me. She likes to play hard to get; that’s just Ivy. She’ll be happy when she knows I’m here.”
“Ivy won’t be impressed you ended up in a holding cell.”
“It was a small amount of drugs,” Marcus said, “for personal use only. That’s not a problem back on Earth. I don’t know the rules here. It all seems uptight and serious.”
“Anyone would think we’re living in a giant tin can in space and might need a few extra precautions.”
