Read Gadget for Free Online Page B

clearance in a moment.”
    He looked around, and the ship provided a handy seat out of one of the walls. It folded down and locked in place, straps and all.
    Toby stifled a grin and settled in her throne, locking into place.
    “What is happening to you when those cuffs come down?” Shatter’s voice was genuinely curious.
    “Hypo spray and life support. It keeps me awake and functioning while I drive.”
    “Where do the injuries go when the cuffs are off?” He blinked at her, his gold eyes interested.
    “I have ports installed under my skin. I have small pinpricks that are visible when I am naked, so I have tattoos running down my arms.” She twisted her lips as she did her pre-flight checks.
    “Really?”
    “Yes. Vines and flowers run from my biceps to my wrists, and from mid-thigh to my ankles. Anywhere the ports are visible.” She blushed. “Are the designs a problem?”
    He grinned. “I have always been a fan of body art, but my own skin makes it difficult to get a mark to remain.”
    She chuckled. “You could get piercings.”
    His brows rose. “I suppose I could. My people do not normally do that sort of thing, and as a Guardian, I don’t want to give an enemy anything to grab hold of.”
    Toby grinned. “Fair point. I am about to take off.”
    She got clearance from the spaceport and lifted off the surface of Yaviilianika with a sigh of relief.
    “Did you get any rest while we were gone?”
    Toby laughed. “Not much. I did a study of the society of Yaviilianika and am compiling it for the Nyal archives.”
    “Do you do that often?”
    “As often as I can. I rarely have time on a world where I am not hauling someone with me or picking someone up. For me, the entire Nyal Imperium is fresh and new.”
    The ship shivered under her, and they forged through the atmosphere, heading for a moon that glowed with all the dignity of an irate pixie.
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Once in orbit, she declared a day off. With a groan, she headed to her quarters and gave Shatter a quick kiss as she left him at the stairway.
    The Dark Fairy kept sending her images of Shatter partially clothed. Toby grimaced and dropped onto her bed. The wait was going to drive her nuts.
     
    “What the hell?” She sat up and looked down at her body. She was stark naked with the exception of her ink, and the locks of hair falling over her shoulders were her normal non-descript brown.
    A knock at her door brought her up on her feet. “Hello?”
    “You called?” Shatter’s voice came through the door an instant before he walked in.
    Toby looked left and right, “Damn it.”
    She dove back to her bed and wrapped herself in a sheet. “I didn’t call you.”
    “It was your voice.” He stepped into her room and the door shut behind him.
    She held up her hand. “Give me a moment.”
    Toby used her overrides, and she ran through the images from her room the night before. Her body had gotten up, her eyes glowing green, and crossed to the delivery port. A bottle of something had been waiting and her sleepwalking self had gone into the lav. There were no monitors in the lav, it was one of Toby’s rules.
    The time stamp moved forward and when she emerged with her eyes still green, her hair was its normal brown again.
    “You skanky ho.”
    “I beg your pardon?” Shatter was staring at the images on her limbs.
    “The ship took me for a test drive last night and decided to move our intimacy along.”
    “I don’t understand.” Shatter came toward her and touched the vivid ink on her right arm.
    In the flowers and vines were tiny pixies etched in a dazzling array of colours. She extended her arm for him to examine.
    “I mean, the same way I control her, she can apparently control me. She likes you and wants you to stay, that means making my appearance match the image in the portrait as quickly as she can manage. She did my hair last night and sent you a message. She doesn’t understand how these things work.”
    He trailed his finger