She nodded, wondering how he could wax from anger to humor so quickly.
Rachol sat the glass down and ran his hand over the condensation on the outside of it.
"No, I'm too much of a coward to openly try and kill myself. Alcohol is just a good way to numb myself until nature takes care of it for me."
A loud knock pounded on the door. Kiara gasped, fearing Aksel had found them.
"You wonder why I drink," Rachol said, pulling his blaster from the holster.
"Stay down," he warned her, creeping toward the door. He flicked on the console then breathed a sigh of relief. He holstered his blaster.
Taking that as a sign it was a friendly caller, Kiara sat up. Rachol opened the door and hauled Darling into the flat by his arm.
"Hey!" Darling snapped. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Aksel's after us," Rachol said, locking the door.
Darling looked at her and nodded a greeting. "No wonder Nykyrian was so skittish."
Kiara stared at the black eye marring the exposed side of Darling's face. His eye was red and the whole cheek swollen.
"My God," Rachol said, finally seeing it, too. "What happened to you?"
Darling signed. "What d'you think?"
"I swear I'm going to kill that boowah someday."
Darling gave a bitter laugh. "Kip said almost the same thing. Anyway, he sent me here to get that disk you've been working on for Aksel's base on Oksana."
Rachol frowned. "Why?"
"As if he would tell m e?"
Rachol rubbed his hands over his face like he had a headache to match Kiara's. "It's in the safe in my room." Rachol met Kiara's eyes. "Darling, I hate to be rude, but I've got to get her to safety before you know who figures out where I live. Lock my door and don't forget to hook up my scanner."
"Done."
Rachol held his hand out to her. "Are you staying with us your queenship?"
Kiara took his hand, not really sure if what she did was for the best. "For now." He pulled her to her feet and they headed toward the door.
Kiara waited until they were in Rachol's ship and out of the planet's orbit before she spoke, "What happened to Darling's eye?"
Rachol stiffened while he flipped switches on his console. "Arturo."
She frowned. "Family?"
"In a manner of speaking," he said with a sigh. "His stepfather turned legal guardian."
Kiara thought the matter over, her heart pounding in sympathetic pain. "Why doesn't Darling just leave hom e?"
Rachol took a deep breath. "He can't. According to Caronese law, he's a minor until his twenty-sixth birthday. Three years from now." Rachol turned the ship to the right. "Does his eye shock you?"
"No," Kiara said. "What shocks me is the fact he allows Arturo to beat him."
Rachol sighed again. "That's a long story I'm sure Darling doesn't want you to know."
She nodded, not really sure she wanted to know either. "Where are you taking me?" she asked.
"Kip's house."
In spite of her better sense, her heartbeat raced. "I'm surprised he would dare allow me near it."
"Me, too." Rachol shifted in the seat. "You're the only person besides me who's seen it."
She frowned in confusion. "Then why are you taking me there?"
"Because he told me to."
With that simple statement of loyalty, she remained quiet and watched the stars zoom past outside the window.
It didn't take long to reach the planet. Kiara stared at the swirling orange and yellow mists. It seemed so peaceful and isolated. Rachol landed outside a house that was almost as large as her entire building. He docked in the bay and pressed a button.
"We have to wait for the bay to pressurize and a breathable atmosphere to mix."
She didn't respond. Instead, she concentrated on the huge, em pty bay.
After a couple of minutes, they left the craft. "Stand back," Rachol warned before opening the door.
Kiara frowned at his cautioning, then was bombarded by a huge lorina. The animal jumped up on her, licking her cheek with its large, rough tongue. Three more danced around them.
"I hate these things," Rachol hissed, pushing them away from him. "They think they're lap pets."
Kiara smiled, petting the one licking her arm. "Are there just the four?"
"Yeah. Believe me, four's plenty. Come on in and make yourself cozy. There's no telling when Kip'll return."
Rachol walked through the house switching on lights with a hand control. "This is the kitchen," he said, showing her the gleaming white area to the right of the door. "Kip's room is up those stairs, along with the bathroom."
Kiara looked around. The entire place was spotless. Nothing was out of place.
"Everything in the house, is wired to this," he said, holding the control out to her. "You can lighten the ceiling to see the sky, and the same for the upstairs wall where Nykyrian sleeps."
She listened to Rachol ramble as he showed her the two rooms in the back, an exercise room and a viewing room.