Rasilians.
“ Ssso, you and Rage, huh?” Sersan winked at her. When Rachel refused to answer, she continued to tease her. “Hasss he made you passs out yet?”
“ Sersan!” She was blushing from head to toe.
“He hasss I sssee.” She laughed as Rachel punched her arm. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the healing facccility on my way to training.” She pulled Rachel out the door.
Well, the good news was that she got her medical clearance. She could start training that evening. The bad news was , she couldn’t find Rage anywhere. She had planned to ask him to help her with her training. She had to settle for Zara the Amazon.
“Congratulations on not getting yourself killed , Starlight.” Zara circled her on their mat.
“It’s Rachel Starr.” Not really Starr , but Zara was doing this on purpose.
“Whatever you say , Star bright.”
Rachel gritted her teeth and lunged at Zara. The taller woman easily dodged her. She shook her head at Rachel. “Not good enough, Stargazer. Your next opponent is a Slurchan.”
Rachel couldn’t help but cringe. Slurchans were just so … gross. Their bodies were spongy, making it hard to get a good grasp on them. They could suffocate their opponents. And they oozed goo all over. Ugh.
“You have to concentrate on getting a good hold. You might be able to grab their outfit occasionally to hel p. But to get the count to win the match, you will need to knock them out or put them in a submission hold. Since you’ve been doing Rage, you should know all about submission holds.”
Rachel’s left foot connect ed with the back of Zara’s knee, making her temporarily fall down. “What’s your problem? Are you upset that a halfsie would want to be with a human? Or are you just pissed that Rage wants me and not you?”
Zara punched Rachel in the face , making her fall backwards. “First, I could care less if a halfsie is stupid enough to be with a puny human. It’s their bad taste. Second, I’m not jealous. If I had wanted to be with Rage, I would be with Rage. I was the one that ended things with him years ago. Enjoy your time with him, human, because he’ll tire of you soon. He always does with humans.” She walked away, swishing her hips.
She knew that Zara and Rage had been together a long time ago. But to know that it was her instead of Rage that ended things was hurtful. It didn’t help her confidence at all to hear that he easily tired of humans. She clambered to her feet again. It didn’t matter. Once he found out she was working undercover and that she had lied to him, he won’t want to have anything to do with her again.
“Don’t let the Amazon get to you ,” Resa told her as she walked over to Rachel. Resa was her next practice match. Rachel watched as Resa changed her form into a Slurchan. The sight made her want to puke. They practiced several moves and holds until they found ones that would work on the spongy body. Finally, Resa changed back into her normal form. Thank God for that.
“You’re getting better , Rachel.” She looked Rachel up and down. “Tipin and I would still like to have you over for dinner in our suite.”
Rachel was grateful for having a solid excuse not to go. “I think Rage wanted to spend time with me this evening.”
“Well, I overheard him telling Talon he had to go off ship and wouldn’t be back until tomorrow morning. He wanted Talon to tell you that. So, looks like you’re available after all.” She had a strange gleam in her eyes.
Damn it! “Guess so. But I need to let you know, I’m not into … threesomes. If that was what you had in mind.”
Resa chuckled. “Tipin will be disappointed, but we can handle it if you come as just a friend.”
“Then I’ll see you this evening.
Rachel wore her most conservative outfit, jeans and a light blue cardigan sweater that hung loosely down to her hips. The male, Tipin, answered the door wearing a white shirt unbuttoned and a pair of tuxedo pants. He looked her up
C. J. Cherryh
Learning to Kill: Stories
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