Vitalis Omnibus Read online

  Vitalis

  Omnibus Edition

  By Jason Halstead

  ©2012

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Warren, MI 44484

  Cover art © 2012 Willsin Rowe

  Jungle Huntress by Marcus Ranum

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Jason Halstead’s website: http://www.booksbyjason.com

  Be sure to check out these other Vitalis stories from Jason Halstead:

  Vitalis - New Beginnings (episode 1)

  Vitalis: Resurrection (Vitalis, book 2)

  Vitalis: Provenance (Vitalis, book 3)

  Part 1: New Beginnings

  Chapter 1

  “Kira!” Captain Sharp snapped, drawing the attention of his navigator.

  “Captain!” She jumped, hitting her knee against the steel at her station. She was tall and her predecessor had been considerably shorter. The handyman on the Rented Mule hadn’t made it up to adjust the ergonomics for her yet. She clenched her jaw to bite back the pain and turned to face him. “Sir?”

  “It’s a milk run,” he said, grinning at her to show he was amused, “but have contingency courses plotted; this isn’t the Core shipping lanes we’re flying.”

  “Yes, sir,” she snapped. “I’ve got two backup routes and a warning alert in place for proximity.”

  Sharp nodded. “Good. We still on schedule for the jump in two hours?”

  “Aye, sir!”

  Sharp turned away from her and looked at the rest of the small bridge of his transport vessel. He was a private merchant who made money trucking goods for the highest bidder. The rumor was so far he’d only handled legal fare, but that was only because the right offer hadn’t come along. “Where’s Tarn?”

  “He was in the galley last I seen him, Captain.”

  Sharp grunted, then hit the ship-wide intercom on his chair. “Tarn, report to the bridge!”

  Nearly three minutes later, a mildly overweight man with a scar running from his disfigured left ear across his cheek and nearly to his chin stomped through the hatch to the bridge. “What’s up, boss?”

  Sharp turned to stare at him. “The galley is twenty feet away!”

  “Had to finish my sandwich. Skeet was eyeing it up.”

  “Skeet’s a songbird in a cage.”

  “Never trusted birds. I seen rebels running greenhouses on Venus using birds to communicate to each other!” Tarn protested.

  “You got problems,” Sharp said with a sigh. “Look, we’re jumping to the Altair jump station and heading from there to the mining stations. We unload mining equipment and pick up ore to ferry back to the smelter. There’s a good reason for anyone who knows our payload to be interested and Altair’s not heavily populated. I want to make sure our defenses are up. Are they?”

  Tarn snorted. “Best they ever been, Cap. Shields are ready and the damages from that last brush when we was chasing that comet are fixed.”

  “Weapons?”

  “Yeah, plasma defenders are good.”

  Sharp grunted. “Make sure you set up early warning alerts when we get in system. It’s a three month trip and I don’t think you want to be the only one up for it.”

  Tarn laughed and waved his hand, and then headed off the bridge. “I’m an ex-Marine, Captain. I’m always ready.”

  After he was out of earshot, Kira turned and caught the Captain’s eye. “What?” he snapped.

  “Sorry, sir!”

  “Kira, you’re new, but so far you haven’t screwed anything up. You got something on your mind, you say it — unless it’s about me, and then you tell me in private.”

  She nodded and swallowed visibly. “Okay, um, sir. I just… I thought there was no such thing as an ex-Marine?”

  Sharp nodded slowly. “Yeah, me, too.”

  Chapter 2

  “Hey Kira, you looking forward to the cold sleep?”

  Kira turned away from her locker, holding the shirt she’d just taken off over her breasts. “Eric! I didn’t know you were in here. I’m sorry!”

  Eric Sackman shrugged, the movement going all the way to his prominently displayed penis. Kira jerked her head up from watching it bounce, blushing fiercely. “Got doused in some coolants while I was patching up a leak in the pushers. Something always goes wrong every time we jump.”

  Kira nodded, glancing down at him again as he waved his arms to finish drying off the water that the blowers hadn’t gotten. He was a small man, or so she’d thought. He was several inches shorter than her and looked pretty scrawny in the coveralls he usually wore. The height wasn’t a problem — she was taller than most people — but now she saw that Eric was lean but also solid. And of what weight he did have, well, there was a good size chunk between his legs. She looked away, blushing again.

  “Hey, relax. It’s gonna happen from time to time. We got one locker room and one shower, even if there are two stalls in it. Only three heads in the whole ship. There’s six of us and not a one that hasn’t seen the other naked. You’re going to have to get used to it or…”

  “Or what?” Kira turned back to look at him.

  He smiled, showing perfect teeth. “You know what they been calling you?”

  “What?” she groaned.

  “Legs.”

  She shook her head and looked down. Her pants were still on and they covered her legs. She was tall; a lot of that length came from her legs. She’d kept them in great shape with whatever aerobic exercise she could find, depending on where she was at and what she was doing. “Better than ‘Boobs,’ I guess.”

  Eric laughed. “It’s not that they’re not fine…”

  She laughed with him after a minute. “Okay, all right, I get it. Loosen up. I just…this is not how I saw my future happening.”

  Eric chuckled. “Yeah, I hear that.”

  She stared at him, surprised. “Really? I mean…Oh crap. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. I’m just flustered.”

  Eric laughed again. “I’ve evolved over the years to look the part; no offense taken. What’s got you flustered?”

  She wanted to tell him, trying not to stare at the enormous piece of meat between his legs, but her cheeks caught fire at the scandalous thought. “Um, me being half-naked and all.”

  “I could turn around,” he offered without moving. “Or you could just get used to it and drop the shirt.”

  She bit her lip as she considered it. Sooner or later everybody would see her; it only made sense. She nodded. “All right, but there better not be any new nicknames!” She lowered her shirt and tried to present her chest as proudly as she could.

  Eric’s face went from a smile to being purely blank, and then he caught himself and nodded with a smile. “I don’t know. I can think of a few fitting ones.”

  She rolled her eyes and tossed her shirt into her locker. She knew the blush had spread from her face to her chest but she ref
used to back down. She turned and grabbed the waist of her pants before she could come to her senses. They dropped and she reached in for a change of clothes. She heard a gasp come from Eric.

  “Problem, Mr. Sackman?” she inquired as sweetly as she could. She glanced over and understood immediately. What had been hanging impressively was now pointing directly at her — and it was exponentially more impressive. “You’d better put that away before you put somebody’s eye out.” Or spear me in the kidney, she mentally added. She shivered at the thought but tried to disguise it by changing into her workout clothes.

  “Um, yeah, I’ll see what I can do about that.”

  Kira glanced at him again after she finished dressing. He was still staring at her with an erection strong enough to act as a landing strut for the Rented Mule. She smiled again, knowing this time that he wouldn’t notice the redness of her face, and then turned and walked out with a little extra sway of her hips. She bit back the giggle until she was out of the lockers and heading towards the passageway that circled the cargo bay. The cargo bay had been vented for this trip, but the access passage around it was the only decent option for exercise. She turned the corner and looked down the long passage.

  Three dozen laps later, she figured she was close to three miles in. A short run, by her standards, but life on a transport was never promised to be one of luxury and accommodation. She headed back to the locker room, wiping sweat from her brow. She stepped in and saw Captain Sharp putting on some running shoes of his own. He glanced up at her and did a double take.

  “Check the display, Kira! If it says occupied you stand fast. Last thing I need is a bunch of sex-crazed men running around this ship because you walked in on them in the shower or something!”

  Kira stared at him, thoughts firing off in her brain so quickly she couldn’t identify them.

  “Pick your jaw up; it’s okay. I was finished anyhow. Going to get a run in before we sack out. Looks like you already did.”

  “Sir! I didn’t— I mean, I don’t— I wasn’t—”

  Sharp chuckled. “Relax. Just pay more attention. This is your first run; you’re nervous. I get that, it’s okay. Everything set up all right in the nav computer?”

  She nodded, finally managing to seal her lips together.

  “Good. Get yourself a shower but be sure and hit the button on your way in. Last thing you want is Tarn stumbling in on you.”

  Kira shuddered. The thought of the fat ex-Marine ogling her body made her nauseous. “Yes, sir. Sorry, Captain. I’ll be more careful next time.”

  He nodded. “I bet you will. Otherwise I’ll have to make sure I’m the one who walks in on you…”

  Kira gasped, causing the Captain to laugh at her as he walked out of the locker room. “Never had the need for a lock but if it’s a problem I can see if Eric can rig one up.”

  At the mention of Eric, Kira’s eyes narrowed. “No, sir,” she growled. “It’s fine.”

  He shrugged and headed out for his own run. Kira followed him just enough to turn and see the display that was now obvious to her. Letters that clearly indicated occupied or unoccupied, along with a red and green light. She shook her head at her own naivety and walked back in to the shower. She slapped her hand on the button to set the display to occupied, and then went to her locker.

  Her shower did little to cool the growing anger inside of her. She slipped into comfortable clothes for the cold sleep but instead of heading to the hibernation chambers, she called up the whereabouts of Eric Sackman on the computer. He was in the engine room. How fitting. She hoped he was getting dirty again.

  When she found him, he was just replacing a panel on a console. She waited until he turned before stepping up and slapping him. Hard. Eric’s head snapped back and he took a half step away from her to catch himself. His own hand went to his cheek, but the flare of rage she saw in his face drained once his eyes met hers.

  “Oh shit, Kira! Oh no, you’ve already changed. Oh shit, oh shit! Look, I’m so sorry – I didn’t mean for anybody else to— Oh shit, who was it?”

  “Captain Sharp,” she spat at him.

  “Oh, okay, well at least it wasn’t Tarn or one of the cargo monkeys. Still, he didn’t see anything, did he? Shit, Kira; it was just a little joke. I didn’t mean for”

  “Aren’t the ‘cargo monkeys’ your men?”

  He nodded, looking miserable while he did so. “I was going to tell you but you just got naked in front of me and I couldn’t think straight! Then you left and I realized I had to tell you, but before I could the Captain ran into me and asked me about a repair I’d told him I’d finished up, except I hadn’t really finished it yet. So I had to bust my ass to get that fixed, and then I was going to come and tell you. But”

  “But I run faster than you thought,” Kira finished for him. She shook her head and poked him with her finger in the chest. “I’m the new girl, I know. I’m going to catch some shit, I know. You can fuck with me all you want. You can make me run stupid errands and give me the shit work. But don’t act like my friend unless you mean it!”

  Kira turned, still royally pissed off. She didn’t know what else to say or do. She’d hit him and she’d yelled at him; everything should have been fine. But it wasn’t. With a growl that threatened to turn into a sob, she started to walk away from him.

  “Kira!” She hesitated, but kept walking. The door was only a few steps away. “You’re beautiful!”

  She stumbled, stopping at the door.

  “Look, I’m sorry. I’ll say it every day to you for three months while you sleep and I do nothing but stare at your hibernation chamber if you want. I don’t rattle easy, but the confidence and the sexiness you showed me just knocked me on my ass. I couldn’t believe it. And yes, I’m shallow, but you’re the hottest thing that’s ever set foot on the Rented Mule – even better than the girls the Captain’s brought back from time to time.”

  Kira grabbed the hatch and slammed it shut, and then turned to stare at him. She walked back over, her feet landing heavily as a message of her mood. “You fucking with me again?” He shook his head so hard she thought he might bruise his brain. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. “Because if you are and I fall for it, I’ll shove your ass out an airlock first chance I get. Got it?”

  This time Eric nodded with equal fervor.

  “Good, now shut up.” Kira stared down at him for a moment, her tall figure all the more imposing for her anger. Then she leaned forward and kissed him. He gasped, giving Kira the opportunity to press the kiss deeper and move in for the kill. She crushed herself against his muscular body until she could feel his interest pressing against her leg.

  “You like confidence?” she asked rhetorically. He nodded but she had already started talking again. “Take your clothes off.”

  He had to lean against the machinery to keep his balance as he stumbled to obey her. Kira removed her own clothing at a calmer pace, though inside her heart was racing. She’d never tried the dominant thing before; it was exciting. Seeing him proudly on display again made her mouth water and her thighs clench. She was tempted to toss the dominance out the window and beg him to take her, but she wanted to make sure she did it right.

  “Oh Eric, I may be the bottom of the ladder around here, but I’ve got a lot of things you’re going to be doing for me.”

  Eric’s answering groan was silenced by her mouth.

  Chapter 3

  “Kira!” The navigator groaned as the words filtered through the disturbing images of her dream. She’d been reliving some very pleasant aerobic activity with Eric one moment, and then felt as though she’d been sucked through the wall of the ship to be immersed in the absolute zero temperatures of deep space the next. She coughed, feeling like her lungs were coated in ice water. Somebody grabbed her, helping her up and over a metal ridge that pressed painfully into her ribs. She gagged some more, dry heaving until she could hear straight. Spittle hung from her lips and chills racked her body.

  “Ki
ra, we’ve been dumped out of cold sleep. Your prox warning is going off! What’s going on?” Captain Sharp demanded.

  Kira looked up slowly, wincing at the pain in her chest, throat, and head as she did so. He looked pale and miserable, but his actions spoke otherwise. She nodded and forced herself up, fighting back a wave of nausea. “C..c…cold, sir!”

  “Walk it off, damn it!” he snapped, perhaps a concession to his own condition.

  Kira nodded and pulled herself out of the pod she’d been in. The others were either doing likewise or were standing around in robes. She felt a tug and looked down, her head clearing as she realized she was still fully integrated with the hibernation chamber. The light blanket that had covered her nude body was still on her, but she’d given the Captain quite a show in spite of it. She glanced up when she heard a scuffling sound and saw Eric was struggling into a robe and trying to join them. He brought a spare robe for her. That’s nice, she thought, and then her view of her recent lover was blocked by the Captain. “Kira, snap to!”

  “Sorry, Captain,” she mumbled. “Never been dumped before.”

  She reached down and removed the catheter, grimacing as she did so, and then slipped off the sensors that were adhered to her body and head. She held the blanket tight and forced herself to climb up and out of the cocoon-like bed, taking the robe from Eric with a grateful smile and slipping it on. Her feet were cold on the steel floor but she could tell from the Captain’s tone she had no time to worry about that. “Prox alert—gotcha, sir!”

  Sharp and Eric followed her as she walked stiffly out of the hibernation room. Her body warmed and began to obey her as she walked, allowing her to pick up the pace. By the time they reached the bridge, only a few short minutes later, only a faint headache persisted. She touched the data port on her palm to the matching port of her station, and then proceeded to mentally send the navigation system commands. The large display at the front of the bridge responded almost immediately, allowing them all to see what had transpired.